GEERT JAN VAN GELDER, Of Dishes and Discourse: Classical Arabic Literary Representations of Food, Curzon Studies in Arabic and Middle-Eastern Literatures (Richmond, Surrey: Curzon Press, 2000). Pp. 185. Price not available.

Abstract

In this book Geert Jan van Gelder, Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford, studies how Arab–Islamic culinary culture was represented in Arabic literature. He thus contributes to our knowledge of both Arabic literature and, indirectly, Arab–Islamic gastronomy and cookery. Although representations of food as such are not the finest aspects of Arabic literature, and the preparation and consumption of food are not the finest aspects of Arab–Islamic civilization, his perspective throws light on little-studied facets of Arab–Islamic culture that are worth noting.