Uncorking the Past: The Quest for Wine Beer and Other Alcoholic Beverages

About this book

In a lively gastronomical tour around the world and through the millennia Uncorking the Past tells the compelling story of humanitys ingenious intoxicating search for booze. Following a tantalizing trail of archaeological chemical artistic and textual clues Patrick E. McGovern the leading authority on ancient alcoholic beverages brings us up to date on what we now know about the creation and history of alcohol and the role of alcohol in society across cultures. Along the way he integrates studies in food and sociology to explore a provocative hypothesis about the integral role that spirits have played in human evolution. We discover for example that the cereal staples of the modern world were probably domesticated in agrarian societies for their potential in fermenting large quantities of alcoholic beverages. These include the delectable rice wines of China and Japan the corn beers of the Americas and the millet and sorghum drinks of Africa. Humans also learned how to make mead from honey and wine from exotic fruits of all kinds: even from the sweet pulp of the cacao (chocolate) fruit in the New World. The perfect drink it turns out-whether it be mind-altering medicinal a religious symbol liquid courage or artistic inspiration-has not only been a profound force in history but may be fundamental to the human condition itself. This coffee table book will sate the curiosity of any armchair historian interested in the long history of food and wine.