The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France

Nonfiction, History, European General, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies
Cover of the book The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France by Sean Takats, Johns Hopkins University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sean Takats ISBN: 9781421403380
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Publication: December 15, 2011
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Sean Takats
ISBN: 9781421403380
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication: December 15, 2011
Imprint:
Language: English

In the eighteenth-century French household, the servant cook held a special place of importance, providing daily meals and managing the kitchen and its finances. In this scrupulously researched and witty history, Sean Takats examines the lives of these cooks as they sought to improve their position in society and reinvent themselves as expert, skilled professionals.

Much has been written about the cuisine of the period, but Takats takes readers down into the kitchen and introduces them to the men and women behind the food. It is only in that way, Takats argues, that we can fully recover the scientific and cultural significance of the meals they created, and, more important, the contributions of ordinary workers to eighteenth-century intellectual life. He shows how cooks, along with decorators, architects, and fashion merchants, drove France’s consumer revolution, and how cooks' knowledge about a healthy diet and the medicinal properties of food advanced their professional status by capitalizing on the Enlightenment’s new concern for bodily and material happiness.

The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France explores a unique intersection of cultural history, labor history, and the history of science and medicine. Relying on an unprecedented range of sources, from printed cookbooks and medical texts to building plans and commercial advertisements, Takats reconstructs the evolving role of the cook in Enlightenment France.

Academics and students alike will enjoy this fascinating study of the invention of the professional chef, of how ordinary workers influenced emerging trends of scientific knowledge, culture-creation, and taste in eighteenth-century France.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the eighteenth-century French household, the servant cook held a special place of importance, providing daily meals and managing the kitchen and its finances. In this scrupulously researched and witty history, Sean Takats examines the lives of these cooks as they sought to improve their position in society and reinvent themselves as expert, skilled professionals.

Much has been written about the cuisine of the period, but Takats takes readers down into the kitchen and introduces them to the men and women behind the food. It is only in that way, Takats argues, that we can fully recover the scientific and cultural significance of the meals they created, and, more important, the contributions of ordinary workers to eighteenth-century intellectual life. He shows how cooks, along with decorators, architects, and fashion merchants, drove France’s consumer revolution, and how cooks' knowledge about a healthy diet and the medicinal properties of food advanced their professional status by capitalizing on the Enlightenment’s new concern for bodily and material happiness.

The Expert Cook in Enlightenment France explores a unique intersection of cultural history, labor history, and the history of science and medicine. Relying on an unprecedented range of sources, from printed cookbooks and medical texts to building plans and commercial advertisements, Takats reconstructs the evolving role of the cook in Enlightenment France.

Academics and students alike will enjoy this fascinating study of the invention of the professional chef, of how ordinary workers influenced emerging trends of scientific knowledge, culture-creation, and taste in eighteenth-century France.

More books from Johns Hopkins University Press

Cover of the book Operation Health by Sean Takats
Cover of the book The Black Skyscraper by Sean Takats
Cover of the book The Politics of Performance Funding for Higher Education by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Maryland Geography by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Arthur Ashe by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Alfred Wegener by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Neoliberalism and Contemporary Literary Culture by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Why Mars by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Embezzlement and High Treason in Louis XIV's France by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Scholars, Policymakers, and International Affairs by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Abraham Lincoln by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Clandestine Marriage by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Ethical Issues in Rural Health Care by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Why Can't I Stop? by Sean Takats
Cover of the book Transylvanian Dinosaurs by Sean Takats
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy