Amazon Prime Free Trial
FREE Delivery is available to Prime members. To join, select "Try Amazon Prime and start saving today with FREE Delivery" below the Add to Cart button and confirm your Prime free trial.
Amazon Prime members enjoy:- Cardmembers earn 5% Back at Amazon.com with a Prime Credit Card.
- Unlimited FREE Prime delivery
- Streaming of thousands of movies and TV shows with limited ads on Prime Video.
- A Kindle book to borrow for free each month - with no due dates
- Listen to over 2 million songs and hundreds of playlists
Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period. If you're happy with Amazon Prime, do nothing. At the end of the free trial, your membership will automatically upgrade to a monthly membership.
-24% $21.16$21.16
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: HQR Express
$15.99$15.99
Ships from: Amazon Sold by: Corax Books
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Tastes Like Chicken: A History of America's Favorite Bird Hardcover – August 2, 2016
Purchase options and add-ons
How did chicken achieve the culinary ubiquity it enjoys today? It’s hard to imagine, but there was a point in history, not terribly long ago, that individual people each consumed less than ten pounds of chicken per year. Today, those numbers are strikingly different: we consumer nearly twenty-five times as much chicken as our great-grandparents did.
Collectively, Americans devour 73.1 million pounds of chicken in a day, close to 8.6 billion birds per year. How did chicken rise from near-invisibility to being in seemingly "every pot," as per Herbert Hoover's famous promise?
Emelyn Rude explores this fascinating phenomenon in Tastes Like Chicken. With meticulous research, Rude details the ascendancy of chicken from its humble origins to its centrality on grocery store shelves and in restaurants and kitchens. Along the way, she reveals startling key points in its history, such as the moment it was first stuffed and roasted by the Romans, how the ancients’ obsession with cockfighting helped the animal reach Western Europe, and how slavery contributed to the ubiquity of fried chicken today.
In the spirit of Mark Kurlansky’s Cod and Bee Wilson's Consider the Fork, Tastes Like Chicken is a fascinating, clever, and surprising discourse on one of America’s favorite foods.
- Print length272 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPegasus Books
- Publication dateAugust 2, 2016
- Dimensions6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
- ISBN-101681771632
- ISBN-13978-1681771632
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Customers who bought this item also bought
Editorial Reviews
Review
"In a breezy narrative brimming with retro recipes, culinary historian Rude focuses on the history of US chicken consumption, currently 8.6 billion birds a year. From New York immigrants' foul ‘ornithological parks’ of the 1880s and 1890s to the rise in global demand—which can push production at the expense of animal welfare—Rude reveals chicken as a troublesome taste." ― Nature
"The irrepressible yardbird struts through Tastes Like Chicken as Emelyn Rude engagingly explains how this descendant of dinosaurs became the default American dinner." -- Joyce E. Chaplin, Harvard University, author of Round About the Earth
"A fun and smart read. As one of the most popular ingredients in the world, I found it fascinating to explore the history of how we eat and cook this bird has evolved over the centuries. Emelyn Rude is a brilliant writer and by far the most whimsical chicken historian I have ever met." -- Einat Admony, chef and owner for the Balaboosta and Bar Bolonat, author of the Balaboosta cookbook
"Until now, I've never read such a comprehensive look at one of my favorite foods and a protein that is so integral to any kitchen. Emelyn does a fantastic job of explaining why chicken is such an important part of our country's culinary fabric." -- Marcus Samuelsson, James Beard Award-winning chef, author of Yes, Chef
"A food historian with a feature writer's flair illuminates the culinary history of the now-ubiquitous chicken.Though the chicken would seem to be a subject that everybody knows about, Rude makes the humble bird's story fresh and interesting on nearly every page. Rude finds the bird as fascinating as she makes it for readers." ― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Rude keeps it interesting with light writing and scandalous chicken tales. She also provides recipes, making this an easy cookbook to pack for a light historical read." ― HeraldNet
"Readers of food histories such as Mark Kurlansky’s Cod will appreciate this engaging, well-researched, and thorough history of America’s changing food preferences." ― Library Journal
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Pegasus Books; 1st edition (August 2, 2016)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 272 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1681771632
- ISBN-13 : 978-1681771632
- Item Weight : 1.16 pounds
- Dimensions : 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,560,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #705 in Poultry Cooking
- #2,150 in Gastronomy Essays (Books)
- #3,052 in Gastronomy History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book informative and well-researched. They find it an enjoyable, easy read with a breezy style that is easy to understand. The book provides interesting information about chicken as a food.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book informative and engaging. They appreciate the well-researched information and interesting history about chickens. The book explains the rise of chicken's popularity and explores issues surrounding animal conditions and health in the industry today.
