Edward Smith 
Foods [PDF ebook] 

What is food? This volume, written by a doctor, contains all the ways in which the question might be answered. First published in 1883, and reissued because there is nothing quite like it today, this unique study was undertaken at a time when foreign produce and new foods were becoming more widely available, and rising living standards were making familiar foods more accessible to all, prompting an interest in their origins and their nutritive qualities as revealed by scientific research into their chemical composition, preparation and physiological effects.