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WORK TITLE: A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY: Nantes
STATE:
COUNTRY: France
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: no2018067473
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/no2018067473
HEADING: Mitchell, Jeni
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100 1_ |a Mitchell, Jeni
370 __ |a New York (N.Y.) |e Washington (D.C.) |e London (England) |2 naf
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670 __ |a Henaut, Stéphane. A bite-sized history of France, 2018: |b eCIP title page (Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mitchell) about the authors (Jeni Mitchell was born in New York City. She spent most of her adult life in Washington, D.C., working as a researcher and editor in foreign affairs, before moving to London to begin graduate school. She met Stéphane on her first day in London; four years later, they married. She has a PhD in war studies from King’s College London, where she is also a teaching fellow specializing in civil war, insurgency, and rebellion)
PERSONAL
Born in New York, NY; married Stéphane Henaut.
EDUCATION:King’s College London, Ph.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Kings College London, England, teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies. Previously worked as a researcher and editor in foreign affairs, Washington, DC.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Jen Mitchell worked in Washington, DC for many years before moving to London, England to begin graduate school. She met her future husband Stéphane Henaut on her first day in London. Mitchell is a teaching fellow who specializes in civil war, insurgency, and rebellion. Her husband has had a wide-ranging career in the food industry, including cooking for the Lor May of London’s banquets and selling obscure vegetables in a French fruiterie. Mitchell and Henaut are coauthors of A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment, a history of France and the important role food has played in it, from the cassoulet that won a war to the rebellions sparked by bread.
In the book’s introduction recounts how he and Mitchell met and then moved to Nantes, France, Henaut’s hometown, after they were married four years later. In France Henaut introduced Mitchell to various cheeses that she had never heard of and included stories, legends, and antidotes about the cheeses and the locales where they originated. It was Mitchell who came up with the idea of pulling all of the stories together within a social and historical context “to not only share interesting food anecdotes but also slowly wonder through history and landscape of France” as the authors write in the introduction to A Bite-Sized History of France.
The book covers the history of France from the Roman era to modern times. In the process Mitchell and Henaut examine the cuisines found in France’s cities and rural areas. For example they explain how sugar played an important role in the city of Nantes, famous for its vanilla cake soaked in rum. This desert is a take off point for the authors to discuss France’s sugarcane plantation in the Caribbean and the slaves who worked on the plantations. Nantes would build sugar refineries to process the sugarcane from the Caribbean.
Via explaining the origins of the most legendary foods and wines in France, the authors examine the impact of war and imperialism in France and how foods were used to bolster identities within the social and political realms. They also discuss the French peoples’ constant battle between the ideas of tradition and innovation. Other issues examined include war and conquest, cultural achievements, politics, and scientific innovations. Mitchell and Henaut also offer numerous historical anecdotes concerning France, its foods, and its leaders, such as discussing the association between Charlemagne and honey and Louis XIII and chestnuts. One anecdote focuses on crepes and Napoleon’s devastating defeat by Russia as he invaded Moscow. According to the authors, Napoleon had an omen of defeat while flipping crepes. Napoleon flipped four crepes perfectly, which he took as a sign of good luck. However, his fifth crepe fell into the fire.
A Bite-Sized History of France is made up of fifty-two short chapters with titles such as “Barbarians at the Plate,” “Fighting for Plums,” “The Cheese of Emperors and Mad Kings,” and “Fruits of the Resistance.” Throughout the book, Mitchell and Henaut provide numerous facts about France such as the relatively small country is a major producer of five million tons of potatoes each year. As with the anecdote about Napoleon, the book includes several discussions of warfare in relation to cuisine. For example, they write that France supplied copious amounts of cheese to help keep the troops sustained. France also incorporated food from other countries, making the food its own, such as couscous from Algeria. A Bite-Sized History of France includes a bibliography, notes, and an index.
“The research underlying this account is sturdy and impressive,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews Online contributor, who called the book “a genial journey through history that will leave readers both satiated and ravenous.” Noting that “Henault and Mitchell are often witty,” a Publishers Weekly contributor went on to write: “This culinary history is a treat for Francophiles.”
BIOCRIT
BOOKS
Mitchell, Jeni, and Stéphane Henaut, A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment, New Press (New York, NY), 2018.
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, April 23, 2018, review of A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment, p. 74.
ONLINE
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (April 11, 2018), review of A Bite-Sized History of France.
Jeni Mitchell
Jeni Mitchell is a teaching fellow in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. The co-author, with Stéphane Hénaut, of A Bite-Sized History of France (The New Press), she lives in Berlin.
