At a time when modern society is said to have left the kitchen for the couch, David Sutton’s latest book, Secrets from the Greek Kitchen, brings welcome empirical and theoretical depth previously lacking from the home cooking discourse.

Perhaps what each piece in this edited volume does best is identify, through ethnographic and archival research, what underlies, is experienced, or is even erased by use of the words “country” and “city” in conceptualizing foodways.

Andrew F. Smith’s Drinking History: Fifteen Turning Points in the Making of American Beverages demonstrates how America’s diverse and shifting beverage tastes intersect histories of politics, economics, social movements, and global influences.

Abigail Carroll’s Three Squares: The Invention of the American Meal traces the evolution of the American meal from the colonial era to the present.