This is a wonderful connection to the subject and to it’s history.

I loved every single moment reading history this way; had I learned American / European history in school like this I might have seen history as approachable and appreciative. Regardless, Mark Kurlansky does an amazing job taking the world's Cod fishing and expands it from the beginning of the earliest records to 1997 (modern times for the book).

I never really thought about the delicate balance of the fishermen and the fish they catch. We always hear about overfishing and side with nature but this one made me think “How do we preserve the history and knowledge of fisherman?” I want to read a book about that next I think, anyone know a good fisherman book?

I saw Mark wrote one on salt, if it’s anything like Cod, I am in for a great meal.

It is what it claims to be! A bit dated, I would love to see a new edition published as the fishing industry continues to be contentious. I liked the inclusion of historical recipes! Really added context

I borrowed this book off a friend (after borrowing another book called Leviathan: Or, The Whale by Philip Hoare) and I have to say I enjoyed it jsut as much despite the subject matter not appearing as dramatic. Kurlansky not only brings the cod to life in all its glory but also takes the reader on a journey from the moment that cod entered the diet of man on a local, national and ultimately international level. Kurlansky includes throughout the book quotes from various fictional and factual sources the relate the various stages of the relationship between cod and man as well as including a number of recipes of various ages that show the changing attitudes to the many species of fish the term cod can encompass. This book also goes beyond the cod and looks at the fishing industry as a whole and how the ever depleting fish stocks affected and still does affect international politics. An epic but very readable book about a fish that has indeed changed the world.

a vegades m’agrada llegir coses així una mica frikis. Fa uns anys vaig començar a llegir la història de la sal, del mateix autor, però no el vaig acabar. Està interessant. El bacallà té presència en cuines de molts països i es deu a motius geopolítics històrics. A l’Amèrica central i el Carib el bacallà és una herència del passat esclavista, perquè els colons europeus alimentaven els esclaus amb bacallà portat de Labrador i Terranova, era barat i nutritiu. Es va publicar a finals dels noranta, molaria saber com està la situació del bacallà ara, ja que el llibre acaba explicant que gairebé se’l va pescar fins aexterminar-lo. El bacallà ha passat de ser un menjar de pobres, perquè n’hi havia en abundància, a ser cada cop un menjar més exclusiu. Es venen temps d’ecofeixisme. S'haurà de fer un butlletí amb alguna recepta de bacallà