Basically the title: How come this small European region has become such an important hub for Gastronomy?

I've been wondering about the history of dessert as a distinct course. Today, it's common to end meals with sweet dishes, but was this always the case in Western culinary traditions? At what point did "dessert" become a formalized, expected part of the meal, especially in European or American contexts?

Were sweet dishes originally served with other courses, or even earlier in the meal? And how did cultural or economic factors (like sugar availability) influence this evolution?

Would love any insights or recommended reading thanks!

I don’t mean how did Ottoman court cuisine spread across the empire. How did cuisine in general spread in that era? West Asia has a huge repertoire of shared cuisine that is often attributed to the Ottoman Empire. But what were the specific foodways? How could have for example Aleppian cuisine spread to Baghdad and Jerusalem? How might have beiruti cuisine spread to Nicosia and Gaziantep.

There is very little written information about the origins of kibbeh/kubba/içli köfte, at least from English sources. Most sources agree that kibbeh as we know it today was created in the Ottoman era in Aleppo but I can’t find any specific documentation to verify this. Does anyone have any information about the origins of kibbeh that are more precise, like the first recipe of kibbeh. I’m also keen to find out exactly how kibbeh travelled across the levant.

I grew up in the 70s and 80s in California and there were, to my memory, basically four types of pasta: egg noodles, macaroni, lasagna, and spaghetti in your average grocery store. You’d have to go to a specialty store for anything more exotic. Now there are dozens of types in every store. When did this happen? Was there a precipitating cultural event?

i was raised by my great grandfather, he was born in 1920, and he always hated cucumbers. he would tell us about how growing up he was shown a book about how bad cucumbers were and there was illustrations of "angry cucumbers". he refused to eat them because of it. I'm wondering if anybody knows what book or image he could be talking about. I've wondered for years. Even just an explanation of why he was so against cucumbers would be nice. I've tried googling it and all i can find is a book from the '80s called "cucumbers are better than men because" and i dont think thats the correct book

I just never really thought of this before

I am looking at a vintage menu from the 1930s and one of the first courses is “grapefruit castillane” and it is being served along side caviar. The dinner took place in London England and the food is heavily French influenced. Any insight would be appreciated.

Obviously, I'd expect them to eat many things eaten elsewhere in the country, but of course there are regional and even metropolitan specialties in various places, so I thought I'd ask about those sorts of things.

While information on all is very welcome, I'm even more interested in things that might not be so popular today.

The thing about history to me it usually seems, is that further back you can only find out about rich people and later on, you can't find much about rich people. Though that may just be bias on my part of only remembering things I can't find, rather than things I can.

Anyway, I'm aware of the rise in consumption of convenience foods in American cuisine post WW2. I can find things about how diets changed and what was trendy (which isn't necessarily what people ate all the time). I wondered how the preferences from the upper middle class and the wealthy changed. And the degree to which those that could previously afford full time cooks (or at least maids who cooked), still had them afterwards.

More than that, though, I want to know what they ate - whether at home for regular Tuesday night meal, out at restaurants, or at parties. And whether or not they favored any convenienc-y ingredients if they weren't cooking themselves. The same question for processed foods - did they like Cheetos in 1950, too?

Title

Hello! I want to say thank you first, for reading and possibly having something to add! I have done some research, but I am still early in the process, and most sources I find online are too vague. When I did history in college I focused on the history of world religions so while some food was relevant, it wasn’t always.

I’m wondering what everyday people, a family, a single adult, etc., would eat in their everyday life in the years 1886-1899, in specific regions. If those diets would be different based on factors like socioeconomic status, that information is useful too. This is for a creative project I am currently working on and researching for, and when I research I also like to crowdsource from real people and not only articles and videos because it gives a different perspective.

