Thin crust, Chicago deep-dish or Sicilian; there are countless ways to create the dish called pizza, and the debate over the best way to cook it never ends. Carol Helstosky documents the fascinating history and cultural life of this chameleon-like food in Pizza.Originally a food for the poor in eighteenth-century Naples, pizza is a source of national and regional pride in Italy as well as of cultural identity. In the twentieth century, pizza followed...

This work provides an approachable introduction to the history and the many forms that bread takes throughout the world. It provides an analysis of the different components of bread such as crust and crumb, to enable readers to better understand the breads they buy.

"Mother's Milk or Blue Ruin, Dutch Courage or Cuckold's Comfort, the fanciful nicknames that gin has acquired only hint at its colourful story. The story begins with the aromatic juniper berry originally used by the Dutch to flavour the whisky-like genever. The drink then made its way to Britain, where cheap imitations laced with turpentine and other caustic fillers made it the drink of choice for poor eighteenth-century Londoners. Eventually replaced...

"'Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!' A favourite of pirates, the molasses-coloured liquid brings to mind clear blue seas and weatherbeaten sailors. But enjoyment of rum spread far beyond the scallywags of the Caribbean--Charles Dickens savoured it in punch, George Washington served it at campaign rallies, Queen Victoria sipped it in the British Navy's grog, and Kamehameha I of Hawaii drank it straight. In Rum Richard Foss tells the colourful, secret history...