Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past.
Published by Greystone (London, Vancouver, Berkeley) Sept. 2023. (Paperback to be published Aug. 2024.)
Named a best food book by Eater.com (Fall 2023)
In the tradition of Michael Pollan, Anthony Bourdain, and Mark Bittman, an exciting and globe-trotting account of ancient cuisines—from Neolithic bread to ancient Roman fish sauce—and why reviving the foods of the past is the key to saving the future.
Many of us are worried (or at least we should be) about the impacts of globalization, pollution, and biotechnology on our diets. Whether it's monoculture crops, hormone-fed beef, or high-fructose corn syrup, industrially-produced foods have troubling consequences for us and the planet. But as culinary diversity diminishes, many people are looking to a surprising place to safeguard the future: into the past.
The Lost Supper explores an idea that is quickly spreading among restaurateurs, food producers, scientists, and gastronomes around the world: that the key to healthy and sustainable eating lies not in looking forward, but in looking back to the foods that have sustained us through our half-million-year existence as a species.
Acclaimed author Taras Grescoe introduces readers to the surprising and forgotten flavors whose revival is captivating food-lovers around the world: ancient sourdough bread last baked by Egyptian pharaohs; raw-milk farmhouse cheese from critically endangered British dairy cattle; ham from Spanish pata negra pigs that have been foraging on acorns on a secluded island since before the United States was a nation; and olive oil from wild olive trees uniquely capable of resisting quickly evolving pests and modern pathogens.
From Ancient Roman fish sauce to Aztec caviar to the long-thought-extinct silphium, The Lost Supper is a deep dive into the latest frontier of global gastronomy—the archaeology of taste. Through vivid writing, history, and first-hand culinary experience, Grescoe sets out a provocative case: in order to save these foods, he argues, we've got to eat them.
Taras brought Mexican edible insects, Spanish acorn-fed ham, olive oil from Puglia, and bread baked with emmer, an ancient grain, to the set of CTV's The Social. You can watch the clip here.
The Lost Supper in the News (Media, Podcasts, Other Coverage)
The Lost Supper is discussed along with other books about food culture and history in this (somewhat off-topic!) essay in The New Yorker by Manvir Singh. (Here's the link.)
To Save It, Eat It: Why Gene Banks Aren't Enough to Save the World's Food: my feature essay for Ideas Magazine, on the website of San Francisco's Long Now Foundation (Here's the link.)
In Defense of Farming: my opinion essay featured in Canada's Globe and Mail for Earth Day. (Here's the link.)
Taras goes deep in this interview about lost and ancient foods, and his travels for his book The Lost Supper, in this interview on the mighty KPFA radio station (broadcasting from Berkeley since 1949). (Here's the link.)
An excerpt from the concluding chapter of The Lost Supper is featured in Modern Farmer, an excellent US-based web magazine about all things agricultural. (Here's the link.)
You can hear Taras talking about long-lost silphion, Ossabaw Island hogs, garum, and George Monbiot's protein pancakes (God help us all!) with Evan Kleiman on the KCRW (LA) Good Food show and podcast. (Here's the link.)
"I cheered when I read this book, a series of lyrically descriptive essays telling of the author's interesting journeys to find world's forgotten foods. It is beautifully persuasive." —Rose Prince chooses The Lost Supper as a best food book (2023) in The Spectator (UK) (Here's the link.)
A great review in the Winnipeg Free Press, one of North America's last remaining independently-published dailies. (Here's the link.)
Listen to Taras talking about ancient foods on Booktalk with Diana Korte. (Here's the link.)
22 of the Best Non-Fiction and Popular Science Books of 2023: The Lost Supper makes the cut in this feature in the prestigious British science magazine The New Scientist. (Here's the link.)
"The global standard diet is wrecking our health, argues Taras Grescoe, who offers a surprising solution in his new book The Lost Supper." The Telegraph (UK) gives The Lost Supper four stars. (Here's the link.)
Civil Eats includes Taras's The Lost Supper in its 2023 food and farming gift guide. "Think of this book as a mashup of Atlas Obscura and Decolonize Your Diet...Grescoe is an optimist—and a historically-minded one." (Here's the link.)
The Lost Supper a 2023 pick in The Next Big Idea Book Club (Listen to him talking about five takeaways from the book in the link.)
The Lost Supper named one of the 100 best books in Canada for 2023 by The Globe and Mail. (Here's the link.)
Starred review of The Lost Supper in Canada's Quill & Quire. "An outstanding and crucial read amid this global emergency." (Here's the link.)
Listen to Taras being interviewed about his quest for silphion, the long-lost herb of the ancient Greeks and Romans, on The Delicious Legacy podcast (UK). (Here's the link.)
Oct., 2023
"The Wisdom Is in the Soil, and the Soil is Becoming Depleted": andrea bennett gives Taras the Q + A treatment about The Lost Supper in British Columbia's The Tyee. (Here's the link.)
Sept., 2023
How looking to the past can help future-proof our food: long feature in Canada's National Post on The Lost Supper, by Laura Brehaut (Here's the link.)
Sept., 2023
11 of the Best Food Books to Read this Fall: The Lost Supper is front and center on Eater.com's Best-of list for autumn 2023. (Here's the link.)
National CBC radio (Canada): Listen to Taras talk with the always well-informed Matt Galloway on The Current about Wendell Berry, edible insects, and stories from researching The Lost Supper. (Here's the link.)
Talk radio: Taras talking Lost Supper on Montreal's CJAD. (Here's the link.)
