3.) Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky
This is Mark Kurlansky’s third nonfiction book, and the winner of the 1999 James Beard Award. It chronicles the story of cod, acknowledging its importance as a catalyst for the Europeans to set sail across the Atlantic way back when, and its place in the Viking diet, among other historical moments.
“As we make our way through the centuries of cod history, we also find a delicious legacy of recipes, and the tragic story of environmental failure, of depleted fishing stocks where once their numbers were legendary,” the book’s description teases. “In this lovely, thoughtful history, Mark Kurlansky ponders the question: Is the fish that changed the world forever changed by the world's folly?”
Kurlansky and his work has earned a number of awards and recognition including a Bon Appétit American Food and Entertaining Award for Food Writer of the Year award, and the Glenfiddich Food and Drink Award for Food Book of the year.
Review:
“Every once in a while a writer of particular skill takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight. Such is the case of Mark Kurlansky and the codfish.” (David McCullough, author of “The Wright Brothers” and “1776.”)
