Nile Nightshade : An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gaul, Anny.

Series:

California Studies in Food and Culture Series

California Studies in Food and Culture Series ; v.87

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (327 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 2025.

Summary:

A cultural and culinary history of modern Egypt through the nation's beloved tomato. By the end of the twentieth century, the tomato--indigenous to the Americas--had become Egypt's top horticultural crop and a staple of Egyptian cuisine. The tomato brought together domestic consumers, cookbook readers, and home cooks through a shared culinary culture that sometimes transcended differences of class, region, gender, and ethnicity--and sometimes reinforced them. In Nile Nightshade, Anny Gaul shows how Egyptians' embrace of the tomato and the emergence of Egypt's modern national identity were both driven by the modernization of the country's food system. Drawing from cookbooks, archival materials, oral histories, and vernacular culture, Gaul follows this commonplace food into the realms of domestic policy and labor through the hands of Egypt's overwhelmingly female home cooks. As they wrote recipes and cooked meals, these women forged key aspects of public culture that defined how Egyptians recognized themselves and one another as Egyptian.

Contents:

Cover

Title page

Copyright

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

A Note on Units of Measurement

Chronology

Introduction

1. Tomato Trajectories: From Mexico to Misr

2. How Do You Say "Tomato" in Egyptian?

3. Magnuna ya Oota: Tomato as Complaint

4. Defining Egyptian Taste: Tomatoes in Domestic Cookbooks

5. Creating Egyptian Flavor: Tomatoes in Home Kitchens

6. Red Stew, Green Stew: Cooking Okra in the Nile Valley

Conclusion: How Tomatoes Became Egyptian

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Series Editors.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-520-40915-9

OCLC:

1535404286