At first blush, pork, honey, salt, chile, rice, chocolate and tomato may seem an unremarkable and arbitrary grocery list. Consumers everywhere are well acquainted with pork chops, Honey Nut Cheerios, instant ramen, canned chili, prefab sushi, Hershey's candy bars and tomato soup. But longtime food writer Jenny Linford sees in these easily overlooked dietary staples the quiet champions of culinary history, worthy of celebration and scholarly examination for their enduring worldwide appeal, surprising versatility and fascinating backstories.
In Linford's latest, a Smithsonian Books publication titled The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World, the author both gives her readers a taste of the history behind each ingredient and peppers the seven chapters with a selection of scrumptious, easily prepared recipes exhibiting the wide-ranging applicability of the comestibles under consideration.
