by Robert Dirks
Publisher : Rowman &
Littlefield Publishers (April 14, 2016)
Hardcover, 226 pages
“Italians believed that
the higher prices they paid were justified because of the superior quality of
their diet. In their opinion, they ate better than members of other
nationalities, and generally speaking newcomers from Italy expressed very
little interest in trying other people’s foods. This created the impression
that Italians disliked foreign dishes. Wood circulated that they dreaded going
to the hospital for medical help and that they avoided seeking employment
outside of their own neighborhoods because of the unfamiliar foods they might
have to eat. Regardless of whether this was true, it seems fair to say that no
nationality other than the Chinese clung with greater tenacity to their native
cuisine.”
This is an academic text,
so don’t expect a narrative or natural flow to the text. A good deal of it for
the first several chapters is dry calculation, flooded with numbers and
statistics, which I’m sure proves the author’s point, but it is similar to
reading a textbook - narrative be damned. It isn’t until the later chapters,
where the author begins breaking down dietary habits among various immigrant
groups of the late 19th and early 20th century that the book perks up.
On the positive, all of
the sources are well documented and impressive. Additionally, scattered
throughout the book are old school recipes culled from the cookbooks of the
Gilded Age. There are twelve of them ranging from all across the United States.
Most are based on the dietary habits of poor immigrants, or poor Americans in
the southern USA. The book ends oddly. It just sort of stops when it runs out
of information. Usually there is some sort of conclusion. It’s almost as if he
had written one, and it was pulled by the publishers to cut down on costs.
For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst
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