Tracing the origins of the restaurant menu: An Interview with Professor Nathalie Cooke

Hello!

Menus.

These little pieces of paper, seem to be so obvious and ubiquitous today, not worth thinking about, no further certainly aside from the restaurant.

The new book from Nathalie Cooke, disproves this notion wholeheartedly. It provides glimpses into the meals enjoyed by royalty and the rogues, food prepared for the great and the good, adults and children, and how they reflect changing notions of health and institutions should feed for nourishment or punishment.

With lavish illustrations, this is an exquisite book, which will make you think deeply.

Nathalie writes "Menus whet our appetites. They tell us stories. They open windows on our past. They are designed both to pique and satisfy our curiosity. But even more so Nathalie argues that are strategic documents. They shape the diners' choices and enhance their dining experience.

Ultimately, the endeavour is to emphasize the persistence of key elements over time and across contexts despite the myriad variations in menu design."

Tastes and Traditions asks not just what is on the menu, but what the menu is doing. One takeaway is that menus “do not always present their wares in a straightforward way; some go off the beaten path, becoming almost as important as the food itself.”

Cooke argues that we, as modern readers of historical menus, experience these documents as artifacts, with hindsight, curiosity and often surprise...

Enjoy our conversation!

Find out more on how to win a copy of Tastes and Traditions here:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/do-you-want-copy-129031460

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