Stewart Lee Allen

A wild ride through the history of coffee offers a humorous revisionist take on world events with this magic bean as the prime mover of everything from Napoleon's downfall to the prosperity of America. Reprint.

A History of the World According to Coffee

The Devil's Cup

Inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins, the author of The Devil's Cup provides an entertaining history of forbidden foods through the ages that examines how such foods--including the tomato, apple, chocolate, and potato--and their morally corrupting nature defined various cultures around the world. Reprint.

A Sinful History of Forbidden Food

In the Devil's Garden

Bir Fincan Kahvenin Izinde Dünya Yolculugu

Kahvenin Hikayesi

Peut-on considérer le café comme l'un des moteurs de l'Histoire ? Pourquoi est-il devenu une boisson fort prisée en terre d'islam ? Quel rôle a-t-il joué dans les cérémonies mystiques de toutes sortes ? Que doivent la Révolution française et l'essor de la presse anglaise à la découverte de cet excitant breuvage ? Pour retracer les aventures fantastiques de la graine et de sa préparation, le journaliste californien Stewart Lee Allen a ingurgité trois mille litres de café du Yémen au Brésil, en passant par Vienne et Paris. Il a sillonné quatre continents pour découvrir les sources du café avec autant d'acharnement que s'il avait exploré les sources du Nil.

voyage aux sources du café

Le breuvage du diable

La tazzina del diavolo. Viaggio intorno al mondo sulle vie del caffè

Deliciously organized by the Seven Deadly Sins, here is a scintillating history of forbidden foods through the ages—and how these mouth-watering taboos have defined cultures around the world. From the lusciously tempting fruit in the Garden of Eden to the divine foie gras, Stewart Lee Allen engagingly illustrates that when a pleasure as primal as eating is criminalized, there is often an astonishing tale to tell. Among the foods thought to encourage Lust, the love apple (now known as the tomato) was thought to possess demonic spirits until the nineteenth century. The Gluttony “course” invites the reader to an ancient Roman dinner party where nearly every dish served—from poppy-crusted rodents to “Trojan Pork”—was considered a crime against the state. While the vice known as Sloth introduces the sad story of “The Lazy Root” (the potato), whose popularity in Ireland led British moralists to claim that the Great Famine was God’s way of punishing the Irish for eating a food that bred degeneracy and idleness. Filled with incredible food history and the author’s travels to many of these exotic locales, In the Devil’s Garden also features recipes like the matzo-ball stews outlawed by the Spanish Inquisition and the forbidden “chocolate champagnes” of the Aztecs. This is truly a delectable book that will be consumed by food lovers, culinary historians, amateur anthropologists, and armchair travelers alike. Bon appétit!

Stewart Lee Allen

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