Rice and Beans provides an excellent examination and deep insight into the important and varied roles these food play in the diets, lives, and cultures of people across the Americas.

Jane Fajans, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University

This book fills a gap in the food literature by focusing upon a dish which is widely found in the Americas. The authors use historical, economic and cultural explanations to analyse not only the reasons for ubiquity of this dish, but also its regional variations and links with ethnicity, class and nation-state.

Pat Caplan, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London

This is an academically-focussed collection of essays looking at various aspects of rice and beans, a meal that is very popular in a broad area encompassing Western Africa, the Caribbean and North, South and Central America. Various theories are espoused as to how two simple staple items could be unique in their own right yet combined into a “different” dish shared by many countries, such as a common history, links to slavery and other trades... You won't get a lot of recipes or be a better cook, but you will be more informed and knowledgeable after reading it.

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