Rice: A Global History (Edible) - Hardcover

"Historical anecdotes and evocative descriptions of meals certainly whet the appetite for cooking up, or ordering in, rice for dinner. In broad brush strokes Marton recounts the movement of rice through the ages. . . . The book does a nice job of illustrating the long global history of rice and the many ways in which cultures have turned rice into a food and a symbol. It is an accessible source on the past 1,000 years or so of rice history, nicely illustrated with colour photographs of rice meals, tools, and historical depictions, from a sixteenth-century Persian sultan receiving rice to an 1866 rice harvest in South Carolina. If you have never really thought much about where the rice you eat comes from, then this book will open your eyes to how global and cross-cultural the story of rice has been and will offer some alternative recipes by which to try a taste of this history." --Nature Plants

Rice: A Global History presents in detail the historical journey that rice has taken, from its early origin as a staple food in Asian and West African countries to its ubiquitous place in meals across the world today. Rice has become a significant and indispensable agricultural product worldwide, often through slavery, indentured labour and immigration. An important part of many well-known and popular dishes, rice is both a key ingredient of high-end cuisine and a staple of more inexpensive, everyday meals. This dichotomy has existed since the early years of the grain's burgeoning popularity, when the rice trade was driven simultaneously by profits from the high-status commercial export of rice and the lower-quality rice eaten by workers and labourers. Increasing urbanization and the rise of marketing, advertising and military requirements have all influenced the role of rice retail through the years. Though not heavily traded worldwide, rice has long had a strong influence on the global political scene.It also has deep emotional significance at the table, where it holds great importance integral to many ethnic identities and appears in cultural rituals, literature, music, painting and poetry. Our cultural habits, the arts and the myriad ways in which we plant, harvest, package and consume rice help to define peoples all over the world. Containing an array of delicious recipes as well as delving into the history of this essential grain, Rice is an engaging look at one of our most enriching foods.