Uncorking the Past (eBook)

The Quest for Wine, Beer, and Other Alcoholic Beverages

Patrick E. McGovern (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2009
348 Seiten
University of California Press (Verlag)
978-0-520-94468-8 (ISBN)

Infos

In a lively gastronomical tour around the world and through the millennia, Uncorking the Past tells the compelling story of humanitys ingenious, intoxicating search for booze. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological, chemical, artistic, and textual clues, Patrick E. McGovern, the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages, brings us up to date on what we now know about the creation and history of alcohol, and the role of alcohol in society across cultures. Along the way, he integrates studies in food and sociology to explore a provocative hypothesis about the integral role that spirits have played in human evolution. We discover, for example, that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated in agrarian societies for their potential in fermenting large quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan, the corn beers of the Americas, and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds: even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink, it turns out-whether it be mind-altering, medicinal, a religious symbol, liquid courage, or artistic inspiration-has not only been a profound force in history, but may be fundamental to the human condition itself. This coffee table book will sate the curiosity of any armchair historian interested in the long history of food and wine.

Inhalt

List of Illustrations
Preface

1. Homo Imbibens: I Drink, Therefore I Am
2. Along the Banks of the Yellow River
3. The Near Eastern Challenge
4. Following the Silk Road
5. European Bogs, Grogs, Burials, and Binges
6. Sailing the Wine-Dark Mediterranean
7. The Sweet, the Bitter, and the Aromatic in the New World
8. Africa Serves Up Its Meads, Wines, and Beers
9. Alcoholic Beverages: Whence and Whither?

Select Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 30.10.2009
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Essen / Trinken ► Getränke
• Schlagworte: agrarian society • alcohol history • Alcoholic Beverages • Anthropology • archaeology • Cacao • Coffee Table Book • Corn beer • creation of alcohol • Evolution • fermented beverages • fermenting • food and sociology • food and wine • food history • Gastronomy • history of alcohol • Human Condition • liquid courage • Mead • Millet • modern world • provocative hypothesis • Religious symbol • rice wine • role of alcohol in society • search for booze • social lubricant • sorghum • Spirits
• ISBN-10: 0-520-94468-2 / 0520944682
• ISBN-13: 978-0-520-94468-8 / 9780520944688