In a series generated by annual conferences of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, this volume surveys recent multidisciplinary analyses digesting food as an important key to the "total social fact" of pre-modern European culture. The contributors (presumably affiliated with Arizona State U., Tempe) treat material and philosophic aspects of food associated with cultural identity, health, wealth, vice, death, the conception of marriage as "one flesh" (e.g., in analyses of the Griselda figure in Chaucer's tales), and cookbooks as tastemakers. The cover features a 15th century image of the Madonna and Child, in which bread and apples symbolize the nurturing and sinful aspects of woman. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)