(Image: Walker/Atlantic Books)
NEVER mind the contradictions, you can buy books proving that curry, oranges, salt or beef each single-handedly made our world modern. There is a certain appeal in this: you are aware codfish or whatever didn’t really transform the universe by itself, but part of the fun is being taken in by the audacious cleverness of tying all of history to one foodstuff.
could have written a similar “noun” book. A few, in fact, since he highlights a dozen foods and spices with outsize personalities. But instead of casting backwards for one…
