The Emperor's Feast
Publisher,Hodder Uk
Publication Date,
Format, Paperback
Weight,
No. of Pages, 320
Shelf: Non-Fiction Books / Humanities & Biography / Asian History & Politics
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The history of China - not according to emperors or battles, but according to its food and drink.
The Emperor's Feast is the epic story of a nation and a people, told through one of its most fundamental pillars and successful exports: food.
Following the journeys of different ingredients, dishes and eating habits over 5,000 years of history, author and presenter Jonathan Clements examines how China's political, cultural and technological evolution and her remarkable entrance onto the world stage have impacted how the Chinese - and the rest of the world - eat, drink and cook.
We see the influence of invaders such as the Mongols and the Manchus, and discover how food - like the fiery cuisine of Sichuan or the hardy dishes of the north - often became a stand-in for regional and national identities. We also follow Chinese flavours to the shores of Europe and America, where enterprising chefs and home cooks created new traditions and dishes unheard of in the homeland.
From dim sum to mooncakes to General Tso's chicken, The Emperor's Feast shows us that the story of Chinese food is ultimately the story of a nation: not just the one that history tells us, but also the one that China tells us about itself.
About the Author
Dr Jonathan Clements is a historian and TV presenter specialising in East Asia. He was visiting professor at Xi'an Jiaotong University in China from 2013 to 2019 and is the author of several books on the history of China, including A Brief History of China, The Art of War: A New Translation, and Confucius: A Biography. His history of the Silk Road and his lives of the First Emperor, Empress Wu and Wellington Koo have all been translated into Chinese.
Dr Clements has presented several seasons of Route Awakening (National Geographic), an award-winning television series about icons of Chinese culture
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.75 x 7.75 inches
