The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe

 The Lost Supper

 by Taras Grescoe

The Lost Supper by Taras Grescoe was published

 on 9th November 2023 by Greystone Books.

My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and to 

Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour.

Synopsis

In the tradition of Michael Pollan, Anthony Bourdain, and Mark Bittman, “a surprising, flavoursome tour of ancient cuisines” (Kirkus ★)—from Neolithic bread to ancient Roman fish sauce—and why reviving the foods of the past is the key to saving the future.

Many of us are worried (or at least we should be) about the impacts of globalization, pollution, and biotechnology on our diets. Whether it's monoculture crops, hormone-fed beef, or high-fructose corn syrup, industrially-produced foods have troubling consequences for us and the planet. But as culinary diversity diminishes, many people are looking to a surprising place to safeguard the future: into the past.

The Lost Supper explores an idea that is quickly spreading among restaurateurs, food producers, scientists, and gastronomes around the world: that the key to healthy and sustainable eating lies not in looking forward, but in looking back to the foods that have sustained us through our half-million-year existence as a species.

My Review

I found , and am still finding, this book an incredibly fascinating read. As someone who has had a lifelong interest in food, its origins, and how it is prepared etc the knowledge in this book is incredible.

Once I had read the prologue and the first chapter I decided that I wasn't going to read this book conventionally chapter by chapter, page by page. I decided to read the chapters that really interested me first ie; Hard Cheese. I am a Yorkshire lass raised on proper Wensleydale , or at least I thought I had been until I read this enlightening chapter on the original Wensleydale recipe. I found out that the original Wensleydale had been a blue cheese, open textured and soft, very similar to a French cheese which is understandable as it was first made at Jervaux Abbey by the Cistercian monks.

Thanks to this chapter I am now going to pay The Courtyard near Settle a visit and try some of Andrew and Sarah's Northern Dairies cattle cheese.

Following on from that I will be reading the next chapter about Puglia and The Death of the Immortals.

An absolutely cracking 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 book.

About the Author

Acclaimed author Taras Grescoe introduces readers to the surprising and forgotten flavours whose revival is captivating food-lovers around the world: ancient sourdough bread last baked by Egyptian pharaohs; raw-milk farmhouse cheese from critically endangered British dairy cattle; ham from Spanish pata negra pigs that have been foraging on acorns on a secluded island since before the United States was a nation; and olive oil from wild olive trees uniquely capable of resisting quickly evolving pests and modern pathogens.

From Ancient Roman fish sauce to Aztec caviar to the long-thought-extinct silphium, The Lost Supper is a deep dive into the latest frontier of global gastronomy—the archaeology of taste. Through vivid writing, history, and first-hand culinary experience, Grescoe sets out a provocative case: in order to save these foods, he argues, we've got to eat them.