The omnivorous mind [electronic resource] : our evolving relationship with food / John S. Allen.
Allen, John S. (John Scott), 1961-
2012
TX357 .A453 2012eb
Available Online

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Title The omnivorous mind [electronic resource] : our evolving relationship with food / John S. Allen.
Author Allen, John S. (John Scott), 1961-
ISBN 9780674064737 electronic book
9780674055728
Imprint Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2012.
Language English
Description 1 online resource (319 p.) : ill.
Call Number TX357 .A453 2012eb
Dewey Decimal Classification 616.85/26
Summary In this gustatory tour of human history, John S. Allen demonstrates that the everyday activity of eating offers deep insights into human beings' biological and cultural heritage. We humans eat a wide array of plants and animals, but unlike other omnivores we eat with our minds as much as our stomachs. This thoughtful relationship with food is part of what makes us a unique species, and makes culinary cultures diverse. Not even our closest primate relatives think about food in the way Homo sapiens does. We are superomnivores whose palates reflect the natural history of our species. Drawing on the work of food historians and chefs, anthropologists and neuroscientists, Allen starts out with the diets of our earliest ancestors, explores cooking's role in our evolving brain, and moves on to the preoccupations of contemporary foodies. The Omnivorous Mind delivers insights into food aversions and cravings, our compulsive need to label foods as good or bad, dietary deviation from healthy food pyramids, and cross-cultural attitudes toward eating (with the French, bien sûr, exemplifying the pursuit of gastronomic pleasure).To explain, for example, the worldwide popularity of crispy foods, Allen considers first the food habits of our insect-eating relatives. He also suggests that the sound of crunch may stave off dietary boredom by adding variety to sensory experience. Or perhaps fried foods, which we think of as bad for us, interject a frisson of illicit pleasure. When it comes to eating, Allen shows, there's no one way to account for taste.
Bibliography, etc. Note Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description Description based on print version record.
Available in Other Form Omnivorous mind.
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Crispy
The two-legged, large-brained, small-faced, superomnivorous ape
Food and the sensuous brain
Eating more, eating less
Memories of food and eating
Categories : good food, bad food, yes food, no food
Food and the creative journey
Theory of mind, theory of food?

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