The Secret History of Food: Strange but True Stories About the Origins of Everything We Eat

Written by Matt Siegel

Narrated by Roger Wayne

An irreverent, surprising, and entirely entertaining look at the little-known history surrounding the foods we know and love

Is Italian olive oil really Italian, or are we dipping our bread in lamp oil? Why are we masochistically drawn to foods that can hurt us, like hot peppers? Far from being a classic American dish, is apple pie actually . . . English?

“As a species, we’re hardwired to obsess over food,” Matt Siegel explains as he sets out “to uncover the hidden side of everything we put in our mouths.” Siegel also probes subjects ranging from the myths—and realities—of food as aphrodisiac, to how one of the rarest and most exotic spices in all the world (vanilla) became a synonym for uninspired sexual proclivities, to the role of food in fairy- and morality tales. He even makes a well-argued case for how ice cream helped defeat the Nazis.

The Secret History of Food is a rich and satisfying exploration of the historical, cultural, scientific, sexual, and, yes, culinary subcultures of this most essential realm. Siegel is an armchair Anthony Bourdain, armed not with a chef’s knife but with knowledge derived from medieval food-related manuscripts, ancient Chinese scrolls, and obscure culinary journals. Funny and fascinating, The Secret History of Food is essential reading for all foodies.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Aug 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9780062973238

Matt Siegel

Matt Siegel has written about food and culture for publications including the Atlantic and the Paris Review. Previously an English professor, he now lives in Richmond, Virginia, where he writes full time and consults with brands in the food and beverage industries. His dog’s name is Waffles.

Reviews for The Secret History of Food

[Lyda Pierce · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a fun and educational read. I learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it

[Firedrake · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very wise-cracky with a great deal of emphasis on pies. Disappointing, the idea holds promise

[jon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great book but I wished it went more in depth

[addunn3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This seems to be more of a rehash of information from other material I have read. I few new additions.

[annbury_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fun food facts -- a quick and pleasant read about various strange eating habits. Icky in some places, but fun overall.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The Secret History of Food by Matt Siegal is a 2021 Ecco publication. This is a fun look at the history of some our most common- and beloved foods- such as apple pie, for example. The book takes what could be a great deal of minutia and trivia and turned it into an entertaining history and food lesson. The sarcastic remarks added humor, while keeping one engaged and focused. Food is definitely something we spend a great deal of time thinking about, but how often do we really stop to consider the history of the food, or the psychological connections behind our food choices? Do we really eat hot chilies to distract us from other types of pain? The science in this book appears to be dependable information, and I found it to be quite fascinating. Some of the lists went on a little too long, as we got the gist long before Siegal exhausted us on the various flavors of Prego Pasta sauce, though the points made about numerous choices we are presented with in the supermarket was interesting. I can attest to feeling a little overwhelmed by the overabundance of brands, flavors, sizes, etc., from time to time. Also, worth noting for those considering this book, nearly half of it is dedicated to notes. It is good to see the sources and I feel comforted by the legitimacy of the information I am asked to absorb, but I do wish there was some way to give readers a heads up about the actual number of reading pages in a book before purchasing it. Other than that, this is an excellent way to learn about some little-known food facts, we should all consider, and is presented in an entertaining, engrossing manner. It’s also a quick, easy read that shouldn’t take long to digest…3.5 stars

[nbmars · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Food writer Matt Siegel reminds me a great deal of history writer Simon Winder. Winder’s histories of Europe are organized roughly like a travelogue. He teaches history of different regions by combining factual information with droll observations and fascinating curiosities of history. Siegel does the same with his heavily footnoted tour of food and eating.The author begins with a quote that makes the point: “It is the absolute biological necessity of food that makes it so central to cultural history and so inclusive of all peoples in all times.”Throughout the ten chapters of this book - short, but chock-full of information - he goes back in the history of civilization as well as the history of a human being from its pre-natal development phases, and apprises us about how choice and preparation of food has affected it all. In particular, certain foods have made a huge impact.Pie, he tells us, has an important place in American history, and he documents that assertion, but also explains what pies *used* to be before Americans transformed them into something more - benign - shall we say. He then segues into a history of the apple in America. Apples, by the way, are not even free of corn, which is the subject of his fourth chapter on corn’s centrality and ubiquity. As for centrality, he explains that “…corn is right up there with fire in terms of anthropological game changers.” “…Up until roughly ten or twelve thousand years ago corn wasn’t a thing, and neither was farming. “ Before that point, everyone who’d ever lived had survived by hunting and gathering. Farming meant staying in one place and also developing systems of trading, defense, permanent lodging, developing irrigation systems, and dealing with more free time.And as for corn’s ubiquity, he explains that the average American consumes about three pounds of food containing corn or corn products every day, often unknowingly. Even apples, the author points out, have a layer of food-grade wax derived from corn sprayed onto them. (“Still [he notes], human consumption accounts for only around 10 percent of the corn supply, as it’s also an industrial ingredient in basically everything” from aspirin to cosmetics to batteries, crayons, plastics, paper, fuel, soap, wallpaper, and much much more.]My favorite chapter was of course Chapter 6, because it dealt with ice cream (and, as with his other chapters, a whole lot of other things that are in the least way related). He observes that vanilla is the world’s most popular ice cream flavor and second most expensive spice. But up to 99 percent of vanilla flavoring in foods is artificial. He writes about the importance of ice cream to morale in both world wars, and adds the most wonderful anecdote: “In 1942, when Japanese torpedoes struck the USS Lexington, then the second largest aircraft carrier in the navy’s arsenal, the crew abandoned ship - but not before breaking into the freezer and raiding all the ice cream. Survivors describe scooping it into their helmets before lowering themselves into shark-infested waters.”He also includes a history of holiday feasting, a discussion of fast food, and the explosion of choices of food. (For example, he notes, “we can now choose from more than fifty types of Oreos.”)There is so much more - too much to delineate in a review, but foodies and history buffs alike with find it all informative and delightful.Evaluation: This quirky book could be classified as an academic history, although it contains a lot of useful background on an important topic. Nevertheless, it is extremely entertaining, and full of factoids you will want to share with everyone around you.

[mm_jones · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Neither history or science, rather a collection of fascinating food triviaIncludes almost fifty pages of notes citing sources. With chapters such as "Honey Laundering" and "Forbidden Berries".

[beamis12 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Chock full of intriguing facts and information about many of the common foods we eat. The history, changing faces of how they were used, where they came from and much more. Honey, corn, vanilla, and ice cream, etc. Loved the chapter on ice cream, never knew how important it was during the second world war.The chapter on our first settlers provided a humorous visual I can't get out of my mind. When these settlers arrived in America, there was food a plenty, especially in the ocean, but they didn't know how to catch nor use what was available. "Meanwhile, civilized consists were attempting to fish with frying pans and eating their own dogs to keep from starving." Okay, the dog part is sad but cant you just see John Smith attempting to hit fish over the head with a frying pan? Another fact I found astonishing and unfortunate, especially now when so many are considered obese, was found in the chapter titled, Choices of a new generation. "More than 36 percent of Americans consume fast food daily, increasing to 80 percent monthly and 96 percent annually." Makes one think.Which is exactly what this book did, make me think, about history, food and what we put in our bodies.