9780062190604
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Bread, Wine, Chocolate audiobook

  • By: Simran Sethi
  • Narrator: Therese Plummer
  • Length: 11 hours 3 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: November 10, 2015
  • Language: English
  • (567 ratings)
(567 ratings)
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Bread, Wine, Chocolate Audiobook Summary

Award-winning journalist Simran Sethi explores the history and cultural importance of our most beloved tastes, paying homage to the ingredients that give us daily pleasure, while providing a thoughtful wake-up call to the homogenization that is threatening the diversity of our food supply.

Food is one of the greatest pleasures of human life. Our response to sweet, salty, bitter, or sour is deeply personal, combining our individual biological characteristics, personal preferences, and emotional connections. Bread, Wine, Chocolate illuminates not only what it means to recognize the importance of the foods we love, but also what it means to lose them. Award-winning journalist Simran Sethi reveals how the foods we enjoy are endangered by genetic erosion–a slow and steady loss of diversity in what we grow and eat. In America today, food often looks and tastes the same, whether at a San Francisco farmers market or at a Midwestern potluck. Shockingly, 95% of the world’s calories now come from only thirty species. Though supermarkets seem to be stocked with endless options, the differences between products are superficial, primarily in flavor and brand.

Sethi draws on interviews with scientists, farmers, chefs, vintners, beer brewers, coffee roasters and others with firsthand knowledge of our food to reveal the multiple and interconnected reasons for this loss, and its consequences for our health, traditions, and culture. She travels to Ethiopian coffee forests, British yeast culture labs, and Ecuadoran cocoa plantations collecting fascinating stories that will inspire readers to eat more consciously and purposefully, better understand familiar and new foods, and learn what it takes to save the tastes that connect us with the world around us.

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Bread, Wine, Chocolate Audiobook Narrator

Therese Plummer is the narrator of Bread, Wine, Chocolate audiobook that was written by Simran Sethi

Simran Sethi is a journalist and an associate at the University of Melbourne's Sustainable Society Institute and the former host of the PBS Quest series on science and sustainability. Her work has appeared on NBC Nightly News, PBS, Oprah, MSNBC, the History Channel, and NPR. She was the national environmental correspondent for NBC News, the anchor/writer of Sundance Channel's first dedicated environmental programming, and the host of the Emmy Award-winning PBS documentary A School in the Woods.

About the Author(s) of Bread, Wine, Chocolate

Simran Sethi is the author of Bread, Wine, Chocolate

More From the Same

Bread, Wine, Chocolate Full Details

Narrator Therese Plummer
Length 11 hours 3 minutes
Author Simran Sethi
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date November 10, 2015
ISBN 9780062190604

Additional info

The publisher of the Bread, Wine, Chocolate is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062190604.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

P.

February 08, 2017

I strongly recommend this book, unless you are susceptible to the sin of envy. That's what I felt as the author took me on a tour of the world to discuss her (and my) three favorite foodstuffs. Sethi resigned from her tenured position at a midwestern university to undertake such a daring adventure, which speaks loudly of her dedication to, and passion for, her subject. And she doesn't disappoint, giving a fascinating account of the economic, environmental and social aspects of the production and preservation of this culinary trinity. With her erudite, but casual, writing style, I also felt I got to know the author better with each turn of the page. She's the kind person you would like to have coffee (or chocolate) with, or maybe break some bread.PS: This book also makes excellent gift (I sent a copy to my daughter for Christmas).

Bhavi

November 08, 2022

I saw this book on my feed as a book recommendation post by a handle I follow on Instagrm. I've been studying a lot about different foods, its origin, its influences, its pairings, customs and traditions revolving around food, etc. And this book fit perfectly well into my journey of discovery.In the last century we have eaten through the most dramatic shifts ever experienced in food and agriculture. While much of this is invisible, but it is apparent now that food is beginning to look and taste the same, irrespective of whether you are in a farmer's market in SFO, at a potluck in Dubai or at a McDonald's in India. Sadly, the most delicious and diverse varieties of food are being lost, slowly and irrevocably.This book catalogs author Simran Sethi's travels from the forests of Ethiopia to cocoa plantations of Ecuador, and vineries in the Napa, and so much more, meeting scientists, farmers, chefs, wine makers, chocolate connoisseurs and many others to discuss the reasons for this loss of biodiversity, and how it will impact us while also learning to experience food in a whole different way, tasting them more deeply using all of our senses and not just one or two, to savor, and above all, save the foods we love.The book is full of geeky bits of science and mind-blowing insights about food. And what i loved the most is the part detailing how memory and culture influences our perception of taste. The books focuses on foods we know, but then, do we realy know it?Most importantly, the book draws focus on the threat to culinary diversity as a result of genentic erosion. And culinary diversity along with cultural diversity is a very important component of agrobiodiversity.The book moves smoothly like dream and is making me question my choices and relationships with food, while helping me build newer, more intimate ones based on the insights, knowledge and instances I read about.This is one book that deserves a 5/5, that's how excellent it is. One of the best books on food I have ever read. Above all, it is much needed in today's times.#books #currentlyreading #bookstagram #food #foodblogger #foodgram #bread #wine

