Filled with classic recipes and inspirational stories, this stunningly illustrated book celebrates the power of food throughout American history and in women's lives.

"Dazzles like the harbor of Portofino." —Adriana Trigiani Laura Schenone's original goal was simple enough: to find her great-grandmother's recipe for ravioli. But things get more complicated as she reunites with relatives and digs up buried family stories. Taking readers from New Jersey's industrial wastelands and fast-paced suburbs to the coast of Liguria—homeland of her ancestors and of ravioli—The Lost Ravioli Recipes of Hoboken is a story of the comedies and foibles of family life, of love and loss, of old homes and new, and of the mysteries of pasta, rolled on a pin into a perfect circle of gossamer dough.

In Near a Thousand Tables, acclaimed food historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto tells the fascinating story of food as cultural as well as culinary history -- a window on the history of mankind. In this "appetizingly provocative" (Los Angeles Times) book, he guides readers through the eight great revolutions in the world history of food: the origins of cooking, which set humankind on a course apart from other species; the ritualization of eating, which brought magic and meaning into people's relationship with what they ate; the inception of herding and the invention of agriculture, perhaps the two greatest revolutions of all; the rise of inequality, which led to the development of haute cuisine; the long-range trade in food which, practically alone, broke down cultural barriers; the ecological exchanges, which revolutionized the global distribution of plants and livestock; and, finally, the industrialization and globalization of mass-produced food. From prehistoric snail "herding" to Roman banquets to Big Macs to genetically modified tomatoes, Near a Thousand Tables is a full-course meal of extraordinary narrative, brilliant insight, and fascinating explorations that will satisfy the hungriest of readers.