Global History in 15 Latin American Foods

Global History in 15 Latin American Foods traces the paths by which 15 ingredients, from corn to chiles, and from guava to gum, made their way from Precolumbian Latin America to world cuisine today.Why is the bird on your Thanksgiving table called a turkey? What does the potato tell us about the dangers of globalization? And how did the age of industrialization give us the chocolate bars we know and love today? Placing these foods, and others, at the center of a global network, it highlights some of the most important historical trends of the last 500 years, from the age of exploration through the Enlightenment, industrialization, empire-building and decolonisation.Putting Latin America at the center of global processes in modern world history, and highlighting surprising origins of enduring cultural traditions and myths, Global History in 15 Latin American Foods offers a new perspective on the making of the modern world, food and commodities studies, environmental history and more.