Kim

November 09, 2015

A fantastic read!! Tasting foods and drinks will never be the same again. I learned so much about the difference between taste and flavor, and I can't wait to have a tasting party with my friends. Simran's writing is engaging and smart, with incredible food detours to places like the coffee forests of Ethiopia and the yeast cultures lab in England. As I was reading, I felt like I was transported to those places with her, learning alongside her as she harvested her first cacao pod and tasted the first beer she ever truly liked. But what I couldn't stop thinking about after I put the book down were all of the inspiring people Simran met who are working to save the biodiversity of the foods we love most, foods I never knew were in danger at all.

Nicole

November 11, 2015

This is a must read for any foodie or individual that has even a smidgen of care for what they put in their mouth. It's a lesson on mindfulness and taking the time to understand where our food comes from and why it is what it is. The author writes from the most intimate of spaces as she takes you on little known journeys around the world. Her writing is informative, inspiring and romantic, piquing all of the senses and often eliciting highly visceral responses. I highly recommend reading and sharing this book with others as an entertaining read, excellent lesson in tasting and a catalyst for thought on where we are headed with biodiversity in our food systems.

Maggie

February 16, 2016

I don't think I've ever highlighted so many passages in a book before. This is a book about food, but it's also the story of how we're all part of a greater whole. Every section was a joy to devour, uncovering all the secrets, stories and characters behind the foods we love. And unlike so many books about sustainability and the environment, "Bread, Wine, Chocolate" left me feeling empowered rather than doomed.

Kim

February 23, 2021

Readingwomen #4I read this instead of claiming to have read an entire cookbookCos that I am unlikely to ever doI enjoyed this look at the origins and development, as well as current day experience of, these foods and drink. There were lots of interesting bits of information and I do love a social and political look at what we eat and drink.Sethis looks at wine, chocolate, beer and bread - and how important it is to retain diversity in the ingredients used to create these. I feel all firer up to go searching for small independent suppliers of these foods rather than consuming the cheap. homogenous rubbish we are most often offered.Interesting book if you care about where what you eat comes from, and why. My favourite but also most annoying bit of info gained was that women used to be beer brewers but when the profits realised were calculated by men, suddenly there was a ban on how much barley women could buy, thus allowing men to wrestle control from the women, and all the money.I don't even like beer but now want to find female brewers to support :-)

Jason

September 19, 2017

This book took a while to get through but was full of information, antidotes, laughter and tears. More than anything, it was an eye-opener to the background of the foods I take for granted every day. Even if you need to skip the scientific information to get through it, this book is worth the read.

