Dinner with Darwin : Food, Drink, and Evolution

An Invitation to Dinner There are too many books on food. That is a contrary, self-defeating statement to read in yet another book on food, but have you never wondered what there could possibly be left to say on the subject? This thought certainly occurred to me one afternoon as, careful not to awaken the exhausted students dozing in the window niches, I browsed the food section of the well-stocked library at University of California, Davis. There, every facet of food and drink from Artichoke to Zinfandel is researched and taught. Merely scanning the titles on the shelves was an education in itself. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Smoking Foods has presumably prevented many of its intellectually challenged readers from mistaking barbecue for pipe tobacco. Who would have thought that a large volume on Bubbles in Food would require an even more voluminous follow-up: Bubbles in Food 2? Or that shelved among books on meat and pies, a book called A Diet of Tripe would not contain instructions on how to survive on the cooked stomach lining of cows, but a diatribe against food faddism in general and vegetarianism in particular. Across the aisle was No More Bull!, a vegan manifesto written by an erstwhile cowboy. If the authors of these two books ever met, I’d like to think that the author of Handheld Pies would also be there to supply the ammo. On a more serious note (well, almost), the proceedings of an Oxford Symposium on food and cookery yielded a mother lode of erudition on “Ancient Jewish Sausages,” “Transylvanian Charcoal-Coated Bread,” “Shad Planking,” and UFOs (“Unidentified Fermented Objects”). For the more industrially minded cook, there was the book Food Processing by Ultra High Pressure Twin-Screw Extrusion. So, just in case there really is a surfeit of books on food, I want us to pretend that what you now hold in your hands is not so much a book as an invitation to dinner in the hope that, if you are like me, you can never have too many of those. This, though, is going to be a dinner with a difference. This is going to be a dinner of the mind. Of course, every meal belongs in the brain, for this is where the sensations created by eating food are processed and perceived, but my invitation is to think about what we eat in a different way. A "delectably erudite" study of how natural selection has shaped the foods we eat: "This intricate scientific banquet is a marvelous read: bon appétit." — Nature What do eggs, flour, and milk have in common? They form the basis of waffles, of course, but these breakfast staples also share an evolutionary function: eggs, seeds (from which we derive flour by grinding), and milk have each evolved to nourish offspring. Indeed, ponder the genesis of your breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and you'll soon realize that everything we eat and drink has an evolutionary history. Dinner with Darwin is a multicourse meal of evolutionary gastronomy, a tantalizing tour of human taste that helps us understand the origins of our diets and the foods that have been central to them for millennia—from spices to spirits. A delectable concoction of coevolution and cookery, gut microbiomes and microherbs, and both the chicken and its egg, it reveals that our recipe cards and restaurant menus don't just contain the ingredients for culinary delight. They also tell a fascinating story about natural selection and its influence on our plates—and palates. Digging deeper, Jonathan Silvertown's repast includes entrées into GMOs and hybrids, and looks at the science of our sensory interactions with foods and cooking—the sights, aromas, and tastes we experience in our kitchens and dining rooms. As is the wont of any true chef, he packs his menu with eclectic components, dishing on everything from Charles Darwin's intestinal maladies to taste bud anatomy and turducken. Our evolutionary relationship with food and drink stretches from the days of cave dwellers to contemporary crêperies and beyond, and Dinner with Darwin serves up scintillating insight into the entire awesome span. With a wit as dry as a fine pinot noir and a vast cache of evolutionary knowledge, Silvertown whets our appetites—and leaves us hungry for more. "The book left me feeling as if I had attended a dinner party, where foodies, historians, and scientists mingled, sharing vignettes on various food-related topics." — Science What do eggs, flour, and milk have in common? They form the basis of waffles, of course, but these staples of breakfast bounty also share an evolutionary function: eggs, seeds (from which we derive flour by grinding), and milk have each evolved to nourish offspring. Indeed, ponder the genesis of your breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and you'll soon realize that everything we eat and drink has an evolutionary history. In Dinner with Darwin, join Jonathan Silvertown for a multicourse meal of evolutionary gastronomy, a tantalizing tour of human taste that helps us to understand the origins of our diets and the foods that have been central to them for millennia--from spices to spirits. A delectable concoction of coevolution and cookery, gut microbiomes and microherbs, and both the chicken and its egg, Dinner with Darwin reveals that our shopping lists, recipe cards, and restaurant menus don't just contain the ingredients for culinary delight. They also tell a fascinating story about natural selection and its influence on our plates--and palates. Digging deeper, Silvertown's repast includes entrées into GMOs and hybrids, and looks at the science of our sensory interactions with foods and cooking--the sights, aromas, and tastes we experience in our kitchens and dining rooms. As is the wont of any true chef, Silvertown packs his menu with eclectic components, dishing on everything from Charles Darwin's intestinal maladies to taste bud anatomy and turducken. Our evolutionary relationship with