Tastes of the Empire

During the 17th century, England saw foreign foods made increasingly available to consumers and featured in recipe books, medical manuals, treatises, travel narratives, and even in plays. Yet the public’s fascination with these foods went beyond just eating them. Through exotic presentations in popular culture, they were able to mentally partake of products for which they may not have had access. This book examines the “body and mind” consumerism of the early British Empire.

Jillian Azevedo is a Lecturer with the University Writing Program at the University of California, Davis.

Jillian Azevedo

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 225
Bibliographic Info: 4 photos, appendix, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6862-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3117-2
Imprint: McFarland

Preface 1
Introduction 7
1. Culinary Travels: William Dampier and Travel Narratives 19
2. “Let the skie raine Potatoes”: Foreign Foods in English Plays 49
3. “The Queens Closet Opened” 72
4. Foreign Additives in Domestic Remedies 95
5. Vices and Virtues: Tobacco, Chocolate, Coffee, and Tea in Print 122
Conclusion 152
Appendix: English Plays Featuring Foreign Foods 161
Chapter Notes 178
Bibliography 196
Index 213

“Azevedo describes the exotic foods that were brought to England by the forging of empire and examines the ‘impact these foods had on the society consuming them.’ She is interested not only in the consumption of foods and spices, but how these foods shaped the English imagination…. recommended”—Choice.