To answer the question, "What does Mediterranean mean and what is Mediterranean food" in The Mediterranean Feast, Clifford Wright delves into not merely history, but also agronomy, economics, geography, and more. He dedicates this monumental synthesis of the influences that eventually produced Mediterranean food as we know it to "the philosophers and the cooks." Fortunately, when it seems the intellectuals have taken over completely, one comes on Wright's lyrical description of eating a cassoulet, the golden-crusted, complex French bean stew, and other passages proving that Wright's intense quest for knowledge is based on a cook's culinary passion.

Illustrated with maps and brimming with more than 500 recipes, A Mediterranean Feast is Wright's way of leading the reader beyond the popular, romantic image of this region as an eternally bountiful land. He explains how the complex web of influences between the fall of the Roman Empire in the 6th century and the Age of Reason in the 17th century transformed the Mediterranean from a harsh place where poverty and famine made "dying of hunger ... a defining occurrence," to one we could romanticize, seeing it as ever lush with citrus, sun-ripe tomatoes, laden vines, exquisite cheeses, artisanal breads, and simple but well-fed folk. Those who rise to absorb the encyclopedic knowledge and engage with the ideas set forth in this dense work, such as the peasants' willingness to accept new, unfamiliar foods to relieve the boredom and scarcity of subsistence eating, will receive a profound education about Mediterranean life as it historically relates to food.

While A Mediterranean Feast feeds the mind, it also offers a wealth of authentic and intriguing dishes from the entire region, from France to Algeria and Spain to the Near East. Readers primarily interested in cooking can flip through this massive book, picking out remarkable recipes such as the pine nut omelet of southern France, Umm Ali, a creamy Egyptian pudding containing phyllo, nuts, coconut, and raisins, and Nohutlu Pilavi, the buttery Turkish pilaf of rice simmered with chickpeas. --Dana Jacobi


From Library Journal
Wright's first cookbook was Cucina Paradiso, a fascinating exploration of the Arab influences on Sicilian cuisine. Since then he has published several collections of quick and easy Italian food, but now he has returned to the culinary history and anthropology that is obviously his true love. Originally a Middle Eastern scholar, Wright has devoted an enormous amount of research to answering the question, "What is Mediterranean cuisine?" He debunks the common view of the region as one of historical culinary bounty, and he traces the influences and interconnections among the food and cooking of the diverse cultures that ring the Mediterranean Sea. Along the way, he considers such topics as "The History of the Fork" and provides dozens of what he refers to as "heirloom recipes"Athey have a history to them, but they are contemporary rather than re-creations of medieval or other early dishes. A unique work, this is recommended for history as well as cookery collections. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description

A groundbreaking culinary work of extraordinary depth and scope that spans more than one thousand years of history, A Mediterranean Feast tells the sweeping story of the birth of the venerated and diverse cuisines of the Mediterranean. Author Clifford A. Wright weaves together historical and culinary strands from Moorish Spain to North Africa, from coastal France to the Balearic Islands, from Sicily and the kingdoms of Italy to Greece, the Balkan coast, Turkey, and the Near East.

The evolution of these cuisines is not simply the story of farming, herding, and fishing; rather, the story encompasses wars and plagues, political intrigue and pirates, the Silk Road and the discovery of the New World, the rise of capitalism and the birth of city-states, the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition, and the obsession with spices. The ebb and flow of empires, the movement of populations from country to city, and religion have all played a determining role in making each of these cuisines unique.

In A Mediterranean Feast, Wright also shows how the cuisines of the Mediterranean have been indelibly stamped with the uncompromising geography and climate of the area and a past marked by both unrelenting poverty and outrageous wealth. The book's more than five hundred contemporary recipes (which have been adapted for today's kitchen) are the end point of centuries of evolution and show the full range of culinary ingenuity and indulgence, from the peasant kitchen to the merchant pantry. They also illustrate the migration of local culinary predilections, tastes for food and methods of preparation carried from home to new lands and back by conquerors, seafarers, soldiers, merchants, and religious pilgrims.

