Find Background on Food History & Terminology
Use these dictionaries and encyclopedias to learn the language of cooking.
- Fast food and Junk Food: an Encyclopedia of What We Love to EatAvailable in full-text online. Junk food and fast food have come to play an extremely important role in American economic, historical, cultural, and social life. Tells the intriguing, fun, and incredible stories behind the successes of these commercial food products and documents the numerous health-related, environmental, cultural, and politico-economic issues associated with them. More than 700 alphabetically arranged entries. Charts the spread of some American fast food chains and commercially produced junk foods internationally.
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in AmericaAvailable in full-text electronically. 700 original, intriguing articles-from "Apple Pie" to "Zombie"--The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America covers the significant events, inventions, and social movements in American history that have affected the way Americans view, prepare, and consume food and drink. The articles treat regions, people, ingredients, companies, advertising, historical eras, holidays and festivals, and political, scientific, and economic currents pertinent to American cuisine.
- The Oxford Companion to FoodAvailable in full-text online. Its combination of serious food history, culinary expertise, and entertaining serendipity was recognized as utterly unique. Including both an exhaustive catalog of the foods that nourish humankind and a richly allusive commentary on the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookbooks. Jaine assiduously alerts readers to new avenues in food studies. Agriculture; archeology; food in art, film, literature, and music; globalization; neuroanatomy; and the Silk Road.
Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural EthicsISBN: 9789402411799Articles on the ethical rationale behind production, distribution and consumption of food, and the use of crops for fuel and fiber. These wide-ranging debates encompass questions in human nutrition, animal rights, and the environmental impacts of agricultural production.
The SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues by ISBN: 9781452243016Publication Date: 2015-05-08The SAGE Encyclopedia of Food Issues explores the topic of food across multiple disciplines within the social sciences and related areas including business, consumerism, marketing, and environmentalism.
Encyclopedia of Food and CulturePublication Date: Scribner, 2003Presents articles on food and its place in human culture and society, including entries on topics from food preparation, distribution and storage to holidays and festivals, nutrition and health, and cultures and cuisines. Includes photographs, illustrations, sidebars, recipes, menus, timelines and a comprehensive index.
- Deep RoutesDeep Routes is a culinary and agricultural curriculum project that uplifts Black and Indigenous foodways, designed for Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) educators and learners. We're building a platform of learning resources that affirm BIPOC culinary and agricultural stories.
Contributors, Amara Ullauri, Cris Izaguirre, Claudia Navas, Maya Marie S. Deep Routes website
Print books:
The Prentice Hall Essentials Dictionary of Culinary Arts by Call Number: ILR Ref: TX349 .L34 2008Publication Date: 200This concise version of the culinary dictionary is sized and priced to be used with other Hospitality/Culinary books. Offering over 6,000 entries. Charts for common food additives, common food labeling terms, and selected produce varieties appear in the back and metric conversions and measurement equivalents are also included. Designed to support those in culinary arts, its definitions, line drawings, charts and tables are excellent for quick, at-a-glance reference.
The Food Encyclopedia by Call Number: ILR: TX349 .R644 2006Publication Date: 2006The most comprehensive and authoritative food encyclopedia available. The Food Encyclopedia has 8,000 entries, with cross-reference on foods, wines, beverages, cooking methods and techniques, and biographies of prominent people. Included are more than 150 biographies of prominent individuals -- chefs, authors and inventors -- who have contributed to food and its lore.
The Culinary Institute of America Cookbook by Call Number: ILR: TX715 .C96266 2008Publication Date: 2008The Culinary Institute of America Cookbook is complete with our favorite recipes for morning meals, baked goods, appetizers, hors d'oeuvres, soups, light meals, main courses, side dishes, and scrumptious desserts.
Online Subject Encyclopedias
- St. James Encyclopedia of Popular CultureA good overview of frequently-researched American popular culture topics.
- Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social HistoryContains 450 articles. It expands and updates the coverage of American social history found in The Oxford Companion to United States History.
Better than Wikipedia
Olin Reference Collection
Subject Encyclopedias are great for:
- choosing a topic
- educating yourself quickly
- perspective on a topic
- variant spellings, vocabulary, terminology
- bibliographies of critical sources