Jim

September 22, 2017

What's not to like? Wine, Chocolate, Coffee, Beer, and Bread? (Plus one more that I'll get to...) Sethi breaks each examination into three parts...a mix of her personal history with the food and historical history (wasn't sure how else to put that); looks at sourcing and the impacts of high yield hybrids and strains on the higher quality beans, grains, yeasts, grapes, etc. - loss of diversity; and a short section on how the experts suggest enjoying each. She does a good job telling the story of the small farmers, vintners, chocolatiers "operating on the slimmest og magins", trying to make a living.I liked most of what Sethi wrote, highlighting a few quote-worthy segments...On cacao, Colin Gasko of Rogue Chocolatier, who pays premium prices for premium cacao seeds/beans that he has to have shipped, by more costly air, with their shells intact...a 30% waste as the shells are not the cacao he needs, and resulting in low margins:...there's a greater likelihood of reduction in genetic diversity if we don't value a differentiated, specialty market. My value isn't in purchasing power; it's in showing the potential of what good cacao processed in the right way can taste like.On coffee, Sethi quotes Aaron Wood, former head roaster for Seven Seeds Coffee Roasters in Australia:I love coffee because it's for the people. It's social. You wouldn't go out for a bar of chocolate, would you? People drink wine to get out of their day and get into their night, Coffee brings you into your day.On beer, Ms. Sethi says of the tragic species of beer (my term, not hers), "[a]ppropriately known as bottom-fermenting yeast, lager yeasts produce clean and crisp beers, like Corona, Heineken, Bud and Pabst Blue Ribbon. They are considered more commercial because they're uniform, controllable and don't produce the depth of flavor we find in ales." Well, she got that right. and quoting Ben Ott, former head brewer at Truman's brewery, London, If you want to attract a lot of people, then you make the beer as bland as possible.Ms. Sethi nails it with, "It works: Lager is the most popular beer in the world."The subtitle refers to that loss of diversity, resulting in loss of quality. Think about it...junk chocolate vs gourmet chocolate; Folgers vs Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee; Budweiser vs actual beer...Ms. Sethi quotes Caleb Taft, at the time a wine director who introduced her to a specialty grape in a wine called Trousseau Gris:"The intention behind big wines is consistency."Meaning the Beringers etal...but it's more than that. The intention behind ALL big markets is consistency: beer, chocolate, coffee...and we all lose because of that.I thought Ms. Sethi threw in the proverbial TMI about her personal relationships in her narrative a little too often. I'm not sure if she was trying to make a connection with the reader, but given the subjects (and my personal passion for three - chocolate, coffee and beer), that connection would likely be a given for any reader. For her exposure of the problems we face when we allow a declination to the lower denominators of the Big producers, this could be a five star book, but I don't think she made enough of a case. Plus, she added a sixth "food" at the end that put me off; she crowed about a particularly well cooked octopus dish she had in Peru. She followed that travesty with an appropriate segment on overharvesting the sea resulting in, again, loss of diversity, but the damage was done in her sharing her delight in eating such an disturbingly intelligent creature.Regardless, this is still a good book with good information about foods that I happen to like.

Helene

November 04, 2015

Incredibly Powerful. Truly Inspiring. Scrumptiously Delicious. Before reading Sethi’s book, I admittedly didn’t give much thought about the variety or origin of foods available to me. Grocery stores are filled with hundreds of options so I didn’t understand the concept of losing diversity. Any curiosity for the foods I regularly consumed was a fleeting “I should Google that later” mentality. Taking this global journey with Sethi, I learned that there are literally thousands of varieties of the foods I love, I haven’t even tried – or knew existed. But more than that – I may never get to. With seamless ease, Sethi weaves interviews with scientists, growers, and conservationists with her own personal growth and discoveries. Covering a broad range of information, each section of the book is carefully structured with history, cultural impact, and an unrivaled depth of flavor. I’ve read numerous books that felt preachy or condescending to the uninformed consumer, but this book is truly impactful without feeling agenda-driven. Sethi admits that she was like me at the start of the book; new to learning about the foods we are addicted to. Being able to relate and identify with her while traveling to lush forests and vineyards, made it feel like I was experiencing everything first hand. I don’t want to lose depth or complexity of the coffee I can’t live without. Sethi makes me want to grow a garden full of produce not available at the store, know the origin of every food I taste, and protect diversity by understanding my power as a consumer. This book is more than just statistics on our diets, facts on the species that we are losing everyday (though those are truly eye opening), but a deeply personal quest to find answers at the source. The people who touch the food that I eat have never felt closer, and I have never been more grateful for their effort.I can’t wait to taste foods for the first time (or the 5,783rd time), armed with taste guides and a new appreciation for the rich flavors I’m savoring. Simran Sethi’s book is one that stays with you long after you’ve read it. For example, I was in the produce section a few days after I read a passage regarding apple varieties. Before reading this book I would have thought it was an entire isle of red, green, and yellow apples, but it was actually only 6 varieties in large quantities. Disheartened at the realization that this is one of the many things that Sethi brings awareness to, I was also proud of myself for seeing through the illusion of plenty. To anyone who is curious about why the foods we love are at risk, how we the consumers can directly impact their future, or how to taste your favorite foods in a new way – read this book! I can’t express the personal experience or the lasting impression this book has had, but I strongly encourage you to read it.

Jana

February 14, 2016

While there were parts of this book that I wasn't as interested in and just skimmed over, the overall idea of the book was fascinating to me. I especially liked the chapters on chocolate and coffee. Really makes me think about what I am eating and what I am buying."I have worked hard to live a life of integrity, one in which words and actions align. That's why I sneak my own healthy snacks (ranging from organic smoothies to seaweed strips) into movie theaters and carry a reusable water bottle onto planes, suffering the withering glances of flight attendants who want to pour my water into a plastic cup and move on to the next passenger: "Can you fill up this bottle, pleas?" These acts seem small, almost inconsequential, but they are bult upon the stubborn belief that how we spend our days is how we spend our lives. I want to spend mine celebrating the things I love, honoring the people and cirumstnaces that ensure my little joys will endure. That's why I grind those coffee beans and pay more for good chocolate. I won't singlehandedly transform the commodities market, but I will take the opportunities this life provides and use them the best I can. If I am going to spend $6 on a loaf of bread or $12 on a bottle of wine, I want them to be the ones that reflect and support what I value." [pgs 240-241]

