Idaho Commission for Libraries

Choice Cuts is a wide-ranging anthology of writing about food, spanning the ancients (Plato is represented here, discussing food as medicine) to the turn of the 21st century (Mimi Sheridan writes about bialys, Jewish onion rolls).  Arranged by topic (meat, bugs, salad, fruit, drinks, memorable meals, etc.) this collection includes selections by many well-known food writers (M. F. K. Fisher, James Beard) and by many writers of fiction and poetry (Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings on killing birds, Pablo Neruda on French fries).  It also contains fascinating excerpts from philosophers, old cookbooks, and travel memoirs into what Publishers Weekly termed “a banquet of historical and modern writings on food.” 

A good way to approach this delightful but extensive collection in a public library discussion would be for the librarian or the scholar to suggest in advance how readers might focus, to insure that everyone is familiar with some of the same sections.  Discussion might focus on several chapters about particular types of food that correlate with other books selected for the series (chocolate, meat, spices), or purposefully on new subjects (fat, starch, vegetables). Readers might, alternately, pay special attention to the chapters on national cuisines, for those are full of entertaining cultural speculation, and on the final two chapters, which discuss in an accessible manner theories of food choice.  Another option would be to trace the multiple selections that several writers have contributed to the book, coming prepared to characterize each one’s style and attitude and compare and contrast their work. 

Author Information

Mark Kurlansky wrote the best-selling books Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changes the World, Salt: A World History, and The Basque History of the World.  He worked as a professional chef and pastry maker in New York and New England and writes a column about food history for the magazine Food and Wine.  He has won the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing.  He has also written for 25 years about international affairs, particularly European and Latin American subjects, and has recently written a collection of short stories and a novel based on his experiences in the Caribbean.  He lives in New York with his wife and daughter.

Author Interview: New York State Writer's Institute

Photo © Lisa Klausner

Discussion Questions

Specific discussion questions for this book will vary, depending on the approach chosen locally (see the suggestions above), but here are some general approaches:

1. How do the approaches and attitudes toward specific foods (chocolate, spices, meat) voiced by writers in this collection compare/contrast to those put forth in other books that you’ve read in this series?

2. Within any given chapter in this book, you’ll see a range of ideas about the properties of a particular food group, the best way to prepare it, and what it symbolizes culturally.  Look at some of the writers who voice attitudes less familiar to you.  What can you learn about their culture/time period from what they say about food?

3. Many of the writers in this book are extremely opinionated.  What is it about food, in particular, that tends to bring out such strong feelings?  Choose a few writers for your discussion.

4. Can you identify historical changes overall in the way that people think about food?  What are those?  Are the more recent writers necessarily more “right” than the earlier ones?  Why or why not?

5. Can you identify any constants in the way that people think about food that transcend the historical and cultural contrasts chronicled in this book?  What are they?

6. Which selections here do you particularly like?  Why?  Do those writers express attitudes toward food that you share?