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Gastronomy

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Fine food, the principal study of gastronomy

Gastronomyis the study of the relationship betweenfoodandculture,the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating.[1]One who is well versed in gastronomy is called agastronome,while agastronomistis one who unites theory and practice in the study of gastronomy. Practical gastronomy is associated with the practice and study of the preparation, production, and service of the various foods and beverages, from countries around the world. Theoretical gastronomy supports practical gastronomy. It is related with a system and process approach, focused on recipes, techniques and cookery books. Food gastronomy is connected with food and beverages and their genesis. Technical gastronomy underpins practical gastronomy, introducing a rigorous approach to evaluation of gastronomic topics.[2][3]

Etymology[edit]

Archestratuswrote a guide to the foods of the Mediterranean in the form of a poem called "Gastronomy", according toChrysippus of Tyana;only fragmentary quotations remain. The word is a compound of Greekγαστρ(ο)-'stomach' andνόμοςlit. 'custom', modeled on 'astronomy'.[4]It was revived in 1801 as the title of a poem byJoseph Berchoux[fr].[5][6]It wasBrillat-Savarin,in hisPhysiologie du goût(1825) who systematized the study of food and cooking under this name.[7]

History[edit]

Gastronomy involves discovering, tasting, experiencing, researching, understanding and writing about food preparation and the sensory qualities ofhuman nutritionas a whole. It also studies how nutrition interfaces with the broader culture. The biological and chemical basis of cooking has become known asmolecular gastronomy,while gastronomy covers a much broader, interdisciplinary ground.

This is the first example of a carte gastronomique, a map that summarizes a country by its products at the outset of the "Cours Gastronomique" by Charles Louis Cadet de Gassicourt (1809).

Pascal Ory, a French historian, defines gastronomy as the establishment of rules of eating and drinking, an "art of the table", and distinguishes it from good cooking (bonne cuisine) or fine cooking (haute cuisine). Ory traces the origins of gastronomy back to the French reign ofLouis XIVwhen people took interest in developing rules to discriminate between good and bad style and extended their thinking to define good culinary taste. The lavish and sophisticated cuisine and practices of the French court became the culinary model for the French.Alexandre Grimod de La Reynièrewrote the gastronomic workAlmanach des gourmands(1803), elevating the status of food discourse to a disciplined level based on his views of French tradition and morals. Grimod aimed to reestablish order lost after the revolution and institute gastronomy as a serious subject in France. Grimod expanded gastronomic literature to the three forms of the genre: the guidebook, the gastronomic treatise, and the gourmet periodical. The invention of gastronomic literature coincided with important cultural transformations in France that increased the relevance of the subject. The end of nobility in France changed how people consumed food; fewer wealthy households employed cooks and the new bourgeoisie class wanted to assert their status by consuming elitist food. The emergence of the restaurant satisfied these social needs and provided good food available for popular consumption. The center of culinary excellence in France shifted from Versailles to Paris, a city with a competitive and innovative culinary culture. The culinary commentary of Grimod and other gastronomes influenced the tastes and expectations of consumers in an unprecedented manner as a third party to the consumer-chef interaction.[5]

The French origins of gastronomy explain the widespread use of French terminology in gastronomic literature. Pascal Ory criticizes this literature as conceptually vague; relying heavily on anecdotal evidence; and using confusing, poorly defined terminology. Nevertheless, gastronomy has grown from a marginalized subject in France to a serious and popular interest worldwide.[5]

The derivativegourmethas come into use since the publication ofPhysiology of Taste(Physiologie du goût) an 1825 cooking treatise byJean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,a lawyer and politician who aimed to define classicFrench cuisine.While the work contains some flamboyant recipes, it goes into the theory of preparation of French dishes and hospitality.[8]According to Brillat-Savarin: "Gastronomy is the knowledge and understanding of all that relates to man as he eats. Its purpose is to ensure the conservation of men, using the best food possible."[8][9]

Writings on gastronomy[edit]

Many writings on gastronomy throughout the world capture the thoughts and aesthetics of a culture's cuisine during a period in their history. Some works continue to define or influence the contemporary gastronomic thought and cuisine of their respective cultures.

Some additional historical examples:

  • ApiciusorDe re Coquinaria(On the Subject of Cooking): A 1st-to-5th-century collection ofancient Romanrecipes, often attributed (without clear evidence) to the gourmetMarcus Gavius Apicius,it contains instructions for preparingdishesenjoyed by the elite of the time. A new English translation was published in 2009 asCookery and Dining in Imperial Rome.[10]
  • Suiyuan Shidan(Tùy viên thực đơn,The Way of Eating,also known in English asRecipes from the Garden of Contentment): An 18th-century manual onChinese cuisineofQing dynastyby the poetYuan Mei,it contains recipes from different social classes at the time along with two chapters on Chinese gastronomic and culinary theory. The first translation into English was completed in 2017.[11]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Inline citations[edit]

  1. ^"Gastronomy | Description, History, & Cuisine | Britannica".britannica.2023-05-11.Retrieved2023-06-27.
  2. ^Gillespie, Cailein; Cousins, John (23 May 2012).European Gastronomy into the 21st Century.Routledge.p. 4.ISBN978-1-136-40493-1.
  3. ^Cun, Crystal (13 May 2011)."What the Hell Is Gastronomy, Anyway?".Adventures of an Omnomnomnivore in NYC.self-published.Retrieved7 August2020.
  4. ^Oxford English Dictionary,s.v.
  5. ^abcOry, Pascal (1996).Realms of Memory: Tradition.Columbia University Press.pp. 445–448.
  6. ^Joseph Berchoux,La gastronomie, pöeme,4th edition, Paris, 1805full text
  7. ^Béa Aaronson, "La Civilisation du goût: Savoir et saveur à la table de Louis XIV", inCivilization in French and Francophone Literature,French Literature Series33(2006), p. 88
  8. ^abBrillat-Savarin (2004).
  9. ^Montagné, Prosper (1988) [1938]. Harvey Lang, Jennifer (ed.).Larousse gastronomique(2nd English ( "New American" ) ed.). New York: Crown.The translation of the Brillat-Savarin quotation is from this work.
  10. ^Apicius (2009).
  11. ^Yuan (2017).

Works cited[edit]

General references[edit]

External links[edit]

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