- Evening Standard
- 11 October 1999
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| 'The Oxford Companion to Food displays an astonishing range of knowledge across
histories and cultures...'
'So, no, the Oxford Companion to Food is not perfect, but it is extraordinary. It
is the kind of book you pick up to glance at an entry and reluctantly put down an hour or
two later...'
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- Wall Street Journal
- October 1999
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"In scope and ambition, this guide to the history
and use of food is a work of scholarship comparable to the original edition of the
Dictionary of National Biography."
"Some day the field of food history or culinary
history or gastronomy or foodways... will achieve full academic respectability. This
will be largely thanks to Mr. Davidson's labors and The Oxford Companion to Food."
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- Evening Standard
- 11 October 1999
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| ''Davidson has
produced an instructive, erudite and delightful book. Read it
and be dazzled... '
'The Companion is true to its
name, a friendly presence, guiding us through the universe of food
with humour and wit.'
'It is a rare thing to be both
idiosyncratic and comprehensive, but Davidson manages it.' |
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- The Oxford Times
- 15 October 1999
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"Alan Davidson... one of the world's foremost
authorities on fish and fish cookery, has come up with one of the most comprehensive books
on food ever to have been compiled."
"Food writer Geraldene Holt calls Alan a delightful
one-off. 'No other food writer approaches his utmost devotion to getting the facts
right on such a vast canvas. Moreover, he does this in the most charming and
endearing way... and now his masterwork The Oxford Companion to Food, will be the
most encyclopedic book of its kind for generations.' "
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- Independent on Sunday
- 24 October 1999
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| 'Never a minute goes by without a deep chuckle, and there
are times when one has to hoot and yell'
'Davidson is erudite, cosmopolitan and democratic...'
'Davidson... has produced a highly readable work of
reference, one which does not abandon scholarship for colour...'
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- Time
- 1 November 1999
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'It is hard to imagine a more congenial companion than
Davidson, a former diplomat, food historian and polymath, to take readers through the
meaning and history of most things edible.'
'For serious food historians, this will no doubt become
an irreplaceable companion. For those amateurs who are merely fascinated by food and
who appreciate lucid and witty writing... it will provide hours of amusement.'
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- Financial Times
- 6/7 November 1999
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| 'Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food...
is a magnificent feast... richly informative and entertaining in its
astonishing breadth of coverage - addictive reading.' |
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