Oxford Gastronomica Series : Food and Drink : The Cultural Context

Food and Drink: the cultural context is the first text to provide a comprehensive and academically rigorous introduction to a range of key themes in the field of food, drink and culture. This edited text explores the complex relationships between food and drink, and individuals and society. It provides analysis of social conditions that shape these relationships and examine their consequences on areas such as health, the environment, the distinctiveness of cultures, and the cohesiveness of communities. By focusing on specific aspects of social conditioning, including social class, politics, ethics, cultural homogenisation, urban development, migration, literature, and travel, it explains the emergence of dominant patterns of food and drink production, supply and consumption. It also explores representations of food and drink in the arts, to assess what this reveals about aspects of our food and drink cultures. With international contributions (UK, France, USA) from the well known and respected academics and practitioners, it provides a combination of theoretical enquiry and practical insight to explore aspects of consumer behaviour, with specific reference to trends in taste, products that are environmentally and culturally sustainable, food and wine tourism, the growth in reliance on standardised and processed products, and the use of restaurants and bars as theatres for conspicuous consumption and the display of adopted lifestyles. It contains a wealth of high quality contributions including: • The Commodification Of Taste by George Ritzer & Anya Galli, University of Maryland • Food and Drink Ethics by Rebecca Hawkins, Oxford Brookes University • Food, Drink and the Diaspora by Jessica Harris, City University of New York • Artistic representations of food and drink: opera by Fred Plotkin, opera and food writer • Embedding Food and Drink Cultures by Benoit Lecat, Burgundy School of Business Essential reading for post graduates, academics, professionals and all those interested in gastronomy, food and cultural studies, wine business management, hospitality management and all related areas of study. Contents 3 An Agenda for Food Studies 7 Donald Sloan 7 Food, Drink and Identity 26 Food and Drink: The declining importance of cultural context? 57 George Ritzer and Anya Galli 57 Food Ethics 78 Rebecca Hawkins 78 Food of the Scattered People 104 Jessica B. Harris 104 Embedding Food and Drink Cultures: The case of Burgundy 120 Claude Chapuis and Benoît Lecat 120 Truffles and Radishes: Food and Wine at the Opera 140 Fred Plotkin 140 Selling culture: The Growth of Wine Tourism 160 Damien Wilson 160 Case Studies 181 Exploring China: a personal perspective 182 Ken Hom, 182 with Donald Sloan 182 Marketing the Fertile Crescent: The reinvention of the public market tradition in New Orleans 189 Richard McCarthy 189 Jane Grigson 196 Food Memories 204 Yasmin Alibhai-Brown 204 Devon and its Evolving Food Culture 210 Mark Millon 210 Transylvania Fest: An itinerant food and culture festival 218 Pamela Ratiu and Rareș Crăiuț 218 Australia’s Culinary ‘Coming Out’ 226 Taking a Light Glass in Soho 234 Paul Bloomfield 234 Give a dog a bad name: British cooking and its place on the culinary leader board 240 Charles Campion 240 Index 247 Foreword (Ken Hom) An Agenda for Food Studies (Donald Sloan) Food, Drink and Identity (Peter Lugosi) Food and Drink: The declining importance of cultural context? (George Ritzer and Anya Galli) Food Ethics (Rebecca Hawkins) Food of the Scattered People (Jessica B. Harris) Embedding Food and Drink Cultures: The case of Burgundy (Claude Chapuis and Benoit Lecat) Truffles and Radishes: Food and Wine at the Opera (Fred Plotkin) Selling culture: The Growth of Wine Tourism (Damien Wilson) Case Studies: Exploring China: a personal perspective (Ken Hom, with Donald Sloan) Marketing the Fertile Crescent: The reinvention of the public market tradition in New Orleans (Richard McCarthy) Jane Grigson (Geraldene Holt) Food Memories (Yasmin Alibhai-Brown) Devon and its Evolving Food Culture (Mark Millon) Food & Drink: The Cultural Context Transylvania Fest: An itinerant food and culture festival (Pamela Ratiu and Rares Craiut) Australia's Culinary 'Coming Out' (Richard Robinson) Taking a Light Glass in Soho (Paul Bloomfield) Give a dog a bad name: British cooking and its place on the culinary leader board (Charles Campion) This text explores the complex relationships between food and drink, and individuals and society. It provides analysis of social conditions that shape these relationships and examines their consequences on areas such as health, the environment, the distinctiveness of cultures, and the cohesiveness of communities