ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As books about food go, this is an unusual one because it says very little about the taste of food or the joy of eating. Given my focus on the “nonfood” uses of food, the reader might easily conclude that I am only concerned with food’s anthropological or geopolitical significance, and that I am not terribly interested in cooking or eating. Nothing could be further from the truth; and appropriately enough many of the people who helped me while I was writing this book did so over a meal. Toby Mundy of Atlantic Books crystallized my thoughts and proposed the title over lunch in Soho. George Gibson of Walker & Company embraced the idea over afternoon tea. I had constructive discussions with James Crabtree over sushi, Andreas Kluth over lunch at Zuni in San Francisco, Sarah Murray over coffee and cakes, and Paul Abrahams over lunch at the Garrick Club. Oliver Morton and Nancy Hynes helped me shape my ideas over several home-cooked meals.

   Vital roles were played by Katinka Matson, my agent, who helped me devise the idea for this book, and Jackie Johnson, my editor, who fine-tuned the recipe. Expert advice was provided by Michael Pollan, Tim Harford, Adrian Williams, Matt Ridley, Felipe Fernández-Armesto, and Marion Nestle. I would also like to express my gratitude to the many other people who helped things along during the writing process, including Tamzin Booth, Edward McBride, John Parker, Ann Wroe, Edward Carr, and Geoffrey Carr at the Fitzroy Somerset; Endymion Wilkinson; Tom Moultrie and Kathryn Stinson; Tim Coulter and Maureen Stapleton (thank you for the corn and peanut soup); Zoe and Patrick Ayling; Anneliese St-Amour; Cristiana Marti (a magician with deep-fried zucchini flowers); Kate Farquhar; Nick Powell; Chester Jenkins; Stephan Somogyi; Lee McKee; and Virginia Benz and Joe Anderer, with whom I have enjoyed many memorable meals over the years.

   Last but certainly not least I would like to thank my children, Ella and Miles, and my wife, Kirstin, who was the first to encourage me to take on the topic of food—and to whom I hereby vow never to mention turnips or the Norfolk four-course rotation ever again.