A Mediterranean Feast includes fourteen original maps of the contemporary and historical Mediterranean, a guide to the Mediterranean pantry, food products resources, a complete bibliography, and a recipe and general index, in addition to a pronunciation key. An astonishing accomplishment of culinary and historical research and detective work in eight languages, A Mediterranean Feast is required--and intriguing--reading for any cook, armchair or otherwise.


About the Author
Clifford A. Wwright is a cook, food writer, and research scholar specializing in the cuisines of the Mediterranean. He is the author of six cookbooks and writes frequently for Saveur, Fine Cooking, Gourmet, Bon Appétit, and Food & Wine, as well as having written all the food entries for Columbia University's Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East.Wright is also a nationally recognized cook. He was chosen as one of the most innovative cooks in America by The New York Times in its "Cooks on the Map" series for his style of emphasizing regional Mediterranean home cooking with its historical background. Before writing about food, Wright had a successful career in the field of international affairs, beginning as a researcher at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., then as a staff fellow at the Institute of Arab Studies in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and finally as the executive director of the American Middle East Peace Research Institute.Wright received his master of arts degree in philosophy from the graduate faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York, where he was also a doctoral candidate. Today, while he continues his writing and cooking, Wright is a center affiliate of the Gustav E. von Grunebaum Center for Near Eastern Studies at the University of California-Los Angeles. Born in New York, he lived for many years in the Boston area and now resides in Santa Monica, California, with his three children.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Story of the Birth of the Celebrated Cuisines of the Mediterranean, from the Merchants of Venice to the Barbary Corsairs, with More than 500 Recipes The story of the birth and evolution of the cuisines of the Mediterranean Basin is the story of wars and plagues, political intrigue and pirates, the Silk Road and the New World, the rise of capitalism and city-states, the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition, and the obsession with spice. A groundbreaking cookbook based on original, primary research in eight languages, A Mediterranean Feast weaves together historical and culinary strands from Moorish Spain to North Africa, from Sicily and the kingdoms of Italy to Greece, the coasts of the Balkans, Turkey, and the Near East. Author Clifford Wright shows how the cuisines of the Mediterranean have been indelibly stamped with the uncompromising geography and climate of the area and a past marked with both unstinting poverty and wildly outrageous wealth. The 500 recipes included, adapted for today's kitchen, show the range of culinary ingenuity and indulgence, from the peasant kitchen to the merchant pantry. They also show the migration of local culinary predilections, tastes for foods and methods of preparation carried from home to new lands by seafarers, soldiers, merchants, and religious pilgrims. Historical illustrations and maps of the Mediterranean, from the past to the present, also highlight this epic book. An astonishing accomplishment of culinary and historical research and detective work, A Mediterranean Feast is required-and intriguing-reading for any cook, armchair or otherwise.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Wright's first cookbook was Cucina Paradiso, a fascinating exploration of the Arab influences on Sicilian cuisine. Since then he has published several collections of quick and easy Italian food, but now he has returned to the culinary history and anthropology that is obviously his true love. Originally a Middle Eastern scholar, Wright has devoted an enormous amount of research to answering the question, "What is Mediterranean cuisine?" He debunks the common view of the region as one of historical culinary bounty, and he traces the influences and interconnections among the food and cooking of the diverse cultures that ring the Mediterranean Sea. Along the way, he considers such topics as "The History of the Fork" and provides dozens of what he refers to as "heirloom recipes"--they have a history to them, but they are contemporary rather than re-creations of medieval or other early dishes. A unique work, this is recommended for history as well as cookery collections. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Smithsonian

At first glance, this book seems a jumble of topics, traditions, tastes and techniques. Broad reviews of political and economic history are interspersed with discussions of topics like shipbuilding, irrigation, spices and the Mediterranean grain trade. Recipes for seafood, lamb, pasta and vegetables are scattered throughout the book; recipes from different regions are shuffled together like a deck of cards. But two good indexes—one of general topics, the other of recipes—guide readers through the confusion; the recipes I tested were very good. Wright's enthusiastic investigation of Mediterranean cuisines is a fine feast for readers interested in culture, history, and most of all, food.

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