Join French cheesemonger Stéphane Hénaut and war studies professor Jeni Mitchell as they share a delightful, dramatic history of France and its legendary gastronomy from the Roman era to modern times, based on their book: A BITE-SIZED HISTORY OF FRANCE: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment (The New Press).
Married co-authors, Stéphane and Jeni moved to Nantes, France as newlyweds, Soon, Stéphane began introducing Jeni, an American, to a vast array of regional specialties from the food markets. As he recounted the unique flavors and terroir of each food, and she investigated the historical legends surrounding them, they began weaving their conversations into written tales of the social and historical development of France before you. Organized into brief chapters focused on a single dish or ingredient, A BITE-SIZED HISTORY OF FRANCE traverses the cuisines of France’s most famous cities as well as its underexplored regions, exploring the impact of war, imperialism, and global trade; the age-old tension between tradition and innovation; and the ways in which food has been used over the centuries to prop up social and political identities.
In English. Free and open to the public. No RSVP necessary.
quotes from introduction
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Print Marked Items
A Bite-Sized History of France:
Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War,
and Enlightenment
Publishers Weekly.
265.17 (Apr. 23, 2018): p74.
COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
Stephane Henaut and Jeni Mitchell. New
Press, $26.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-62097-251-9
Husband-and-wife authors Heniult and Mitchell serve up a fascinating history of France through food. They
discuss Marie Antoinette's notorious phrase "let them eat cake" (which the authors maintain she never
actually said in response to being told "the people of France had no more bread to eat") and the role sugar
played in the city of Nantes, known for its rum-soaked vanilla cake (due to France's slave-based sugar-cane
plantations in the Caribbean, the city developed sugar refineries in the late 17th century). Referring to
Napoleon's famous adage--"an army marches on its stomach"--the authors recount an omen involving his
flipping of crepes ahead of his failed invasion of Moscow (he flipped four crepes perfectly as a sign of good
luck, but the fifth fell into the flames). The authors share some intriguing facts: a country as small as
France, for example, produces five million tons of potatoes yearly. The authors also discuss the country's
drastically declining bee population, which caused French honey production to drop from 30,000 tons in the
early 1990s to 10,000 tons in 2014. Henault and Mitchell are often witty (perhaps most amusingly
illustrated by a chapter called "War and Peas") even as they present their exceptionally well-researched
material. This culinary history is a treat for Francophiles. July)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"A Bite-Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment." Publishers
Weekly, 23 Apr. 2018, p. 74. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536532923/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=bb04991f. Accessed 7 Aug. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536532923
A BITE-SIZED HISTORY OF FRANCE
Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
by Stéphane Hénaut & Jeni Mitchell
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KIRKUS REVIEW
A husband and wife—he is French; she, American—move briskly through the history of France with a picnic basket full of information about the connections between history and gastronomy.
The research underlying this account is sturdy and impressive. Hénaut, who has had a long, diverse career in food, and Mitchell (War Studies/King’s Coll. London) take us on a tasty chronological journey, beginning with the Gauls and ending with McDonald’s (France is “the second most profitable market for McDonald’s worldwide”). In a series of brief chapters, most only a few pages long, we learn about a variety of iconic French foods; when, why, and how they emerged; and what their status is today. The authors discuss baguettes, brie, honey, champagne, vegetables, fruit, salt, vinegar, sauces, chocolate, crêpes, and chicken. We see the emergence of table manners and customs, from sitting while eating to wielding a fork. Readers will enjoy learning how certain historical luminaries are associated with the popularity of various foods: Charlemagne and honey, the Black Prince and cassoulet, Louis XIII and chestnuts. The authors also show clearly the effects of warfare on cuisine. The World War I trenches in France featured a sustaining cheese for the beleaguered troops. We learn, too, about the integration of foods originally from external sources—e.g., couscous from Algeria is now a fond French favorite—and we see the effects of improved transportation on the French diet. The authors do not float lightly over the darkness of history. They write bluntly about the egregiousness of colonialism, slavery, warfare, and inhumanity of all sorts. They also work hard to separate fact from legend, which is not always an easy task. The authors chronicle the emergence of certain brands we associate with France—like Gray Poupon mustard—and discuss the lack of popularity of peanut butter.
A genial journey through history that will leave readers both satiated and ravenous.
Pub Date: July 10th, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62097-251-9
Page count: 352pp
Publisher: New Press
Review Posted Online: April 11th, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1st, 2018