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Planet Taco : A Global History of Mexican Food by Jeffrey M. Pilcher (2012, Hardcover)
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PLANET TACO: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF MEXICAN FOOD By Jeffrey M. Pilcher - Hardcover **BRAND NEW**.
- Buy It NowPLANET TACO: A GLOBAL HISTORY OF MEXICAN FOOD By Jeffrey M. Pilcher - Hardcover
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About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated
ISBN-100199740062
ISBN-139780199740062
eBay Product ID (ePID)114125558
Product Key Features
Book TitlePlanet TACO : a Global History of Mexican Food
Number of Pages336 Pages, 320 Pages
LanguageEnglish
TopicLatin America / Mexico, Ethnic Studies / Hispanic American Studies, Regional & Ethnic / Mexican, Globalization
Publication Year2012
IllustratorYes
GenreCooking, Political Science, Social Science, History
AuthorJeffrey M. Pilcher
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height1.1 in
Item Weight21.2 Oz
Item Length6.4 in
Item Width9.4 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
LCCN2012-014835
Dewey Edition23
Reviews"Many of Pilcher's anecdotes are entertaining and informative...folks looking to supplement their favorite meal with some food for thought need look no further." --Publishers Weekly "Pilcher's proper emphasis on regional cuisines enables him to rescue the Tex-Mex taco from those elite Mexicans (often based in Mexico City) who reject it as a commercial invention: in fact, Tex-Mex cooking evolved organically in the border region, combining North American ingredients with Mexican sensibilities. Viewing food as a force of history, Pilcher imagines that 'the thin edge of a taco may one day help bring down the militarized border.'" --Foreign Affairs "For those willing to sign on for the ride, it's a fascinating gold mine of information thoughtfully explained, usefully organized, and thoroughly documented. Eating a taco is eating history, indeed." --MM Pack,The Austin Chronicle, Planet Taco does more than trace the movement of a single food item through history and across continents. Rather, it tackles the growth, emergence and spread of an entire national cuisine. Jeffrey M. Pilcher ... uses the lowly taco as an emblem of the complex origins of Mexican food, its global expansion and its mutations., "Meticulously researched and comprehensive Pilcher's concluding chapter provides a masterful analysis of the elements that shape and impinge upon the quest for food authenticity in general." --CHOICE "Many of Pilcher's anecdotes are entertaining and informative...folks looking to supplement their favorite meal with some food for thought need look no further." --Publishers Weekly "Pilcher's proper emphasis on regional cuisines enables him to rescue the Tex-Mex taco from those elite Mexicans (often based in Mexico City) who reject it as a commercial invention: in fact, Tex-Mex cooking evolved organically in the border region, combining North American ingredients with Mexican sensibilities. Viewing food as a force of history, Pilcher imagines that 'the thin edge of a taco may one day help bring down the militarized border.'" --Foreign Affairs "For those willing to sign on for the ride, it's a fascinating gold mine of information thoughtfully explained, usefully organized, and thoroughly documented. Eating a taco is eating history, indeed." --MM Pack, The Austin Chronicle, Jeffrey Pilcher takes us through the many permutations of subsequent Mexican cuisine with a sure hand., "Many of Pilcher's anecdotes are entertaining and informative...folks looking to supplement their favorite meal with some food for thought need look no further." --Publishers Weekly, "Meticulously researched and comprehensive Pilcher's concluding chapter provides a masterful analysis of the elements that shape and impinge upon the quest for food authenticity in general." --CHOICE"Many of Pilcher's anecdotes are entertaining and informative...folks looking to supplement their favorite meal with some food for thought need look no further." --Publishers Weekly"Pilcher's proper emphasis on regional cuisines enables him to rescue the Tex-Mex taco from those elite Mexicans (often based in Mexico City) who reject it as a commercial invention: in fact, Tex-Mex cooking evolved organically in the border region, combining North American ingredients with Mexican sensibilities. Viewing food as a force of history, Pilcher imagines that 'the thin edge of a taco may one day help bring down the militarized border.'" --ForeignAffairs"For those willing to sign on for the ride, it's a fascinating gold mine of information DS thoughtfully explained, usefully organized, and thoroughly documented. Eating a taco is eating history, indeed." --MM Pack, The Austin Chronicle
Dewey Decimal641.5972
Table Of ContentPrefaceIntroduction A Tale of Two TacosPart I: Proto-Tacos1. Maize and the Making of Mexico2. Burritos in the BorderlandsPart II: National Tacos3. From the Pastry War to Parisian Mole4. The Rise and Fall of the Chili Queens5. Inventing the Mexican American TacoPart III: Global Tacos6. The First Wave of Global Mexican7. The Blue Corn BonanzaConclusion The Battle of the Taco TrucksNotesSelect BibliographyIndex, Preface Introduction A Tale of Two Tacos Part I Proto-Tacos Chapter 1. Maize and the Making of Mexico Chapter 2. Burritos in the Borderlands Part II National Tacos Chapter 3. From the Pastry War to Parisian Mole Chapter 4. The Rise and Fall of the Chili Queens Chapter 5. Inventing the Mexican American Taco Part III Global Tacos Chapter 6. The First Wave of Global Mexican Chapter 7. The Blue Corn Bonanza Conclusion The Battle of the Taco Trucks Notes Select Bibliography Index
SynopsisAs late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food--and Mexican food more broadly--become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco , Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world. Pilcher is particularly enlightening on what the history of Mexican food reveals about the uneasy relationship between globalization and authenticity. The burritos and taco shells that many people think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States. But Pilcher argues that the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the authenticity of Mexican food goes back hundreds of years. During the nineteenth century, Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic -Creole- Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods were scorned as unfit for civilized tables. Only when Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world did Mexican elites rediscover the foods of the ancient Maya and Aztecs and embrace the indigenous roots of their national cuisine. From a taco cart in Hermosillo, Mexico to the -Chili Queens- of San Antonio and tamale vendors in L.A., Jeffrey Pilcher