Feast & Fast

The UK Winner of the Entertaining category of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2020, Feast and Fast explores our evolving relationship with food with treasures from the Fitzwilliam Museum.

Food defines us as individuals, communities, and nations — we are what we eat and, equally, what we don’t eat. When, where, why, how and with whom we eat are crucial to our identity. This title presents novel approaches to understanding the history and culture of food and eating in early modern Europe.

This richly illustrated book will showcase hidden and newly-conserved treasures from the Fitzwilliam Museum and other collections in and around Cambridge. It will tease out many contemporary and controversial issues — such as the origins of food and food security, overconsumption in times of austerity, and our relationship with animals and nature – through short research-led entries by some of the world’s leading cultural and food historians.

This book explores food-related objects, images, and texts from the past in innovative ways and encourages us to rethink our evolving relationship with food.