The Incredible Story of Cooking: From Prehistory to Today 500,000 Years of Adventure (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

It's impossible to cover all aspects of over a half million years of cooking in less than 215 pages of comics. But writer Benoist Simmat and artist Stephane Douay do a decent job. Originally published in French, this book focuses mostly on the contribution of France to the culinary arts. Being a culinary graduate, I had wondered like many other culinary students why French cuisine is considered the fundamental region of which to begin learning how to cook. Thanks to Douay and Simmat, I feel like I have a definitive answer. Although you kinda have to draw a line between several important periods in history to get there. 

The beginning of France being the central hub of the culinary galaxy has to do with the Roman Empire. To the Romans, food was considered a gift from the gods and it was something to be treasured and conserved. With emperors such as Caligula and Nero, excess became the norm amongst the elite. And with this over-abundance came unnecessary waste. One such popular recipe called for one to use 100 flamingo tongues. The rest of the bird was bound for the trash heap. As a result of such wanton use of resources, many wealthy Romans sought other lands that made complete use of all parts of the food source being used.

This migration took many Romans north to Gaul, which is now modern day France. The Romans saw how the Gauls would use all parts of the animal slaughtered to make sausages, pates, and early versions of gelatin and terrines. This also explains why French cuisine utilizes many Italian ingredients and techniques. But why did French cuisine take over the world?

That answer has to do with the French Revolution. Right around when the American colonies began to seek independence from England, France was experiencing a level of decadence with the bourgeois class on par with Rome. Only, France wasn't so much wasting food as they were keeping the choice bits away from the peasants. 

France was a powerful ally to the American colonies. Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were impressed by the cuisines of France they experienced while acting as ambassador for the fledgling United States of America. So impressed, they brought back chefs and recipes to share when they returned. Likewise, the first modern restaurants were taking shape in France, and they saw popularity with both sides of the French Revolution.

Some French chefs who were considered loyal to King Louis XVI fled France. They saw the guillotine used upon their benefactors and feared that they would be next. Thus a great migration of French chefs took French cuisine to the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and the United States. Those chefs who were on the side of Napoleon, such as Marie-Antoine Carême became the first celebrity chefs. These chefs were also used in a new sort of warfare, the diplomatic state dinner which was supposed to beguile visiting dignitaries with the culinary prowess of France.

The Incredible Story of Cooking covers other global cuisines, just not to the extent of French cooking. Japanese, ancient Greek and Chinese, meso-American, Spanish, English and Middle Eastern cuisine are briefly explored. Jewish cooking is virtually ignored and whenever American cuisine is mentioned, it's demonized as the 'Land of McDonald's.' Interestingly enough, this book begins with a look at prehistoric cooking and eating; which is rather ironic as the paleo diet, a current trend based on how cavemen ate, closes this examination of the history of how and why we eat as we do. It seems that our palates are attuned to a certain way of eating and those cuisines rotate through cycles, just like the seasons as they bring back the fruits of humanity's harvests. 

Completing this review completes Task #3 (About Food) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin Revolutionized American Cuisine by Dave DeWitt

I managed to rescue this book from the library of the Art Institute of Raleigh-Durham when it closed in 2018. I thought that my mother-in-law would enjoy it (and she did). However, once returnedm it just stayed on my to-read shelf until recently.

The Founding Foodies is a scholarly work intended to explore the culinary impacts on American society made by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. In reality, the author should have just focused on Washington and Jefferson. Ben Franklin is maybe mentioned 15 times in this book and really the only thing I learned about him in a culinary stand point was that when Franklin was ambassador to France, he ate so much rich food that he had to resign his commission due to gout. 

Benjamin Franklin is known for his many inventions. The biggest impact of these innovations to the world of food has got to be the Franklin stove. Yet, Dave DeWitt doesn't talk about Franklin's appliance at all. Not even in passing.

If the name Dave DeWitt means anything to you, that's because he's both the creator of Chile Pepper Magazine as well as the Fiery Foods and BBQ Show extravaganza held annually in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For the sake of transparency, I have met Dave DeWitt back when I owned a hot sauce store and I have been a subscriber to Chile Pepper Magazine for decades (although DeWitt is no longer affiliated with the publication). Despite the acquaintance, I am not being compensated for this review.

Thomas Jefferson is the main focus of this book. The third POTUS is responsible for bringing French cuisine to the American populace. While Dave DeWitt gives a ton of praise to Jefferson, thankfully the food historian doesn't gloss over the fact that Jefferson owned slaves and that he really did a number over the whole Hemmings family.

George Washington's impact on how American's eat is more on the agricultural side. Jefferson was a Renaissance man. Washington was an everyman. Washington brought composting and use of manure into vogue with the American farmer. These strides helped to make our nation a land of plenty. But once again, Washington was a slave owner. Though our first president seemed to be a little more benevolent or at least fairer in treatment than Jefferson was to his slaves. But not by much.

DeWitt spends a little bit of time examining American food norms prior to the American Revolution. But one of the author's main focuses is on spirits. Fresh drinking water wasn't as readily available as one would think. So distilled beverages were a necessity. As were hot beverages, as the high temperatures killed microbes. While I did know that the Revolution changed us from a nation of tea drinkers over to a land of coffee addicts, I didn't realize that our independence made us whiskey connoisseurs.

While beer never really has lost its hold on the nation, tariffs on wheat, barley and hops from England led to Americans making their own alcoholic beverages. Rum was a biggie at first. But English controlled sugar cane fields and molasses supplies put a kibosh on that. Enter whiskey! Our abundance of eye and oak helped create bourbon and American pubs and bars were never the same. 

Also of alcoholic note- hard ciders. Though once beer became favorable to Americans again, it took a back seat. Though, DeWitt's discussion of the drink inspired me to try a hard cider for the first time just last week. YUM!

DeWitt includes quite a few recipes in this book. Many of which I am interested to try. Especially the peanut soup. I fell in love with the dish when I went with my parents to Mount Vernon. Only imagine my heartbreak when I learned that the recipe I devoured wasn't the recipe of George Washington's. Apparently, you don't get to eat at his homestead. I apparently had my peanut soup at a nearby inn.

I learned a lot about early American food history. Some of which I think will be beneficial to my culinary teaching career. I would love to devote a week of French inspired foods to my students and the teachers in our upcoming food ventures. I just don't think most of what I learned about distillation is things I can share with high schoolers.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.