follows this highly adaptable cuisine, paying special attention to the people too often overlooked in the battle to define authentic Mexican food: Indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans., Planet Taco examines the historical struggles between globalization and national sovereignty in the creation of "authentic" Mexican food. By telling the stories of the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio and the inventors of the taco shell, it shows how Mexican Americans helped to make Mexican food global., As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food--and Mexican food more broadly--become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco, Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation asa Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world. Pilcher is particularly enlightening on what the history of Mexican food reveals about the uneasy relationship between globalization and authenticity. The burritos and taco shellsthat many people think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States. But Pilcher argues that the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the authenticity of Mexican food goes back hundreds of years. During the nineteenth century, Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic "Creole" Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods were scorned as unfit for civilizedtables. Only when Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world did Mexican elites rediscover the foods of the ancient Maya and Aztecs and embrace the indigenous roots of their national cuisine. From a taco cart in Hermosillo,Mexico to the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio and tamale vendors in L.A., Jeffrey Pilcher follows this highly adaptable cuisine, paying special attention to the people too often overlooked in the battle to define authentic Mexican food: Indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans., As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food--and Mexican food more broadly--become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco, Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world. Pilcher is particularly enlightening on what the history of Mexican food reveals about the uneasy relationship between globalization and authenticity. The burritos and taco shells that many people think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States. But Pilcher argues that the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the authenticity of Mexican food goes back hundreds of years. During the nineteenth century, Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic "Creole" Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods were scorned as unfit for civilized tables. Only when Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world did Mexican elites rediscover the foods of the ancient Maya and Aztecs and embrace the indigenous roots of their national cuisine. From a taco cart in Hermosillo, Mexico to the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio and tamale vendors in L.A., Jeffrey Pilcher follows this highly adaptable cuisine, paying special attention to the people too often overlooked in the battle to define authentic Mexican food: Indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans., As late as the 1960s, tacos were virtually unknown outside Mexico and the American Southwest. Within fifty years the United States had shipped taco shells everywhere from Alaska to Australia, Morocco to Mongolia. But how did this tasty hand-held food--and Mexican food more broadly--become so ubiquitous? In Planet Taco , Jeffrey Pilcher traces the historical origins and evolution of Mexico's national cuisine, explores its incarnation as a Mexican American fast-food, shows how surfers became global pioneers of Mexican food, and how Corona beer conquered the world. Pilcher is particularly enlightening on what the history of Mexican food reveals about the uneasy relationship between globalization and authenticity. The burritos and taco shells that many people think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States. But Pilcher argues that the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the authenticity of Mexican food goes back hundreds of years. During the nineteenth century, Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic "Creole" Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods were scorned as unfit for civilized tables. Only when Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world did Mexican elites rediscover the foods of the ancient Maya and Aztecs and embrace the indigenous roots of their national cuisine. From a taco cart in Hermosillo, Mexico to the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio and tamale vendors in L.A., Jeffrey Pilcher follows this highly adaptable cuisine, paying special attention to the people too often overlooked in the battle to define authentic Mexican food: Indigenous Mexicans and Mexican Americans., Planet Taco asks the question, "what is authentic Mexican food?" The burritos and taco shells that many people think of as Mexican were actually created in the United States, and Americanized foods have recently been carried around the world in tin cans and tourist restaurants. But the contemporary struggle between globalization and national sovereignty to determine the meaning of Mexican food is far from new. In fact, Mexican food was the product of globalization from the very beginning - the Spanish conquest - when European and Native American influences blended to forge the mestizo or mixed culture of Mexico. The historic struggle between globalization and the nation continued in the nineteenth century, as Mexicans searching for a national cuisine were torn between nostalgic "Creole" Hispanic dishes of the past and French haute cuisine, the global food of the day. Indigenous foods, by contrast, were considered strictly déclassé. Yet another version of Mexican food was created in the U.S. Southwest by Mexican American cooks, including the "Chili Queens" of San Antonio and tamale vendors of Los Angeles. When Mexican American dishes were appropriated by the fast food industry and carried around the world, Mexican elites rediscovered the indigenous roots of their national cuisine among the ancient Aztecs and the Maya. Even this Nueva Cocina Mexicana was a transnational phenomenon, called "New Southwestern" by chefs in the United States. Rivalries within this present-day gourmet movement recalled the nineteenth-century struggles between Creole, Native, and French foods. Planet Taco also seeks to recover the history of people who have been ignored in the struggles to define authentic Mexican, especially those who are marginal to both nations: Indians and Mexican Americans.
LC Classification NumberTX716.M4P543 2012
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