Urban appetites : food and culture in nineteenth-century New York Cindy R. Lobel

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lobel, Cindy R., author.

Series:

Historical studies of urban America

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food consumption--Social aspects--New York (State)--New York--History--19th century.

Food consumption.

Food supply--Social aspects--New York (State)--New York--History--19th century.

Food supply.

Food habits--Social aspects--New York (State)--New York--History--19th century.

Food habits.

Physical Description:

ix, 276 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2014.

Summary:

"Glossy magazines write about them, celebrities give their names to them, and you'd better believe there's an app (or ten) committed to finding you the right one. They are New York City restaurants and food shops. And their journey to international notoriety is a captivating one. The now-booming food capital was once a small seaport city, home to a mere six municipal food markets that were stocked by farmers, fishermen, and hunters who lived in the area. By 1890, however, the city's population had grown to more than one million, and residents could dine in thousands of restaurants with a greater abundance and variety of options than any other place in the United States. Historians, sociologists, and foodies alike will devour the story of the origins of New York City's food industry in Urban Appetites. Cindy R. Lobel focuses on the rise of New York as both a metropolis and a food capital, opening a new window onto the intersection of the cultural, social, political, and economic transformations of the nineteenth century. She offers wonderfully detailed accounts of public markets and private food shops; basement restaurants and immigrant diners serving favorites from the old country; cake and coffee shops; and high-end, French-inspired eating houses made for being seen in society as much as for dining. But as the food and the population became increasingly cosmopolitan, corruption, contamination, and undeniably inequitable conditions escalated. Urban Appetites serves up a complete picture of the evolution of the city, its politics, and its foodways."--Jacket.

Contents:

"Convenient to the New York market": feeding New York City in the early national period, 1786-1830

"The glory of a plenteous land": the transformation of New York's food supply 1825-1865

"Monuments of municipal malfeasance": the flip side of dietary abundance, 1825-1865

"To see and be seen": restaurants and public culture, 1825-1865

"No place more attractive than home": domesticity and consumerism, 1830-1880

"The empire of gastronomy": New York and the world, 1850-1890

Conclusion: from the Broadway shambles to New Amsterdam market.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 209-252) and index.

ISBN:

9780226128757

022612875X

OCLC:

857356639