Jamie

November 28, 2015

I really enjoyed this book--so much that it's going to be a few people's holiday gifts this year.I felt like I was at a wonderful dinner party where very knowledgeable guests were talking about food--minus any kind of food-snobbery! The book isn't about what you should or shouldn't eat, instead it's talking about how we don't realize that while we feel like we have so many options to choose from food has really become much less diverse. Sectioned off into Wine, Chocolate, Beer, Bread, Coffee, and Octopus, Preeti Simran Sethi weaves her connection with the foods with trips to farms, restaurants and conversations with really interesting and food passionate people in a way that never left me feeling bored. I recommend to anyone who enjoys food.

Tresa

November 23, 2015

It's a rare instance when science, logic, and facts can be authored into a beautifully written story. This is a fluent tale about something we can all relate so closely to - foods we love and couldn't live without. Sethi draws you in with her adventures, while grounding you with the hard truths we so often ignore. She reels you in, one mouth-watering chapter at a time, and leaves you thoughtfully informed (and hungry!). I hope to see more from her. Thank you, Simran Sethi!

Sally

December 26, 2015

Went to see the author speak, and I was worried from the speech that it would be a little too "Eat Pray Love" for me. But, luckily, it was both an emotionally AND scientifically meaningful argument for preservation of biodiversity with respect to what we eat. I would recommend it to folks interested in food science and/or natural history.

Jacob

October 18, 2017

I don't know that I ever thought about biodiversity prior to reading Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love. It wasn't a totally unfamiliar term, likely encountered in a class or some other book, yet if asked to define it I would have not really known what I was talking about (though not far off, as "bio" and "diversity" are both well known words; the combination of the two goes about like you'd expect). But as much of Bread, Wine, Chocolate is about bread, wine, and chocolate (and coffee, and beer), it's even more about thinking about the ingredients that form the base of the food chain, and the way industrialized farming favors the specific strains that produce the largest yield.This quote from one of the introductory chapters sums up the problem: "According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 95 perfect of the world's calories now come from 30 species. Of 30,000 edible plant species, we cultivate about 150. And of the more than 30 birds and mammals we've domesticated for food, only 14 animals provide 90 percent of the food we get from livestock. The loss is staggering. Three-fourths of the world's food comes from just twelve plants and five animal species." Bread, Wine, Chocolate riffs the theme of monocrops and the loss of biodiversity constantly throughout, but at the same time this is a book that exists as a love letter to foods Simran Sethi loves. She takes us into microbreweries, jungles where coffee "beans" grow wild, grape fields of California; the combination of reporting and personal narrative ends up feel like Anthony Bourdain, except with an ever-lingering eye on WHY our food system is what it is and, as consumers, what our options are.To that point, Sethi's choice of foods to focus on are solid. It's hard to imagine a life without coffee. From our American armchair perspective, it's cheap and plentiful. Yet the behind the scenes reality showcases an industry where biodiversity is rare (and certainly not valued by big coffee distributors) and where most of the coffee farmers struggling to make ends meet. She picks things that are sort of sexy and favored by hipsters (coffee, beer) and widely consumed (wine, chocolate) and staples of most people's diet (bread). Each teeters on the precipice of annihilation.Yet Bread, Wine, Chocolate avoids feeling like a total scare piece because Sethi weaves her own story into the fabric of the narrative. The awe she feels upon detecting flavors she'd never considered possible in wine before, the confusion at considering a piece of bread to be about the spirituality rather than the taste, her anger that appreciation for beer eludes her.It's a book that wants people to enjoy a variety of flavors and experiences when they consume food. Each section ends with a chapter on how to do a tasting--to connect with the food or beverage being sampled. To enjoy the "terroir" (a term she uses a lot) of the product. Maybe there has been no better time for such a book. On the one hand, we've shown as a society that premium products can sell over cheaper, less tasty alternatives. Look at the explosion of craft beer over the big brand domestics. IPAs may never outsell Budweiser, but the market is there. The market supports experimentation. New things. Look at the proliferation of small coffee shops. And, while not a great example of coffee, Starbucks proves that we'll pay a higher price for coffee. On the other hand, the current banana scare shows that these fears aren't just pie-in-the-sky worries. We could see a world without bananas because the monostrain we eat could succumb to disease. Several years back there was a big nation-wide egg shortage. We are seeing actual consequences.I don't know that one book can change the world, but necessity may. It'll be interesting to see how it all develops.

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