The Best History of Food Documentaries

Food & Drink - 54 free documentaries about the history of food.

Start with Why Was Baking The Most Deadly Job In The Victorian Era? (53 min, Absolute History), then The Food That Built America: Pizza Hut's American Empire (S2, E1) (45 min, HISTORY). All 54 documentaries here are free to watch from their makers' official uploads. To read deeper, the top-rated book on the history of food is Salt by Mark Kurlansky.

• Why Was Baking The Most Deadly Job In The Victorian Era? | Victorian Bakers (53 min, Absolute History)
• The Food That Built America: Pizza Hut's American Empire (S2, E1) (45 min, HISTORY)
• How To Cook Like A Medieval Chef | Let's Cook History (53 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Fast-Food Taco Revolution (S3, E9) | The Food That Built America (43 min, HISTORY)
• Dawn of the Hot Dog Empire (S2, E9) | The Food That Built America (42 min, HISTORY)
• The Weird History Of The Biscuit That Kept Sailors Alive | Building Ireland (26 min, Absolute History)
• Coke vs. Pepsi | The Food That Built America (S2, E14) (43 min, HISTORY)
• The Cheese That Changed Everything (S2, E4) | The Food That Built America (42 min, HISTORY)
• The Food That Built America | War, Innovation & Fast Food (S2, E3) (87 min, HISTORY)
• From Sub Shops to a Global Chain (S3, E1) | The Food That Built America (43 min, HISTORY)
• The Food That Built America: Cashing in on the Fast Food CRAZE (S2, E3) (43 min, HISTORY)
• A Visit To Charles Dickens' Kitchen | A Cook Back In Time (23 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• How To Cook A Medieval Feast | A Cook Back In Time (23 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Innovation Of French Renaissance Cooking | Let's Cook History (49 min, Absolute History)
• The Original Fast Food: Culinary Legacies Left By The Ancient Romans (49 min, Absolute History)
• The Fast Food Feud That Changed Everything (S2, E12) | The Food That Built America (43 min, HISTORY)
• The Fine Dining Of The Renaissance | Let's Cook History (48 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Better Than Rice? Traditional Crops That Taste Good, Can Resist Drought & Floods | Forgotten Palate (45 min, CNA Insider)
• Food History: The Roman Banquet | Let's Cook History (50 min, Free Documentary - History)
• How Versailles Became The Epicentre Of 18th Century Food | Let's Cook History (50 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• The Food Of The French Revolution | Let's Cook History (51 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Too Much Rice In South Korea, While Japan Faces A Rice Shortage (23 min, CNA Insider)
• How To Cook Like A Georgian | A Cook Back In Time (23 min, Timeline - World History Documentaries)
• Philippines' Ancient Tultul Salt Made From Driftwood Ash And Coconut | Salt Of The Earth (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Why Is My Economic Rice So Expensive? How Can I Save Money? | Talking Point (24 min, CNA Insider)
• How sustainable are tomatoes? (26 min, DW Documentary)
• The Mubende coffee plantation and the bitter taste of eviction (43 min, DW Documentary)
• This Filipino Powerhouse Woman Revived A Vanishing Salt Tradition: Budbud Salt | Salt Of The Earth (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Chicken Rice War: Who's Serving The Original Swee Kee Chicken Rice In Singapore? | On The Red Dot (22 min, CNA Insider)
• HOW IT WORKS | Bicycle locks, Tea lights, Avocado harvest, Wrapping paper | Episode 23 (23 min, Free Documentary)
• The Spicy Legacy Of Northeastern Thai Fermented Food | In Search Of Heat (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Sausage stands and coffee houses - When night falls in Vienna (42 min, DW Documentary)
• Food History: Enlightenment Dining | Let's Cook History (50 min, Free Documentary - History)
• TEA: The Drink That Changed the World | The True Story of the Spy Who Stole China’s Biggest Secret! (89 min, Moconomy)
• Geologists Explain Why Salt Is The World’s Most Important Mineral (50 min, Spark)
• Global & Homegrown Coffee Brands Compete In China, US & Southeast Asia (24 min, CNA Insider)
• Hybrid Purple Rice That Is More Nutritious, Can Better Weather Climate Change? | Forgotten Palate (45 min, CNA Insider)
• Asia's Falling Rice Yields: What Threatens Our Rice Bowl? | Insight (47 min, CNA Insider)
• Making Mercuric Chloride (a very toxic mercury salt) (10 min, NileRed)
• Inside Japan's Ancient Seaweed Salt Once Gifted To Emperors: Moshio | Salt Of The Earth (22 min, CNA Insider)
• Why Is My Coffee Getting So Expensive? - Part 1/2 | Talking Point (22 min, CNA Insider)
• Sugar Overload | Are Sweets the New Tobacco? | Profits Over Public Health (55 min, Moconomy)
• Extracting the starch from potatoes (10 min, NileRed)
• Will This New Breed Of Coffee Plant Mean Cheaper Coffee? - Part 2/2 | Talking Point (23 min, CNA Insider)
• How This Japanese Salt Maker 'Engineers' The Right Salt For Each Dish | Salt Of The Earth (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Fermenting Grain Eaten By 3.5 Billion People Around The World: Rice | Sour, Salty & Alive (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Chicken Sh*t Rattan? Bras Basah's Forgotten Food History | Streets Made For Talking - Part 2 (47 min, CNA Insider)
• Hot Spring Salt From Japan's Mountains: How Fukushima Onsen Salt Is Made | Salt Of The Earth (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Turning Tea & Water Buffalo Milk Into Vegetarian Delicacies | Sour, Salty & Alive (23 min, CNA Insider)
• Eating My Way Through Telok Ayer's Food History | Streets Made For Talking (47 min, CNA Insider)
• The Salt Pan Speedway Racers Breaking Records At Extreme Speeds | Off Limits S1 EP1 (51 min, Wonder)
• BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | David Corn and Kevin Drum Part 1 of 2 (30 min, PBS)
• Reading Tea Leaves (The Dispatchables 2/5) (43 min, VPRO Documentary)
• BILL MOYERS JOURNAL | David Corn and Kevin Drum Part 2 of 2 (20 min, PBS)

Top-Rated Books About The History of Food

1. Salt by Mark Kurlansky (3.8/5) - View on Amazon
2. Cod by Mark Kurlansky (4.4/5) - View on Amazon
3. Consider the Fork by Bee Wilson (3.4/5) - View on Amazon
4. An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage - View on Amazon
5. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
6. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
7. At Home by Bill Bryson (4/5) - View on Amazon
8. Laws, etc by Great Britain. (3.5/5) - View on Amazon
9. Food microbiology by W. C. Frazier - View on Amazon
10. The History and Social Influence of the Potato by Redcliffe N. Salaman - View on Amazon
11. Que vivan los tamales! by Jeffrey M. Pilcher - View on Amazon
12. Food in history by Reay Tannahill - View on Amazon
13. Sweetness and power by Sidney Wilfred Mintz - View on Amazon