A Bite Sized History of France (2018)

A Bite-Sized History of France – Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
by Stéphane Henaut; Jeni Mitchell (2018) – A husband and wife team of a French cheesemonger, and an American ex-pat academic lead the reader through French history one bite at a time.  France is all about food, and food is woven deeply into its history.  Henaut and Mitchell take us through the history of the nation while giving deliciously tempting stories about the foods of France as well.

I didn’t really know what to expect from this book.  But it brought together food, history, and France, three things which hold special places in my heart.  My family came to America prior over 250 years ago from eastern France.  While that has always been part of the family “story”, there has never been much more than that.  We didn’t get all misty-eyed at “La Marseillaise”, didn’t eat French food, or celebrate Bastille Day.  It’s only in the last decade or so that I’ve started looking at that portion of my background.  So a book that could help with that and give me some tasty tidbits too sounded like fun.

This book turned out to be all of that and then some.

From Camembert to absinthe, croissant to Calvados and from the Roman Empire to today, French history comes in tasty, petite morsels.  Enough history to keep the history buff amused but not so much to overwhelm a more casual reader, all of the many nuances of the history of my ancestral land are plated beautifully.  More than an amuse bouche, think of it as a tray filled with wonderful appetizers.

OK, I promise I’m done with the food imagery.

It was a fun read, and easy to stop and start.  If you’re a foodie or a history buff, this will be great light reading.  Perfect for the summer.  If like me, you are looking to connect a little more with France, its culture and history, this is a great place to start.  I immediately started looking into the traditional foods of my family’s home region, Alsace.  The history of that oft-contested part of La Belle France is no small study all by itself.