Gastronomy: A Study of Food and Culture

This article explores the study of food and culture through gastronomy. It defines gastronomy and its elements, evaluates its pros and cons, and delves into the history of European gastronomy. It also discusses the key influencers and influences of gastronomy, and how food connects people across generations and cultures.

Gastronomy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Definition.....................................................................................................................................3
Critical Evaluation of Gastronomy..............................................................................................4
History of European Gastronomy................................................................................................5
Influencers....................................................................................................................................7
Influences.....................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The assessment is about gastronomy and food consumption in 21st century. The
gastronomy is the study of food and culture, reflects the culture, heritage and sense of
community of different people toward food. It explains everything about fine dining experience
and study of chemical manipulation of food. People always thought this word is related to chefs
and cooks but it defines the whole world as food. It explains the relationship between food,
human and world. It is way of promoting different traditions and people from different culture
together. This sector is emerging as protector of heritage. It creates job opportunities mainly in
rural destinations. Paul Bocuse was known as the father of gastronomy. The objective of the
report is to describe the changes in gastronomy from birth to 21st century, critical evaluation with
its key influencers and what they influence about food culture.
MAIN BODY
Definition
Gastronomy is the study of food and culture. The word gastronomy derived from ancient
Greek words “gaster” which means stomach and “nomos” means knowledge or rule and in this
manner it signifies “The law of managing the knowledge for stomach.” Its focus is on gourmet
cuisines. It is the art and knowledge of preparing, presenting and appreciating good food. It
contains both culinary arts and stomach (Ueda and Poulain, 2021). It will also teach the skills
and knowledge required to know how to cook and how to create new dishes. The study of
gastronomy tells about fascinating backstories about county's beloved dishes, restaurants and
food culture. It also tells about unique perspective of human towards food. It starts from study of
agriculture in environment and ends to international commodity trade. The study uses historical,
anthropological, socio-culture and economical approaches with sensual and hands on experience
to make food eating and studying which led to worth living and dying for. The person who have
knowledge of Gastronomy is known as Gastronome and person who study theory and uses in
practical life is known as Gastronomist. The elements of gastronomy are cultivation which
means gastronomy is not only about farming but also involves knowledge for cultivating wines
and chemicals to be involved in making food (Caporaso, 2021). Selection which comprises
identification of quality, texture and taste of item and fulfils the nutrition needs of body for
healthy living. It also considers food security and environmental changes impact on choices of

customers. It consists of art of presenting food in visually appealing way by good knowledge of
cooking traditions and dining. It helps a chef in identifying dishes and beverages that will go
together. It tells about the importance of food in tourist experience and it has become an
important source of evolution of culture in postmodern world (Mohapatra and Biswas, 2017). It
also includes service which refers to art of providing food or beverages with showing interior
decoration to providing table service. Also, Manners and Etiquettes for social dining within a
culture (Spacey, 2018). Gradually the process of using biological and chemical knowledge in
making of food has become molecular gastronomy.
Critical Evaluation of Gastronomy
By learning gastronomy one can increase the knowledge of different cultures. It increases
the will of learning new ingredients and new way of cooking techniques which are useful in
different cultures. For this one travels to different places and countries to know about ingredients
and use in cooking.
On the other hand in gastronomy takes lot of time. Individual has to work for long hours
with fewer breaks. They are often on feet and in pressure to deliver food. It is costly method to
travel different places and to do interaction with random people and convincing them to teach
their cultural techniques of making food as not everyone is happy to share knowledge.
Individual who study gastronomy, increases knowledge about the different cultures and
their food. One will able to know different ingredients that exist and are used in preparation of
food. This can individual very demanding in nature. This also lesser the nervousness and
increases interaction with random people more confidentially.
Whereas, To be successful one needs to demonstrate creativity in the kitchen. A basic
awareness of combination or pairing of food and beverages is essential. The recipe that are both
original and innovative in nature to separate one restaurant from competitors. One has to prove
consistently by maintaining quality. Individual is required to have four year degree in hospitality
and then professional in culinary which can be costlier thing.
In making of food chef uses cultural values and for presentation chef uses creativity and
technology and in 21stcentury wants creative things which can attract them towards food. A
good amount of hard work chef has to make to sell products to customer (Shukla and Ailawadi,
2019).

