Breakfast Cereal
A Global History
Kathryn Cornell DolanThe long, distinguished and surprising history of breakfast cereal.
Simple, healthy and comforting, breakfast cereals are a perennially popular way to start the day around the world. They have a long, distinguished and surprising history – around 10,000 years ago, with the advent of agriculture, people began breaking their fast with porridges made from wheat, rice, corn and other grains. It was only in the second half of the nineteenth century, however, in the United States, that a series of entrepreneurs and food reformers created the breakfast cereals we recognize today: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Cheerios and Quaker Oats, among others.
In this global, entertaining and well-illustrated account, Kathryn Cornell Dolan explores the history of breakfast cereals, including many historical and modern recipes that the reader can try at home.
The long, distinguished and surprising history of breakfast cereal.
Simple, healthy and comforting, breakfast cereals are a perennially popular way to start the day around the world. They have a long, distinguished and surprising history – around 10,000 years ago, with the advent of agriculture, people began breaking their fast with porridges made from wheat, rice, corn and other grains. It was only in the second half of the nineteenth century, however, in the United States, that a series of entrepreneurs and food reformers created the breakfast cereals we recognize today: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, Cheerios and Quaker Oats, among others.
In this global, entertaining and well-illustrated account, Kathryn Cornell Dolan explores the history of breakfast cereals, including many historical and modern recipes that the reader can try at home.
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Breakfast Cereal will reward readers with relatable stories and familiar images. It is worthy of a place at the Edible Series table and is the ideal starting point for your collection of the same: one down, 89 to go.
'Culinary Historians of Canada, 'Digestible Bits and Bites"
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Human beings have been starting the day right for thousands of years . . . Now the fascinating stories behind the bowlfuls we serve up each day are revealed in Breakfast Cereal: A Global History.
'People's Friend
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An entertaining journey from the earliest accounts of pottages and porridges to the contemporary craze for breakfast bars, this is a must read.
'Etta M. Madden, Clif and Gail Smart Professor of English, Missouri State University
Introduction
1 Porridges around the World:
Warm Breakfast Cereal
2 The Invention of Cold Breakfast Cereal
3 Breakfast Cereal since the Nineteenth Century
around the World
4 Marketing and Breakfast Cereal
5 Breakfast Cereal in Art and Culture
6 The Future(s) of Breakfast Cereal
Recipes
References
Select Bibliography
Websites and Associations
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Kathryn Cornell Dolan is an associate professor in the department of English and Technical Communication at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Her books include Beyond the Fruited Plain (2014) and Cattle Country (2021).