The Language of Food

Zusammenfassung
Stanford University linguist and MacArthur Fellow Dan Jurafsky dives into the hidden history of food.

Auteur

Dan Jurafsky, a recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant," is professor and chair of linguistics and professor of computer science at Stanford University. He and his wife live in San Francisco.

Texte du rabat

Ketchup began as a fermented fish sauce from China's Fujian province: ke for fermented fish, tchup for sauce. The British were the first to add tomatoes to their anchovy "catsup" in 1817. A century later, Heinz changed the spelling again-and added sugar.

In The Language of Food, Dan Jurafsky opens a panoramic window onto everything from the modern descendants of ancient recipes to the hidden persuasion in restaurant reviews. Combining history with linguistic analysis, Jurafsky uncovers a global atlas of premodern culinary influence: why we toast to good health at dinner and eat toast for breakfast and why the Chinese don't have a word for "dessert". Engaging and eclectic, Jurafsky's study reveals how everything from medieval meal order to modern menu design informs the way we drink and dine today. Tuck in!

Résumé
Stanford University linguist and MacArthur Fellow Dan Jurafsky dives into the hidden history of food.