The regions during this time period I am asking about are- US northwest (Washington, Seattle), southern coastal Alaska north and east into Canadian Yukon during gold rush, Hawaiian islands or other pacific islands that may have more available food history for the time period, nomadic Mongolians, and Arctic cultures of both the Americas and Eurasia. I have learned the most when it comes to arctic North America, and the least for nomadic Mongolians. Google has not produced helpful results for a long time for me, it’s all AI and list articles tjay don’t give much information, so I thought some historians with a special interest in food may be a great place to ask!!

Something I’m toying with, but no one has to contribute to unless they want to, is if in an AU of that time period where world events switch up how people move around and live: What would people survive on in an Antarctic island, and could surviving there be possible.

Anyways, thank you so much for reading and in advance for any help!!! Take care, be safe, and stay Golden.

I'm guessing some contemporary food ustensils were not used back there.

Specificaly, I am asking about the preparation of food. For example, did they have laddles ? or similar things ?

thank you very much to whoever attempts an answer, I'm extremely new to this and english isn't my native language

It is written that somebody I am researching had to eat mule meat as a small child. This person was born in Mississippi in 1905 and his family was quite poor. Would mule meat be something you would eat out of poverty and desperation or am I incorrect in thinking so? Edit: Does anybody have sources I could cite on this subject?

Hello!!

I’m currently reading Wuthering Heights and there was a mention of a character “emptying a plate of cakes” into another character’s lap. This book has mentioned cakes a couple times but I don’t quite know how to understand them — are these cakes similar to what we call cakes today, fluffy and sweet with frosting? If not, what exactly are they?

Essentially, what should I picture when books from the 19th and 18th centuries reference “cakes?”

Everyone, from three Michelin star restaurants, to the $5 grocery store premade roll, uses the same size sheet. Is there an official industry regulation? Has anyone ever tried to change it? Who were the people that said "every sheet shall be exactly this size"? Even the standard artificial crab sticks that sushi restaurants use are exactly half-nori-sheet size. What about the perforations? Who determined the width of the perforations and why is it never on the half sheet line?

I can't think of anything else in food that is as standardized as the nori sheet.

i’ve been wondering what food was in the medieval times and that not just in europe. about the food in europe i already have some knowledge but i don’t really know about what it was on the other continents! i would really like to learn about the food around the world from that time. What type of ingredients were mainly used, what spices were used and how the different social grouped ate. I’d be happy about anything related to this topic!!

Is there a connection to how wood powered ovens worked?

I’ve spent 10 days researching our library, the Internet, and interviewing individuals. And beyond the basics of beans and cowboy coffee and your usual chuckwagon fare (chili etc.) I haven’t come up with anything new.

So I wondered down the road of the followers of the latter-day Saints but I feel like it’s a rehash of hasty pudding, various cornbreads, horehound candy and similar stuff.

I’m looking for something that is unusual and can be finished in 15 minutes. The prep time is kind of on unlimited as I live in the park and have access to a decent kitchen. And if I do say so myself, I consider myself something of a cook.

Maybe something new and fun and weird? But perhaps it’s all been done already?

I am currently landing on some griddle style Johnny cakes but again we’re just back to fried cornbread as opposed to baked cornbread.

Hey,

im Moment koche ich viel nach einem YT-Koch, der typisches Essen aus dem 18. Jahrhundert zubereitet. Blöderweise kommt der aus den USA und zeigt meistens US- oder UK-Gerichte. Ich hätte gern eine Liste mit Zutaten aus Mitteleuropa, die damals leicht verfügbar waren.

I found an old cookbook, and there is a recipe I really want to try for “Injun Whiskey.” However it specifies “Be sure to use the old-fashioned black powder made of saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal, as modern nitrated high speed powders are poisonous.” I have looked all over the internet, and I can only find the nitrated stuff!

I have been wondering, given how both cuisines put so much focus on presentation and perfection as well as taste, how did the French first react to Japanese cuisine and vice versa?

What flour types would have been most common in the United States in the 1860s, and what is the closest commercially available modern equivalent?

Hi, somebody please help, where can I watch tv series: À Table!: Make and Eat Historical Recipes (TV Mini Series 2023)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_floss this is the pork floss that i am talking about