Books in the Big City Food Biographies series

New York City's first food biography showcases the vibrancy, innovation, diversity, and taste of this most-celebrated American metropolis.

Barbecue, fried chicken, chili, and steak: these foods immediately call to mind Kansas City's reputation for fantastic cuisine. This food biography tells the story of how geography, politics, arts, race, and culture came together to create these iconic foods and fuel a Kansas City food renaissance that is now finding renewed popularity and acclaim.

Chicago, situated at the crossroads of America, has long been known for its restaurants and cuisine. Its food history highlights the history of Chicago as a place where cultures meet and clash and food is manufactured for the world. This book vividly recounts the history of food, dining, and cuisine in this quintessential American city.

More than just food carts and microbrews, Portland has a story to tell. Its culinary history sings the song of the salmon-people, the pioneers and immigrants, each struggling to make this strange but inviting land between the Pacific and the Cascades feel like home. Portland: A Food Biography chronicles the Rose City's rise from a Wild West outpost - a diminutive extension of San Francisco - to the critical darling of the national food scene.

New Orleans' celebrated status derives in large measure from its incredibly rich food culture, based mainly on Creole and Cajun traditions. At last, this world-class destination has its own food biography.

Offers a comprehensive exploration of Seattle's cuisine from geographical, historical, cultural, and culinary perspectives. From glaciers to geoducks, from the Salish Sea with swift currents sweeping wild salmon home from the Pacific Ocean to their original spawning grounds, to settlers, immigrants, and restaurateurs, Seattle's culinary history is vibrant and delicious, defining the Puget Sound region as well as a major U.S. city. Exploring the Pacific Northwest 's history from a culinary perspective provides an ideal opportunity to investigate the area's Native American cooking culture, along with Seattle's early boom years when its first settlers arrived. Waves of immigrants from the mid-1800s into the early 1900s brought ethnic culinary traditions from Europe and beyond and added more flavor to the mix. As Seattle grew from a wild frontier settlement into a major twentieth century hub for transportation and commerce following World War II, its home cooks prepared many All-American dishes, but continued to honor and prepare the region's indigenous foods. Taken altogether and described in the pages of this book, it's quickly evident few cities and regions have culinary traditions as distinctive as Seattle's.

The Eternal Table is the first concise cultural history of food in Rome from the pre-Romans to modern day. This historical narrative revisits the rich story of Rome through a culinary lens recounting the human partnership with what was raised, picked, fished, caught, slaughtered, cooked, and served, from farm and market to banquets and festivals.

The history of Parisian food is covered in this captivating tour of the physical city and its culinary heritage from the time of its first inhabitants through today. The author takes a look at its markets, its eateries, its immigrant groups and their food, its drinks, its cookbooks, and the dishes and recipes that exemplify the city's offerings.