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Beyond Bratwurst: A History of Food in Germany

JUNE 2016 they do raise questions about the meanings of pleasure and hospitality that are attached to food. Food is more than simply a source of biological and physiological sustenance; it can symbolize political and socioeconomic conflicts and is inherently complex. As Peter Scholliers concludes, food has become particularly problematic during the previous century. Consumers now have to worry about the hygienic quality of foods that they purchase, navigate the perceived threat posed by technological innovation (such as genetically modified foods), the cost of food for those living in poverty and the health consequences of the rapid dissemination of fast food chains. Evidently, food is a modern source of anxiety as well as pleasure. Overall, Food in Time and Place provides an excellent resource for both teaching and resources. The well-written contributions contained within the volume are exceptionally useful introductions for researchers and students, which highlight the significance of food history to historical research more generally. Rather than appearing as a somewhat niche topic, food history emerges from both collections as an area of study that has much to say on broader matters such as colonialism, globalization and history of science, among many other themes. There are some surprising omissions. For instance, the essays in both collections pay relatively brief attention to gender, a theme of immense significance to food history given that women traditionally played an important role in household management and cookery. Both collections are attentive to broad themes such as food pathways and production, but generally devote far less page-space to domesticity and (what might be termed) “day-to-day” matters. Nutrition and health are also conspicuous by their absence, despite research trends that have mapped historical nutritional wellbeing using sophisticated quantitative techniques or examined the development of concerns about nutrition as physicians and scientists developed nuanced understandings of food and digestion in the modern period. The historical importance of famines and their sociopolitical ramifications is also left without thorough examination. Clearly, other areas of study exist that food historians could connect to, including history of medicine and gender studies. Despite some omissions, The Routledge History of Food and Food in Time and Place complement one another and persuasively underscore the importance of food history, providing solid overviews of the current state of the discipline and pointing to the overwhelming potential of new research avenues.