food and drink stretches from the days of cooking cave dwellers to contemporary crêperies and beyond, and Dinner with Darwin serves up scintillating insight into the entire, awesome span. This feast of soup, science, and human society is one to savor. With a wit as dry as a fine pinot noir and a cache of evolutionary knowledge as vast as the most discerning connoisseur's wine cellar, Silvertown whets our appetites--and leaves us hungry for more The transition from hunting and gathering to farming – the Neolithic Revolution – was one of the most signi cant cultural processes in human history that forever changed the face of humanity. Natu an communities (15,100–12,000Cal BP) (all dates in this chapter are calibrated before present) planted the seeds of change, and the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) (ca. 12,000–ca. 8,350Cal BP) people, were the rst to establish farming communities. The revolution was not fully realized until quite late in the PPN and later in the Pottery Neolithic (PN) period. We would like to ask some questions and comment on a few aspects emphas- ing the linkage between biological and cultural developments during the Neolithic Revolution. The biological issues addressed in this chapter are as follows: × Is there a demographic change from the Natu an to the Neolithic? × Is there a change in the overall health of the Neolithic populations compared to the Natu an? × Is there a change in the diet and how is it expressed? × Is there a change in the physical burden/stress people had to bear with? × Is there a change in intra- and inter-community rates of violent encounters? From the cultural perspective the leading questions will be: × What was the change in the economy and when was it fully realized? × Is there a change in settlement patterns and site nature and organization from Natu an to Neolithic? × Is there a change in human activities and division of labor? What do eggs, flour, and milk have in common? They form the basis of crepes of course, but they also each have an evolutionary purpose. Eggs, seeds (from which flour is derived by grinding) and milk are each designed by evolution to nourish offspring. Everything we eat has an evolutionary history. Grocery shelves and restaurant menus are bounteous evidence of evolution at work, though the label on the poultry will not remind us of this with a Jurassic sell-by date, nor will the signs in the produce aisle betray the fact that corn has a 5,000 year history of artificial selection by pre-Colombian Americans. Any shopping list, each recipe, every menu and all ingredients can be used to create culinary and gastronomic magic, but can also each tell a story about natural selection, and its influence on our plates--and palates. Join in for multiple courses, for a tour of evolutionary gastronomy that helps us understand the shape of our diets, and the trajectories of the foods that have been central to them over centuries--from spirits to spices. This literary repast also looks at the science of our interaction with foods and cooking--the sights, the smells, the tastes. The menu has its eclectic components, just as any chef is entitled. But while it is not a comprehensive work which might risk gluttony, this is more than an amuse bouche, and will leave every reader hungry for more. Few house features provide the beauty, warmth, and feeling of home that a fireplace does. But homeowners often find themselves both charmed and intimidated by this architectural wonder. This updated edition of the classic Better Homes and Gardens guide walks readers throughthestepsof decorating and renovating an existing fireplaceand explainsbasic fireplace maintenance. It also offers detailed advice on arranging furnishings around a fireplace to make it the focal point of a room. Updated to include striking before-and-after photos, coverage of currently available products and materials, and new trends such as hanging flat-screen televisions over the mantel, this is the one guidereaders need to fully enjoy their hearths. Using cemetery data, it has been possible to identify the signature of a previously unknown demographic process associated with the transition from a hunter-gatherer to an agricultural economy. Characterized by a dramatic increase in the birth rate, and consequently of the population growth rate, over a period of less than a millennium following the transition to agriculture, this global demographic process has been termed the Neolithic Demographic Transition (NDT). The NDT signature has so far been detected in Europe, North America, Mesoamerica and South America. The methodological innovation Few house features provide the beauty, warmth, and feeling of home that a fireplace does. This edition walks readers through the steps of decorating and renovating an existing fireplace and explains basic fireplace maintenance. It also offers detailed advice on arranging furnishings around a fireplace to make it the focal point of a room. Contents 1. An Invitation to Dinner 2. A Cooking Animal 3. Shellfish—Beachcombing 4. Bread—Domestication 5. Soup—Taste 6. Fish—Flavor 7. Meat—Carnivory 8. Vegetables—Variety 9. Herbs and Spices—Piquancy 10. Desserts—Indulgence 11. Cheese—Dairying 12. Wine and Beer—Intoxication 13. Feasting—Society 14. Future Food Acknowledgments Notes The transition from hunting and gathering to farming - the Neolithic Revolution - was one of the most signi cant cultural processes in human history that forever changed the face of humanity. The biological issues addressed in this chapter are as follows: x Is there a demographic change from the Natu an to the Neolithic? "Create your dream fireplace. Hundreds of photos provide the inspiration you need to make a fireplace for your home that's both beautiful and practical." -- Page [4] cover Style guide -- Room by room -- Arrange furniture -- Decorate a fireplace -- Renovate a fireplace -- Add a fireplace -- Alternative and extras -- Fireplace maintenance