The Medieval Kitchen (2012) makes one appreciate that the world has changed. To have lived a life in the medieval times meant hygiene and eating habits that by today’s standards seem crude.

The days were long for people who lived in medieval times. It was believed that if you were to live a long life you would wake up at 5 in the morning, eat dinner at 9 in the morning, eat supper at 5 in the evening and be in bed at 9 at night just to wake up and do it all over again. It was a only eat twice a day; more meals was considered unhealthy and courted sin. Also, it was important to separate one’s self from the lower animals whose behavior was to eat all day.

Hygiene was a really important issue during a formal medieval meal because individual forks had not yet been introduced; everyone ate with their fingers. Towards the end of the 14^th century the Italians introduced the regular use of individual forks but, it took another 200-300 years for it to spread to other parts of Europe. This was an important issue because many dishes were served in one big platter. Everyone who sat at the table all reached in to grab their food with their fingers. Therefore it was important for one to wash his or her hands and keep them clean so their germs would not be spread.

The lower class and the upper class at very differently. Lower class people ate a lot of vegetables and food plants along with bread. For dinner a workers diet consisted of barley bread, cabbage, and some milk. The lower class typically boiled their food so they could get the maximum nutrients. On the other hand the upper class people had numerous dishes being served to them for each meal of the day. They were served the best produce, meats, fish and spices they could afford and if any of it went bad it was tossed out for anyone outside of the family who wanted it. One thing both classes had in common was that meat was only eaten on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays were fasting days which means that no one ate meat on theses days.

Kitchen Culture in America (Inness 2000) describes the ways in which American culture has changed and how women’s day to day lives in the kitchen has been affected. Issues of gender and culture are interwoven in the history of domestic space. Issues of gender and culture are interwoven in the history of domestic space. This book opens one’s eyes to the role gender has played in the domestic space of the kitchen.

We often limit our consideration of cookbooks recipes and instructions and nothing more than that. Yet cookbooks as Inness points out are one of the most strongly gendered forms of literature other than romance novels. From the 1920’s to the 1960’s cookbooks were manuals on how to live one’s life. Some cookbooks specifically told women that if they were to cook the recipes in “this” book then all the men would come to them like hungry little fish. The other cookbooks convinced women that the certain recipes would help them keep their husbands. The main intention of those cookbooks was to instruct women on how to catch and keep a man.

Cookbooks played a huge role in American food culture. Along with the industrial revolution, food processing, and fast food joints, cookbooks have shaped our culture to be what it is now. Depending on the author and what his or her cultural background was cookbooks informed women about culturall specific types of food and preparation. Cookbooks also instructed women on what to wear while they worked in the kitchen and what they should look like. One cook book would tell women that they need to dress up, put on make-up and fix their hair just right while another cookbook would tell women that they should not wear any jewelry, or make-up, that a simple cotton dress on with a specific type of apron was best in the kitchen.

This book is recommended to anyone that is interested in American food culture and who appreciates great visual as illustration.

I started reading Kitchen Culture in America (Inness 2000) and so far I really like reading this book. I love that all the information really does represent food, gender, race, and some history along with it!

I never knew candy had so much history behind it and that it played such a huge role in women’s lives rather than men’s lives. Candy eating was initially viewed as a feminine activity and “everything from low levels of endorphins and estrogen after ovulation to “premenstrual mood changes such as irritability, impulsive behavior, and anger” (14) have been cited by Jane Dusselier as reasons why women crave candy.”

After reading that, made me wonder how true that really is? Is that really the reason why we women crave candy, or is it because it just tastes so good? Between 1910 and 1920 eating candy had been transformed into an activity that expressed both genders. For men, candy was advertised as an enhancer to their strength and endurance, but for women it was advertised as elegant and pure, almost “angel like.”. In fact, the U.S. War Department commissioned one New York firm alone to ship fifty tons of candy to Spanish-American War battle fields in hopes to improve the endurance and health of American soldiers.

After reading chapter two in this book, “Campbell’s soup and the long shelf lifeof traditional gender roles” (Parkin),-  I was amazed at all the things food companies advertised and how people fell prey to the advertisements, especially  women. When women would cook for their families it was an activity emblematic of women’s love. Food advertising is one of the reasons why traditional ideals about food preparation and consumption generally prevailed in society. The Joseph Campbell Company began making canned soups in the 1890s and was one of the earliest believers in the powers of advertising. When women first started helping their husbands provide for the family they really started believing the advertisements.  One 1936 Campbell’s soup ad “Wife Beaters.” implied that women could be in danger if their husbands were dissatisfied with the food.

This book is written in an easy style that promotes an easy read. Each chapter is centered on one specific topic, which is great. I’m looking forward to my continued read, and expanding my knowledge concerning kitchen culture and gender roles.