Rich Food, Poor Food

Book excerpt: Rich Food Poor Food is a study of the two food traditions in western society: the food eaten by rich people and the food eaten by poor people. It suggests that, until very recent times, the two traditions have rarely intersected.The book studies the gastronomy of the rich, with some extraordinary accounts of extravagant banquets, but also underlines that poor people had food preferences and pleasures which mattered greatly to them. It contrasts, for example, the turbot of the rich with the mackerel of the poor; the asparagus of the rich with the leeks of the poor; and the truffles of the rich with the mushrooms of the poor.Among the features of the book are its use of a wide range of food proverbs to illustrate its themes, and several humorous sections on the absurdities of etiquette in Western Europe in the past five hundred years - many of which survive to this day.