"...Rude does an excellent job of telling the story of chicken's rise to popularity, along with providing a number of chicken recipes throughout the..." Read more
""Tastes Like Chicken" is a novel and interesting book just chocked full of well researched information of which nearly no one is aware...." Read more
"...Not only is this book truly informative, Rude's writing style is riveting, witty, and compelling...." Read more
"...It also delves into the issues surrounding conditions and health of the animals in the industry today...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find it an enjoyable and easy read with interesting information about chicken as a food.
"...What I found in the end was a most enjoyable read." Read more
"A fascinating read that will keep you wanting to read and read and read...." Read more
"I enjoyed this book. It is an easy read, but has a pretty well offered interesting of the chicken as a food source through history with particular..." Read more
"Really enjoyed this book, would recommend for anyone who is interested in learning more about what we eat! Very educational and easy to get through." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it easy to read, written with a breezy style that makes facts easy to understand. The writing style is engaging and compelling, making it an educational yet easy read.
"...Written with a breezy style, all these factoids are easily assimilated by the reader, albeit along with the author's own agenda, which she takes..." Read more
"...Not only is this book truly informative, Rude's writing style is riveting, witty, and compelling...." Read more
"I enjoyed this book. It is an easy read, but has a pretty well offered interesting of the chicken as a food source through history with particular..." Read more
"...Very educational and easy to get through." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 18, 2017I purchased this book after hearing about it on NPR--and I am glad I did! Rude does an excellent job of telling the story of chicken's rise to popularity, along with providing a number of chicken recipes throughout the book that help to show the development of chicken within the culinary landscape. When I got this book I was looking for something that would be a departure from the reading I do for work (mostly historical/theological), and this indeed fit the bill... or should I say, beak?!? What I found in the end was a most enjoyable read.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2020"Tastes Like Chicken" is a novel and interesting book just chocked full of well researched information of which nearly no one is aware. Written with a breezy style, all these factoids are easily assimilated by the reader, albeit along with the author's own agenda, which she takes some trouble to fit between the facts. By her own admission a practicing vegetarian, she has always hated and avoided meat since childhood, a startling admission indeed. In fact, I was never really able to get past her "Fowl Introduction" where she shares this piece of information, which predisposed me to watch for other "agenda" driven items throughout the book, and made these more easily discernable. The sidebars included recipes were ancillary to the text and mostly unusable, from the 1800's - interesting, sure, but not the way Americans cook today, so of little practical use. Do take note of the last chapter where she relates the etiology of the animal-to-human influenza diseases, particularly important given the Covid-19 pandemic currently spreading in the world today. The book also speaks obliquely about the pork and beef industry, so there is actually a bit more here than just about chickens So, three-and-a -half to four stars for the cleverness of the author and her historically well researched information, but the semi-hidden agenda gave me pause (as a meat-eating American) and knocks off at least one star for the attempt to extol and convince about eating meatless. Vegetarians in the USA are about 5% of the population with just 3% vegans, so Tyson Foods can still sleep well tonight.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2017A fascinating read that will keep you wanting to read and read and read. Not only is this book truly informative, Rude's writing style is riveting, witty, and compelling. If you are considering buying this book, stop thinking and just buy it! You won't regret it.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2018I enjoyed this book. It is an easy read, but has a pretty well offered interesting of the chicken as a food source through history with particular attention to the USA. It also delves into the issues surrounding conditions and health of the animals in the industry today. While it could not convince me to not love chicken as a food, it did give me some facts and opinions about the industry to ponder.
- Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2016Really enjoyed this book, would recommend for anyone who is interested in learning more about what we eat! Very educational and easy to get through.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2016great gift for the man who has everything
- Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2017I heard about this book on NPR, and it delivers! I loved learning about the growth of this delicious bird, and I know my giftee enjoys it as well. Thank you!
- Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2022This seems to be an exclusive history of chickens. Fascinating read for sure. Author sure did her research.