The World on a Plate: A Tour through the History of America's Ethnic Cuisine

During the Depression, the Colombosians, an Armenian family, began bottling and selling the yogurt they made on their small Massachusetts dairy farm. They labeled their bottles Colombo” because nobody could pronounce their name. The Colombo story, the journey of ethnic food from exotic product to everyday item, has become legendary. The World on a Plate tells the story of the Colombosians and other immigrant families who have changed and influenced our food and created a uniquely American culinary pastiche. Joel Denker, a longtime food and travel writer and scholar of American folklore, has conducted fascinating interviews with a range of ethnic-food merchants, crafting a history of our colorful food makers the grocers, vendors, manufacturers, importers, restaurateurs and the products they have given us.