*This book was received as an Advanced Reader's Copy from NetGalley.

Ok, first off, I'm going to start with the fact that this book is rated based on its merit as a historical food book that delves heavily into academic and sociological topics. It is not light reading or even what I would call approachable food history (unless you really, really like the topic). For those of us that are obsessed with the topic, it's great!

Grain and Fire explores how baking in the Southern American states morphed through history, shaped by the people doing the baking (part of the reason I equate this with women's studies as well; while there are male bakers, a good part of history has women doing the baking in multiple fields). As we travel through history, it starts while the South as we even came to know it was forming, its journeys through antebellum and the Civil Rights movements laters, and its current movements in food. This means involving all the people who shaped it, from the indigenous peoples that were there, to the settlers that moved in, the slaves that toiled on the farms, and the families that had to make their way against hardships after the Civil War.

Through it, what people were baking and eating is the thread the brings it together. Corn of course. Wheat as well. But anything that was classified as baking was detailed in this book. While it could be somewhat repetitive at times, and as such a bit drier, I still learned quite a bit. It definitely picked up in the second half of the book, and I really enjoyed the section on current baking trends and wish that section had even been a bit larger since it went all too quick while reading. It was more approachable as well, and had the whole book been written in that concise method (which may have been difficult due to the nature of history) I think it would have opened up a wider audience for this book.

While this is a book about food, given the timeframe and topics, it is also a book about race, social movements, and other human topics. Which makes it a valuable read. Definitely for the lover of all things food history.

Review by M. Reynard 2021

Grain and Fire is a well written book. A great reference for my library. Those who love to cook will love this. Thanks 😊