R B. reviewed From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals on + 203 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
After I began reading this book, I realized it was not quite what I was expecting. Each chapter is more like an essay on an isolated timeframe or historical event, while the book is cohesive through the running theme of women, food, experience. I did enjoy reading it after I got started. It is slightly more scholarly than I was anticipating and the research into areas of food and sociology was quite interesting.
Kate W. reviewed From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals on + 36 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book provides a totally different way of looking at history! Women's history, the potato famine of Ireland, cooking during the American Civil War, food of POWs, as well as African American heritage (and more!) are expressed through the food prepared and how people felt about what they ate. A fresh perspective showing a different side of issues we are already familiar with.
Joey S. (Joey) reviewed From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals on + 404 more book reviews
I loved this book. It's not a complete history of American foods; it really highlights certain influences. More enjoyable than one might expect. Not a textbook- a lovely readable book.
Libby S. (Libratsie) reviewed From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals on + 344 more book reviews
A very educational and interesting look at the history of cooking in America. Some may find it dry, but others will enjoy the historical information. I loved it. Includes a few historical recipes.
Not a gripping read but interesting nonetheless as it charts periods in American history through cookbooks and the lives of some cooks you might have heard of before but many of whom you will NOT have.
It's also interesting for including recipes that highlight those periods. Some you will want to try. Others you'll be sure you won't. Haber devotes a whole chapter to the Roosevelt's wartime and Depression era housekeeper Mrs. Nesbitt making it abundantly clear what a notoriously *bad* cook she was and then includes 2 of her recipes! But each of the recipes Haber selects for periods when the Irish were immigrating in droves or the Western territories were being settled or former slaves were making their place in American cities makes a time in our past more vibrant and closer to the way we live our day to day lives.
I gave it 4 stars for its sense of social and culinary history. Maybe 2 1/2 for its narrative.
It's also interesting for including recipes that highlight those periods. Some you will want to try. Others you'll be sure you won't. Haber devotes a whole chapter to the Roosevelt's wartime and Depression era housekeeper Mrs. Nesbitt making it abundantly clear what a notoriously *bad* cook she was and then includes 2 of her recipes! But each of the recipes Haber selects for periods when the Irish were immigrating in droves or the Western territories were being settled or former slaves were making their place in American cities makes a time in our past more vibrant and closer to the way we live our day to day lives.
I gave it 4 stars for its sense of social and culinary history. Maybe 2 1/2 for its narrative.
Donna E. (impossible) reviewed From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon History of American Cooks and Meals on + 3352 more book reviews
Interesting, but a bit biased - makes you want to read the other side of some of these commentaries. The Essays: The Irish Famine and America; Civil War Nurses and Diet Kitchens; America's Food REformers; The Harvey Girls; Home Cooking in the FDR White House; POWs During WWII; Jewish Refugees Find Friends and Work; African-American Cooks; What Cookbooks Mean.
