This is a book bursting with interesting and sometimes surprising information about food. It's structured like an encyclopedia, with short essays about specific foods and beverages presented in alphabetical order. The essays are written by various people and each ends with suggestions for further reading, where more detail can be found. The essays provide a history of each food/drink as well as the cultural context in which they originated and, if appropriate, the ways in which the food/drink spread to different parts of the world and changed to fit in with new cultures and tastes. The book is extremely well done. It would be excellent to have sitting in a convenient spot, ready to be picked up, opened at random, and enjoyed for a few minutes or longer, depending on how much time you have. I think reading the book in chunks might be the best way to consume it, rather than reading from start to finish, but of course that would be a matter of personal taste. Everyone will have their own preferences for the contents as well and some essays will be of more interest than others. I chose not to read the essay on dog meat, for example. The book is translated from French.
It's a fascinating collection of essays which provides excellent summaries of the history and culture of many different kinds of food and drink and also points readers in the direction of more detailed information should they wish to know more. For those interested in food, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The kindle version of this book was impossible to read. There were numbers lining the left hand side of the book, either interrupting a sentence or in the middle of a word. There were major formatting issues.

I have mixed feelings about “What We Eat: A Global History of Food”, edited by Pierre Singaravélou and Sylvain Venayre, translated by Stephen W. Sawyer. On the positive side, it provides interesting glimpses of both everyday foods (ketchup, salt, hamburgers) and more exotic/foreign cuisine (hedgehog stew, dogmeat, Turkish Delight), I did learn a lot of interesting histories and facts about a wide range of foods. On the negative side, there were two main issues (for me): first of all, it was definitely written by academics, with the usual weird combination of assuming you knew a lot of background on the topic while also providing a random selection of background and history with very little coherent narrative. And secondly, it was definitely written by and for the French, as most of the food as well as the facts and figures all dealt with foodstuffs that one would find in France. This should not be an issue for the French, but for a U.S. reader some of the information was not really applicable, and some of the sections were on food that’s not even readily available in the states.

This book is a collection of short (2-3 page) informative essays on approximately 90 different foods, arranged alphabetically, written by several different academics. Each essay delves into some of the history and cultural significance of the item in question, focusing on how different cultures and global events/patterns have influenced much of the food we eat.

The common food entries were interesting, proving some international perspective on foods that we tend to associate with a certain culture or ethnicity (hamburgers, ketchup, pizza). Some of the less common foods to Americans (Roquefort, Naan, Yak Butter) have interesting histories and show us how globalization is changing our diets. And then there were the foods that were completely foreign to me and that I had to look up (Acheke, Dafina, Feijoada, Lato) which I may have learned something, but still unsure what!

Somewhat interesting, but not for everyone.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Columbia University Press via NetGalley. Thank you!

I am sure that the content will be great. The description had sounded very informative and entertaining which is why I had requested this book. But the ARC that I received is unreadable. There are numbers within sentences and the overall alignment is wrong.

This book works like an encyclopaedia, with entries in alphabetical order. The entries talk about interesting historical and sociological facts supported by credible resources.
I enjoyed it 100%.

I struggled with the format of this book and expected it to read much like any other chapter segmented book, or broken down into essays. It was an interesting read, despite the strange formatting. I don’t think it’d be something I’d pick up for a casual afternoon, but I did enjoy learning from it!

This is more of an encyclopedia, I was expecting a collection of essays. The formatting was poor, but I managed to work my way through most of the book. It is fine, for what it is, but not the kind of thing you sit down to read in an afternoon. The information seemed accurate, it was interesting, if not particularly entertaining. I would recommend, with reservations; it would be a good addition to many a foodie’s shelf.

An interesting, if somewhat random, catalog of various foods and dishes from around the world, focusing on their cultural and social aspects. Served in small bites, it offers a series of trivia rather than in-depth analysis, but I appreciate the suggestions for further reading at the end of each short chapter. Recommended for anyone interested in learning surprising facts about the culinary experience.

Thanks to the publisher, Columbia University Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

“What We Eat” is an informative little look into the histories of an array of selected foods and food products. I found a few of the individual entries to be a bit wanting with their background coverage, and some felt a bit oddly focused. But overall, enjoyable! I learned quite a bit, and am continuing to learn more, since it’s one of my favorite style of nonfiction reads - one where the content doesn’t all need to be consumed in order, but rather one I can pick it up, and enjoy whatever sections just happen to catch my curious eye at the time.

The selection of topics and foods found here were varied, and showcased a lot of different types of history. I think it was very engaging to read, although I would have like the sections to be a bit longer, even if that meant there were fewer of them.

This book is well-researched and full of interesting information about common food items and their origin, a lot of which we all probably never thought about. The topics range from common food you find in the kitchen like ketchup, mayonnaise, coffee, sparkling water, ice cubes, to more complex dishes like Singapore noodles, hedgehog stew, and Banh Mi. To my surprise, it even covers dog meat, pet food and treats.

You can read through the entire book or you can consume it into bite size sections depending on what appeals to you the most or how much time you have.