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Lost Feast
Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food | Lenore Newman
16 posts | 3 read | 12 to read
A rollicking exploration of the history and future of our favorite foods When we humans love foods, we love them a lot. In fact, we have often eaten them into extinction, whether it is the megafauna of the Paleolithic world or the passenger pigeon of the last century. In Lost Feast, food expert Lenore Newman sets out to look at the history of the foods we have loved to death and what that means for the culinary paths we choose for the future. Whether it's chasing down the luscious butter of local Icelandic cattle or looking at the impacts of modern industrialized agriculture on the range of food varieties we can put in our shopping carts, Newman's bright, intelligent gaze finds insight and humor at every turn. Bracketing the chapters that look at the history of our relationship to specific foods, Lenore enlists her ecologist friend and fellow cook, Dan, in a series of "extinction dinners" designed to recreate meals of the past or to illustrate how we might be eating in the future. Part culinary romp, part environmental wake-up call, Lost Feast makes a critical contribution to our understanding of food security today. You will never look at what's on your plate in quite the same way again.
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review
RamsFan1963
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Pickpick

This is a sad book. So many foods, fruits, vegetables and animals have disappeared from our ecology. I never wanted to eat passenger pigeon, but to imagine there was once hundred of types of apples, pears, carrots and tomatoes that we will never taste. I'm not a big foodie, but I weep for the lost variety in our diets. 4 🥕🥕🥕🥕

wanderinglynn What does the author say about the future of food? 3y
RamsFan1963 @wanderinglynn It's kind of bleak, we're going to lose foods we love. Seafoods like tuna and shrimp, fruits like bananas, and spices like vanilla and cocoa. Industrial agriculture, climate change, decline in bee populations are just a few signs of serious culinary extinctions we might see in our lifetime. 3y
wanderinglynn That‘s what I figured. The Pacific Northwest/Canada just lost an innumerable amount of shellfish because of the recent heatwave. Marine biologists are trying to figure out the impact, but the industry will be devastated regardless. 3y
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RamsFan1963
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It began with butter, a surreal amount of butter, glistening with tiny pinpricks of fat.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Leftcoastzen Yummy! butter! 3y
RamsFan1963 @Leftcoastzen I don't read cookbooks, but I love books about food, different countries eating habits and Strange foods I've never heard of before. 3y
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Suelizbeth
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Pickpick

As the subtitle indicates, this book is about culinary extinction and the future of food. Humans consume: plants, animals, natural resources. We consume without thought. Without thought that what and how and how much we consume has consequences. Consequences that are catching up to us. Extinctions have and will continue to occur at an alarming rate. It‘s not too late to turn it around. Ultimately, this book is hopeful. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

janeycanuck This sounds fascinating!! 3y
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Lindy
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Pickpick

I enjoy Mary Roach-style nonfiction—witty, knowledgeable & personal, with tidbits tucked into footnotes—just like this book about humanity‘s relationships with the foods we love most. Megafauna, silphium, passenger pigeons, pears that could be spread on bread like butter, delicious species of fish—these & other foods have been eaten out of existence. Sobering, yet the tone of this book is of upbeat intellectual curiosity. #canadianauthor

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Lindy
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I‘ve read several interesting books lately about the future of our food. In the suggested reading at the back of the tagged book, I saw that I‘d already read 6 out of the 30 on the author‘s list, but I‘m happy to have more recommendations. Are any of you as keen as I am on this topic?

jillrhudy Me! I'm fascinated by books about food and what we're going to do about food in the future. I gave 4 stars to (edited) 5y
Lindy @jillrhudy Thanks! That‘s one I haven‘t seen. 5y
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Lindy
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After seeing the image above on Facebook, I thought about one of the “extinction dinners” described in the tagged book. The author‘s friend prepared a turducken, “a culinary spectacle consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, then the combination is stuffed into a deboned turkey. It is a nested set of animals tightly packed to create an imposing knot of meat.”

