Over ten chapters, two thousand years of history come alive - from Ancient Rome, to tenth century Baghdad, to al-Andalus Spain, the Ethiopian Empire, and nineteenth century New York City – period recipes are woven into immersive retellings of world history through a culinary lens. Recipes adapted for today’s kitchens allow modern cooks of all abilities to cook and eat dishes that were enjoyed hundreds of years ago.

Readers learn to orchestrate feasts from Apicius; blend spices from the Silk Road; use indigenous ingredients of the Americas; revisit the “classics'  from the Court of the Sun King; and savor complex delicacies from the birth of the American restaurant scene. The home cook can prepare an entire seven-course Tudor feast, pick and choose a few dishes from around the world and throughout time, or read about a period of history with incredible photos of ancient food made modern. Richly illustrated with hand-drawn maps, contemporary photography adds to the sensory experience, while Jessica B. Harris’ foreword puts these historic foodways and their legacies into contemporary context.