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How the sikbaj of Persia (sweet-n-sour stewed beef with sweet vinegar in it) became a fish dish like ceviche, fish & chips, tempura, escabeche, aspic – sailors’ help c.10th century; the influence of fish-during-Lent, the conquest of Peru, Portuguese Jesuits in Japan, of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews in Britain. However, I cannot really recommend this to the great number of people who are not in these lines of work. The Language of Food is an enthralling historical fiction novel, based around the life of Victorian poet and cookery book writer Eliza Acton (1799-1859). Outside the UK and Australia, the book has been published as Miss Eliza's English Kitchen: A Novel of Victorian Cookery and Friendship.
It depends of course on one's particular branch of linguistics. I envy forensic linguists who can tell dramatic tales of criminal acquittal or conviction on the strength of linguistic evidence. But for many in other branches of linguistics, one would think there is no such hope. Computational and corpus linguists, etymologists, historical linguists, comparative linguists, and phoneticians surely stand no chance. How could one ever make such areas seem not only relevant for a non-academic audience, but popular? I would be remiss in this review if I don’t mention the lovely cover of the book (which reminds me very much of Delft pottery). While I reviewed an e-arc, the physical copy which I have seen pictures of is absolutely gorgeous, including the lovely painted book edges. The fact that it was by Dan Jurafsky made a lot more sense when I figured that bit out. Because of course he's doing corpus work. Before I started reading it I was just like, well, I guess everyone likes food.) The story is about Eliza Acton and Ann Kirby her assistant. They are cooks and working on what will be the greatest British Cook Book of all time. Eliza changed the way that cookery books were written and how cooks after her presented their recipes. In a nutshell, she was the woman who changed the face of baking and cookery books by listing the ingredients separately at the start of the recipe. Seems like common sense today but then it was revolutionary as no-one had thought of it before.
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This book is like warm comfort food and a great big hug. And even though there aren���t recipes listed within the book, you feel and taste and smell the comfort of food and the people who create it contained within. Culinary enthusiast, and fans of strong historical female characters will not want to miss this one!
As part of this French invasion, sometime in the thirteenth century, a word spelled variously flure, floure, flower, flour, or flowre first appeared in English, borrowed from the French word fleur, meaning “the blossom of a plant,” and by extension, “the best, most desirable, or choicest part of something.” [...] “Flower of wheat,” ... meant the very fine white flour created by repeatedly sifting the wheat through a fine-meshed cloth. Each pass removed more of the bran or germ, leaving a finer and whiter flour." The language of food helps us understand the interconnectedness of civilizations and the vast globalization that happened, not recently, as we might think, but centuries or millennia ago, all brought together by the most basic human pursuit: finding something good to eat. You might call it "EATymology." I give the book 3.5 stars, rounded down from 4 for the following reasons: I didn't like the completely unrecognizable Ann that appeared in the first chapter and the last chapter. I didn't like that too much time was spent on a dirty old man who enjoyed exposing himself. One encounter would have sufficed! There were entirely too many words that were italicized throughout the book. I suppose it is done for emphasis, but in my opinion, excessive.
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I'd like to think that the lesson here is that we are all immigrants, that no culture is an island, that beauty is created at the confusing and painful boundaries between cultures and peoples and religions. I guess we can only look forward to the day when the battles we fight are about nothing more significant than where to go for tacos. Clever, unsentimental, beautifully detailed and quietly riveting' Elizabeth Buchan, author of Two Women in Rome
The voices of both women are very touching. Eliza is very warm and encouraging, taking Ann under her wings. Ann appreciates Eliza’s warmness and kindness, but at the same time still feels guilty for not taking care of her parents. You can sense how much she tries to stay strong, never revealing her troubled past.
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The two women’s exploration of food and friendship is winningly told and we are rooting for Eliza in her quest for independence and publishing success. The novel comes with some of Eliza’s recipes; and I can gluttonously report that the chocolate custards are as delicious as the novel" THE TIMES Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below. All in all, I really liked what the author was able to come with as it was a mix of facts and she used her creativity to fill in some of the blanks. I recommend this book if you like reading about food and are looking for something different in the historical fiction genre. Modern Cookery for Private Families was the first cookery book to provide a detailed list of ingredients, precise quantities and cooking times for each recipe in a format we still follow today. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management was published in 1861 well after Eliza Acton's and it is now known that Mrs Beeton plagiarised hundreds of Acton's recipes for the collection. Not only that, but Mrs Beeton stole recipes from other cookery books as well, and knowing that now, I wish she wasn't held in such high esteem. A pox on her book!
I've noticed how the creation of verse mirrors the creations of the kitchen - the sense of being truly alive, the utter concentration so that one exists solely in the moment of exertion. These apply equally when I prepare a dish or when I write a recipe and must use the perfect prose." (pp.214-5)However, the women's contentedness is threatened when Eliza receives a marriage proposal from aging but sympathetic spice merchant Edwin Arnott. Should she accept his offer and submit to her pre-ordained future as a well-to-do society wife, thereby relinquishing any hope of the social and financial independence she craves? Or will a scandalous secret from her past threaten her future and all the plans she and Ann have? When you hold someone in such high esteem and then discover something they have hidden that brings them down to a human level again you are highly disappointed, and this became the downfall of the two women's relationship. Eliza and Ann grow to create a strong friendship. Ann enjoys cooking just as much as Eliza and the two go about perfecting recipes that they serve to boarders and will add to the cookbook. Eliza has the chance to finally be separated from the constricting reach of her mother through marriage. She also has the chance to mend her estranged relationship with her oldest sister. There are many other aspects to this story, but I don't want to give too much information and spoil the surprises. I always know I'm reading a great book when I want to recommend it to friends before I've even finished it and that was certainly the case here. The Language of Food by Annabel Abbs is an absorbing historical fiction novel for those who love the poetry of food, the magic of a kitchen and anything to do with cooking, baking, chopping, saucing, stirring or tasting food. Highly recommended!I was inspired by Eliza's passion, her independence, her bravery and ambition. Like a cook's pantry, The Language of Food is full of wonderful ingredients, exciting possibilities and secrets. Full of warmth and as comforting as sitting by the kitchen range, I loved it' Jo Thomas Incidentally, do ebooks not support macrons? Every single macroned letter in this book is a graphic of a macron and not a typed character.) Ann Kirby comes from humble means with a lame father and a mother suffering from dementia. Her brother works in a London kitchen for a famous French chef, inspiring Ann with his tales of the food they prepare. When Ann is fortunate enough to be hired by Eliza as a kitchen assistant, she draws strength and a sense of purpose from her, discovering her own ambitions.
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