Food and Power: A Culinary Ethnography of Israel Volume 67

Name: Food and Power: A Culinary Ethnography of Israel Volume 67
Price: 95.00 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9780520290099

✍️ Avieli, Nir

Reader Score

4.6

(1 review)

$95.00

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Regional & Cultural

📚 EDITORIAL REVIEW

“This deeply analytical exploration suits sociology nerds and adventurous food historians who love digging into the politics behind what's on the plate. Home cooks searching for quick weeknight dinners or a standard recipe collection will be thoroughly disappointed, as this is an ethnography, not a cookbook.

— Editorial Team

Author

Avieli, Nir

📚 all books by this author (2) →

🏛 University of California Press 📅 2017 📔 Hardcover ISBN: 9780520290099

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📝 Description: Food and Power: A Culinary Ethnography of Israel Volume 67

Drawing on ethnography conducted in Israel since the late 1990s, Food and Power considers how power is produced, reproduced, negotiated, and subverted in the contemporary Israeli culinary sphere. Nir Avieli explores issues such as the definition of Israeli cuisine, the ownership of hummus, the privatization of communal Kibbutz dining rooms, and food at a military prison for Palestinian detainees to show how cooking and eating create ambivalence concerning questions of strength and weakness and how power and victimization are mixed into a sense of self-justification that maintains internal cohesion among Israeli Jews.

💎 Expert review

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Eatbook Family editorial team

Cookbook desk

Avieli offers a sharp, unvarnished academic study that examines how power, identity, and self-justification are negotiated over the dining table. His detailed ethnography brings critical nuance to Israeli foodways, making it an essential addition to any academic regional-cooking shelf. However, this is strictly a scholarly work of food writing and culinary anthropology rather than an accessible kitchen reference. It does not suit readers searching for a traditional recipe collection, practical cooking techniques, or light culinary travelogue. Because the volume's descriptive scope remains dense and theoretical, it appeals primarily to those who appreciate critical, text-heavy assessments of global food politics over straightforward gastronomic appreciation.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Eatbook Family —

⭐ eatbookfamily.com editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

This deeply analytical exploration suits sociology nerds and adventurous food historians who love digging into the politics behind what's on the plate. Home cooks searching for quick weeknight dinners or a standard recipe collection will be thoroughly disappointed, as this is an ethnography, not a…

Reader rating

4.6

Based on 1 reviews

Eatbook Family editorial team

Avieli offers a sharp, unvarnished academic study that examines how power, identity, and self-justification are negotiated over the dining table. His detailed ethnography brings critical nuance to Israeli foodways, making it an essential addition to any academic regional-cooking shelf. However, this is strictly a scholarly work of food writing and culinary anthropology rather than an accessible kitchen reference. It does not suit readers searching for a traditional recipe collection, practical cooking techniques, or light culinary travelogue. Because the volume's descriptive scope remains dense and theoretical, it appeals primarily to those who appreciate critical, text-heavy assessments of global food politics over straightforward gastronomic appreciation.

❓ Frequently asked questions

No, this is a culinary ethnography focused on cultural analysis rather than a traditional recipe book with photos or cooking instructions.

It explores food culture topics, including the debate over Israeli cuisine, kibbutz dining changes, and the social meanings behind national dishes.

📖 Who should read this

📜 Historical context

Rooted in anthropological fieldwork conducted across Israel since the late 1990s, this work examines the dynamic and contested nature of the contemporary Israeli culinary landscape. It investigates how everyday eating habits, shared dishes like hummus, and communal dining traditions reflect broader societal tensions, identity struggles, and power dynamics.