The Greenwood Press series, Food Culture around the World, is designed to bring the academic study of food to “a wider audience of students, general readers, and foodies alike” (vii). Henry Notaker’s contribution to the series, Food Culture in Scandinavia, succeeds in that goal by providing wider access to the culinary history and culture of Scandinavia. Notaker, a Norwegian-born author and former journalist for NRK (Norsk rikskringkasting, Norway’s state-owned radio and television broadcasting service), is well-positioned to bridge the gap between academia and a more general audience. He has written and broadcast many pieces on Scandinavian food habits and cookbooks. His background is in literature and much of his work for NRK was as a foreign correspondent, but he also produced series on food history and culture for Norwegian radio, print, and television.
Food Culture in Scandinavia sets out to be broad, encompassing all of the Scandinavian language areas, although Denmark, Norway, and Sweden dominate the text. Iceland is paid a fair amount of attention, with Greenland and the Faroes gaining mention in several places. Finland is consciously left out of this book, “partly because of the difficulty of the sources, as most of them are in Finnish…, and partly because Finland has many similarities to food culture in Russia” (ix). Whether to include Finland in any discussion of Scandinavia is always a tricky question, and the question could perhaps have been more fully explored in this volume. The relatively light treatment of the question, however, is indicative of the more general audience at which the book is aimed—Scandinavianists may quibble, but this book is not for Scandinavianists. It is for a more general audience, and the text reflects that in many ways.
The tone of the chapters is very much presentational. The reader quickly gets the idea that Notaker is attempting to convey a wealth of information on a breadth of topics. Depth is sacrificed, of course, but in this volume, that sacrifice often feels like a trade rather than a lack. The information within each chapter is concise, clear, and put forth in a very readable manner. The book itself is also organized in a clear and understandable way. As such, it is a very accessible source of information for younger students of folklore, food culture, etc. There is little analysis or cultural interpretation of foodways in this book, making it less useful to a more advanced classroom. The lack of depth makes this text more suited to introductory classrooms, perhaps, but within that limitation, it is a useful book academically.
Notaker’s background in journalism and literature is apparent in the feel of the text. The clarity and journalistic drive to the narrative makes it an appealing book for the layperson, while hampering the text’s usefulness to the more advanced academic audience. Notaker depends on a narrow band of resources as well, which can feel limiting to a knowledgeable reader. For example, his first chapter, “Historical Overview,” starts in Viking times but relies exclusively on textual resources for its information on Viking foodways. Some attention to archaeology or paleoclimatology would be a welcome addition to the historical and literary resources from which Notaker draws his information. Unlike the lack of depth in the informational style (discussed above), this lack of depth due to limited source material feels more like a deficiency in the book. Notaker’s goal of reaching a more general audience could have been preserved and enhanced by broadening his sources to include some archaeology, without wandering too far down academic rabbit holes.
Food Culture in Scandinavia touches on many aspects of food, from early history through to modern developments in Scandinavia’s food culture(s). Chapter titles speak for themselves: “Historical Overview,” “Major Foods and Ingredients,” “Cooking,” “Typical Meals,” “Eating Out,” “Special Occasions,” “Diet and Health.” Notaker is neither precious nor wrapped up in romanticism when discussing the changes in eating habits, nutritional understanding, and international cuisine that he documents in Scandinavia. He brings the reader on an informational tour through history right up to the modern day. In this regard, his journalistic background serves the book well. In addition to the topics covered in the various chapters, the book contains other useful (if general) aids to understanding foodways. A brief timeline, glossary, and general maps of the four main Scandinavian countries will help orient the reader new to Scandinavia, and the resource lists will provide a chance for further exploration. Many photographs and illustrations dot the text as well. While none of these extras has the depth of an academic volume, they all provide a bit of context for the lay reader and the introductory classroom. And while Food Culture in Scandinavia does not claim to be a cookbook, it does contain approximately forty recipes—a nice addition to a book about Scandinavian foodways.
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[Review length: 802 words • Review posted on March 9, 2010]