About the book: Includes a great many new recipes and a much expanded account of our native cuisine. Thus we have here a wonderfully informative anecdotal history of American food its origins, preparation and preservation and a treasury of classic American recipes that refiects the distinctive quality of our culinary heritage, from the plain cooking of early settlers and their adaptations of Indian food, through inventive regional dishes based on available New World ingredients (maple syrup, corn, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, breakfast cereals). No other book tells us so much about the origins of such characteristically American kitchen achievements as soul food, Cajun cooking, Yankee hill-country fare, the festive dinners of the Old South, and finally the integration of cuisines brought from overseas by waves of immigration.

For this revised and expanded edition of American Food: The Gastronomic Story, Evan Jones has uncovered even more material about the origins of our traditional foods and recipes, highlighting European and other ethnic influences and adding more than two hundred new recipes, including regional specialties, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Jewish and Oriental dishes that have become a part of our culinary repertoire, plus a completely new section on game cooking. As James Beard said, I am delighted that Evan Jones has delved into the endless store of lore that is American cookery. The quantity of previously untouched, unresearched facts is tremendous. . . a great addition to American gastronomic lore.
Filled with fascinating stories of how and where American cuisine developed, and with its wide range of traditional and contemporary recipes for our national dishes, American Food: The Gastronomic Story is a cookbook classic that will delight the mind and palate.
About the authors: Evan Jones was born and educated in Minnesota. His books and articles which have appeared in The New York Times, Gourmet, Food and Wine, Cuisine, Travel and Leisure, and Americana reflect an interest in both the American past and in food. He is the author of The Minnesota: Forgotten River, The Plains States, Citadel in the Wilderness, The World of Cheese, and A Food Lover’s Companion. Judith Jones, co-author of the recipe section, is an editor at Knopf.