Come-read-with-me @lindy I‘m going to try this! 5y
Lindy @Come-read-with-me Photos please! 😂 5y
LibrarianRyan as someone who has cooked a turducken, i would do this. 5y
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julesG @Come-read-with-me @LibrarianRyan Pictures!!! 5y
Lindy @LibrarianRyan 🐓🦆🦃!!! 🥇 (It‘s safe to assume you are not a vegetarian.) 5y
xicanti Last spring, I found cans of turducken dog food at the local pet store. My dog seemed pretty keen on it. 5y
Come-read-with-me @LibrarianRyan I‘ve always wanted to make one. I‘m a vegan but my husband is a complete carnivore. Love is making a turducken! 💖 5y
Lindy @Come-read-with-me All that deboning! 5y
Lindy @xicanti Sounds like your dog has a refined palate. 😉 5y
Come-read-with-me @Lindy I never thought of that - maybe I don‘t love him that much 🤣🤣🤣 5y
sprainedbrain Omg. 😂😂😂 5y
LibrarianRyan @Come-read-with-me we normally do something odd each year, or non traditional. 5y
Come-read-with-me @LibrarianRyan What are you doing this year? I‘m doing a regular Thanksgiving meal and a vegan meal for about 50 people 😜 5y
LibrarianRyan @Come-read-with-me actually we are sticking to pretty traditional this year after last years goose. But adding more vegetables and no casseroles. 5y
Lindy @Come-read-with-me Wow! Will there be some sort of mac and cheese? See: https://www.salon.com/2019/11/20/mac-and-cheese-holiday-recipe-debate/ 5y
Lindy @LibrarianRyan I heartily endorse your direction towards more veggies. 👏👏👏 5y
Lindy @sprainedbrain Once you‘ve looked, you can‘t unsee it. 🐙🦀🦃 5y
Come-read-with-me @Lindy Thanks for the link - we have the same debate (me - no, husband - yes ?)There will be two Mac & cheese dishes. One vegan with a cashew cream and the other a definitely not vegan Guryère and truffle butter. 5y
LibrarianRyan @Lindy yeah, usually all the veggies are covered with something either in a casserole or covered in cheese. I‘m dreaming 2 califlowers, and making my fav chefs salad. I‘ve already made Kristine treats, oatmeal cranberry cookies. And tomorrow I think we will make pies, dishpan cookies, prep salads. Plus my Cousion sent me a recipient he wants me to make. Looks disquesting but if I can get everything I will try. 5y
Megabooks I‘m going Roman. Put that in a sheep, then a goat, then a cow, then a camel, etc and I‘m only going to eat the truffle in the middle!! 5y
Reggie I actually had turducken once and it was not all it was cracked up to be. 5y
Lindy @Reggie …was it the kind of turducken @xicanti mentioned? 🧐 5y
Lindy @LibrarianRyan May the kitchen witch be with you. 😋 5y
Lindy @Megabooks 🤪😂 5y
Reggie @Lindy lol, dog food? No 5y
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Lindy
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He grows miracle berries (Synsepalum dulcificum), an African fruit that chemically alters the function of our taste buds for a short time so that one‘s brain registers sour tastes as sweet.

Aimeesue They make Miracle fruit tablets from them, too. I got some for the kids one Christmas and we sat around eating lemons. 😂 5y
Lindy @Aimeesue That sounds like fun times! 🍋 🤪 5y
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Lindy
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“Lonicera caerulea, the haskap or blue honeysuckle, is a large berry native to the cool temperate regions of North America, including the boreal forests of Canada.”
(We used to call them honey berries in Edmonton, but now they are generally called haskaps. I didn‘t have any photos on my phone, but I pulled out this jar of my sister‘s preserves from my fridge. Haskaps are delightful!)

Prairiegirl_reading I‘ve never heard of them! Cool! 5y
Lindy @Prairiegirl_reading The way these things go, now that you‘ve heard of them, you will see them everywhere. Or at least a few other places. 😊 5y
ReadingEnvy I feel like I need to go on an Alaskan and Canadian berry tour. I also couldn't find Saskatchewan berries! 5y
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Lindy
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The most powerful members of medieval society were buried beneath the church floor, giving us the phrase “stinking rich.”

merelybookish That's a fun little tidbit! 😁 5y
Lindy @merelybookish This author tucked a lot of fun stuff into her footnotes, kind of like Mary Roach does. 5y
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Lindy
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The grocery stores of my childhood were barren places. The lettuce, all of the lettuce, was iceberg. There was one sort of cucumber, the green one that terrifies cats. Oranges were all the same, as were bananas.*

*This is still true of bananas.

