Perfection Salad Women and Cooking at the Turn of the Century [Paperback]

Toasted marshmallows stuffed with raisins? Green-and-white luncheons? Chemistry in the kitchen? This entertaining and erudite social history, now in its fourth paperback edition, tells the remarkable story of America's transformation from a nation of honest appetites into an obedient market for instant mashed potatoes. InPerfection Salad,Laura Shapiro investigates a band of passionate but ladylike reformers at the turn of the twentieth centuryincluding Fannie Farmer of the Boston Cooking Schoolwho were determined to modernize the American diet through a scientific approach to cooking. Shapiro's fascinating tale shows why we think the way we do about food today.

Laura Shapirowas on staff atNewsweekand is a contributor to theNew York Times, Rolling Stone, Granta,andGourmet.She is the author ofJulia ChildandSomething from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America.