Ken Albala discusses Pancake: A Global History on Tuesday, January 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 14 W. 10th St.

Albala explains the cultural importance of the pancake through human history – from the Greek and Roman eras to the Middle Ages to present day. The pancake has earned a reputation as a nutritional staple, a comfort food, a portable victual for travelers, a celebratory dish, and a breakfast meal. Pancake: A Global History also includes several historic and modern recipes.

Albala is a professor of history at the University of the Pacific. He is also the author of Cooking in Europe: 1250-1650, The Banquet: Dining in the Great Courts of Late Renaissance Europe, and Beans: A History.

Copies of Pancake: A Global History will be available for sale, and Albala will sign copies purchased during the event.

The books are part of Reaktion Books’ new Edible series of chapbooks.