The Incredible Story of Cooking: From Prehistory to Today, 500000 Years of Adventure

Gr 8 Up–Dishing up a comprehensive history of cooking, this graphic novel uses engaging, vibrant panels, beginning with prehistory, to explain how the use of fire, climate change, social abilities, and travel, among other things, were the seeds to ­modern ­cooking. From there, Simmat covers how cooking methods, utensils, and social norms ­develop, and that food and dietary trends ­repeat again and again. Readers trek through great civilizations’ banquets, the Silk Road trade route, in and out of medieval kitchens, and to the new world’s pantries before following the French development of high-end ­restaurants, society’s move toward convenient food, and the modern Slow Food movement. The book is sprinkled with entertaining and educational footnotes and tongue-in-cheek humor; readers will enjoy a chuckle as prehistoric moms correct their hungry children and Peruvians enjoy their national dish of ceviche in Paris. Readers will also learn how politics and religion played a historical role in what and how people ate. Recipes and an impressive bibliography provide additional reading and experimentation.