Overview

What did great adventurers eat during their expeditions to the far corners of the world? How did they view the role of food in their survival and wellbeing? What about hikers and backpackers today who set out to enjoy nature, pushing their own boundaries of comfort for adventure. How does food impact their experience? And what do they have in common with pilgrims and soldiers? Food is a significant element of our relationship with nature. Whether a historical expedition or a weekend camping trip, a journey made on foot requires sustenance. Without mastering our relationship with food we would have not been to the South Pole or summited Mt. Everest or expanded to the west of America. However, in the reporting of these expeditions so far food has rarely taken a central role. It is possible to take a different stance and look at our time on trails with food as the leading character. Here, Demet Güzey offers a fun and interesting read on the social and cultural history, developments and challenges in food on trails and in the wild. She explores personal accounts, news articles and anecdotes to highlight how food has accompanied us in mountaineering, desert travel, and pilgrimage, in the army or on the street. From tinned foods to foraging in the wild, worm-infested hardtack to palate-dulling army rations, loss of appetite in high altitude to starvation at the trenches, no stone is left unturned in this tour of how we manage food on foot, and how disasters happen when we do not manage it so well. Readers will delight in both the stories of many of the famous explorations and the more current journeys.

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9781442255067

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Reviews

Guzey's fascinating treatise on pedestrian food, the latest book in the Food on the Go series, explores the food traditions and technological advances that people have made in order to eat on the move. She covers polar and mountain expeditions, pilgrimages, exploring new lands, and good old-fashioned hiking. Guzey's research shines through as she provides cultural and historical references for each type of food. She also shares intriguing facts: Italian soldiers during WWII hated their rations so much that they called them Asinus Mussolini (Mussolini's Arse), and the Third Reich created a version of crystal meth for their soldiers, which was included in their rations. Guzey's writing is concise and each chapter (e.g., 'Desert Travel,' 'Army Rations,' 'Street Food') nicely showcases the wide variety of food enjoyed (or hated) during each type of 'walk.' Even those with only a passing interest in the history of food will find Guzey's work enjoyable. * Publishers Weekly * [O]ffers a fun and interesting read on the social and cultural history, developments and challenges in food on trails end in the wild. Food is essential accompanying the traveler high up in the mountains, under scorching sun in desert travel, tiresome never-ending pilgrimage trails, becomes a survival provision for the soldier in the battleground, and now it is a destination marker for street food lovers. The book is for a must-read for adventurers, the ones who travel for food, or trekkers and trailers who will explore food with a different eye. * Hurriyet Daily News * This fascinating book will take the reader on a hundred different journeys with food; it also provides a list of foods one best not indulge in. * The Explorers Journal * In this book, culinary historian Demet Guzey examines the food we eat while traveling - particularly on foot - from a casual picnic to more life-challenging desert treks and polar expeditions.... And while we may not be climbing mountains or crossing deserts, even a stop at a food truck takes on new savor when viewed as part of a continuum of traveler's food. * CHoW Line *

This fascinating book will take the reader on a hundred different journeys with food; it also provides a list of foods one best not indulge in. * The Explorers Journal *

Author Information

Demet Güzey, PhD, is a freelance food and wine writer with a passion for trekking in high mountains. She has published numerous articles in academic journals and magazines, ranging from Food Biophysics to Gastronomica, and climbed some grand mountains, such as Mont Blanc and Mount Ararat. You can read more about her at www.demetguzey.com.

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