Bibliogeekery Beautiful picture! 5y
JennyM A gorgeous photo 5y
Lindy @Bibliogeekery @JennyM Thanks! I took this photo in Brisbane. 😊 5y
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JennyM @Lindy my hometown 😍 5y
Lindy @JennyM Yes, I remember you weighed in on one of the expressions used in Boy Swallows Universe. My friend Robyn lives in Greenslopes so I visit every now and again. 😊 5y
JennyM @Lindy that‘s really not far from me. Small world. Hope you enjoy it when you visit 😊 5y
Lindy @JennyM Litsy meetup next time! 5y
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Lindy
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Carl Linnaeus described flowers as numerous women in bed with the same man, a view that was received about as well as one might expect by polite society.

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Lindy
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To imagine an aurochs, first imagine the meanest bull, then double it in size, give it a lush brown coat & double the length of its horns & give them an extra curve. Edit out the fatty nature of modern cattle & replace that fat with rippling muscle. Cattle on steroids.
(Internet illustration above gives size comparison)

Cathythoughts Woah 😳! Impressive 5y
Lindy @Cathythoughts Even more impressive is that humans managed to domesticate these beasts (creating cattle). 5y
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Lindy
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Egyptians decorated their tombs with images of honeycomb & bees, and Ramses III offered a tribute of 21,000 jars of honey to Hapi, the God of the Nile. They left pots in tombs as meals for the afterlife. Some of the pots, protected in the hot & dry Egyptian desert, are still edible.

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Lindy
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My sweetie had lumbar fusion surgery 3 days ago. She was discharged yesterday and we are back in hospital today. A book provides distraction from the stress.

Elizabeth2 Hope all is okay! 5y
readordierachel Sending good thoughts your way 💕 5y
Lindy @Elizabeth2 Thanks! Still waiting for more information. 5y
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Lindy @readordierachel Thanks a lot. 😊 5y
BookNAround Hope this is just a blip in what becomes a very uneventful recovery. 5y
Soubhiville Oh no! I hope you‘re both ok. 5y
Alfoster Hugs coming your way!❤️ 5y
marleed Positive thoughts to the universe sent your way! 5y
Librarybelle Positive thoughts for both of you ❤️ 5y
Suet624 Oh no. Much love to you both. 5y
Lcsmcat I hope this is a minor interruption in her recovery. Hugs. 5y
ljuliel I hope all checks out ok and you‘re both soon home. 5y
umbrellagirl Hope all checks out ok. 🤞🏻 5y
twohectobooks Ugh, hope you don‘t have to spend too much time back there. 5y
ValerieAndBooks Hope everything will be okay soon 💖 5y
llwheeler Sending good thoughts 5y
valeriegeary ❤️❤️❤️ 5y
Crazeedi I had done and it's not fun, sending a big litsy hug💞 5y
TheSpineView Poor thing! Sending healing thoughts. 5y
xicanti Oh no! I hope her next discharge comes quickly and sticks. 5y
Jee_HookedOnBookz Sending you two lots of hugs, love and positive thoughts! ❤️ 💕🙏 5y
Fridameetslucy Sending you healing blessings ! Hope she‘s back home soon and heals quickly 5y
emtobiasz That‘s no fun. Hope it‘s smoother sailing from here on. 5y
Come-read-with-me @Lindy Sending her healing vibes!! Take care of yourself as well! 5y
batsy Sorry to hear about your sweetie's health troubles. Hope she's on the path to recovery. Take care ❤️ 5y
Tonton Get well mojo headed your way! 5y
SamAnne Sending healing thoughts! 5y
LeahBergen Oh, no! Sending ❤️❤️ to you both! 5y
Lindy @Come-read-with-me @batsy @Tonton @SamAnne @LeahBergen Thanks, friends. The patient and I are both feeling better today. 🥰 5y
55 likes30 comments
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Lindy
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An odd effect of life on an island is that large species tend to grow smaller and some small species grow much larger. The Hawaiian tree snail, for example, is as large as a rabbit. It is threatened by habitat loss and by invasion.

Soubhiville What a great photo! And I would love to see a giant snail, I really like them. 5y
Lindy @Soubhiville This was taken a few years ago in Hawaii. I had fluffy tropical hair. 🤪 5y
Suet624 What a pixie you are. 5y
Lindy @Suet624 Ha! 🧚‍♀️🥰 5y
53 likes4 comments
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Lindy
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It‘s a first for me: catching up on Gastropod podcast episodes and I already happen to be reading the book of an author they are interviewing. Usually it‘s the other way around: I pick up a book after hearing Cynthia and Nicola talk about it.

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