Contradictory to this, magic happen in kitchen by chefs to look food good and to keep
balance between food and confabulation of air foams, nitrogen, pumpkin blast. The approach to
cooking is as much as laboratory work for developing flavours. But much experimenting on food
increases health issues of customers.
Once a chef finds relevant ingredients, food is made, but leftovers are packed. Sometimes
they reuse this packed food which contains use by dates information which shows how long it is
safe to eat and have labelled guidance to help in keeping the food safely.
While this regulated labelling system shows the expiry date which can be wrong or
customized according to seller to do more sales, which results in wasting large amount of food
which is still safe.
Gastronomy tells about traditional cuisine which is passed down from one generation to
another. It operates as expression of cultural identity. People from different countries bring food
wherever they go. This makes their recipes preserved for longer period and other countries can
use them in innovative way.
Whereas, eating food of different country culture can make a person sick. As everyone is
allergic to some item. Lot of time is spent to make traditional food. Study shows people have lost
the aroma and taste of old dishes. As these foods are consumed by many generation in different
places, people have changed standards according to environment. This has led to change recipes
related to taste buds of people from different places.
Study of culture foods shows that foods are prepared using natural kinds of products that
have a great depiction of all aspects that are practices by our ancestors back in old days. These
foods are taken directly from farm and are prepared without using of any modern techniques.
On the contradictory note, these foods are not tested to ascertain the nutritional values.
So, this becomes a hard situation for customer as nutritionist always tell for nutritional valuable
products. And risk of contamination also increases as these are believed to be fresh and organic
all the times.
History of European Gastronomy
Different countries have different cuisines developed over the years. Different ethnicity
people love to eat their specific food. There are various forms of culture present which adapts
numerous styles of cooking. The ingredients, style of cooking and methods of cooking are

different from country to country. Every country has different history. Europeans haver different
cuisine, unique foods and different way of preparing meals. History of European gastronomy
starts by:
Roman Times:
The Roman diet and food preparation has evolved over the time. In time of Virgil and
Cato, Romanians eat placenta which was full of cereals, fruits, cheese and vegetables. To show
wealthy status people eat boiled or stewed meat. They did not prefer the roasted ones as it shows
brutality. They had fondness of glazed sauces which are sweet and sour in taste. For breakfast
Romanian ate cheese, eggs or wine dipped breads. For lunch bread, meat, and salad. For dinner
cheesecake, fruits and meats were there usual diet. No spoons and forks were available so, hands
were used to eat food. Roman cuisine was discussed in De Re Coquinaria book of 400AD. The
food was cooked in “culina” which was a narrow smoked room with hot plunge. Food is cooked
on brick covered surface with coals (Rowan, 2019).
Middle Ages and Renaissance:
There was a tremendous change as upper class people started eating like Romans.
Germans and French started preferring meats. They limited the use of vegetable and started
eating bacon at place of olives. The meals are generally based on dietary requirements of people
as well as their social class. Normal people eat fish and meat and rich people eat poultry food
and fruit. And poor eat bread and vegetable. Meat became the central part of meal. Meat or fish
were roasted and served with light sauce. Started using herbs as spices as sign of luxury. The
cook books on cuisine was written in Maestro in 14th century. The kitchens were separated from
living ovens were used to bake or roast meat and pies. They eat 5 times in a day (Ittu, Ittu and
Bondrea, 2019).
The 17th and 18th century:
European cuisine has not much evolvement in this period. French people changed to
natural flavours. Food was cooked with natural juices. Rediscovered the delights of vegetables
and emulsified sauces. The recipes are published in many books from 1651 to 1739 and Italy
became source for all these books. They use stone-built stoves in kitchens. First time wine and
champagne were preserved using bottles. The order of food becomes standardized.
19th to 20th century:

European cuisine changed from classic cuisine consist of mixtures of classical recipes
and local dishes to mixture of aristocratic and French bourgeois cuisine. The cuisines were now
served in restaurants and hotels. The invention of auto-mobile encouraged culinary tourism and
popularity of regional foods. Evolvement of lives has lead to rise of regional cuisines. The food
was given patents starting from wines and then to other food products. In 1935, French
government regulated all agriculture products. In1992, European union created the protection
acts to safeguard regional food. The use of copper and tin started for cooking (Moncorgé, 2021).
Nouvelle Cuisine:
These are cuisines that are keep evolving. The word was first taken in 17th century and
started rejecting traditions and develop the method of using new culinary methods. The chef
rejected the long cooking time, spices, use of vegetables and various marinades. The chefs
introduced new styles of presentation, techniques of cooking and food products. Dishes
presented artistically and menus described in detail and food portion were also reduced. The
believers of cuisine started opposing the fast food and modern diet. Herbs from Alps were
introduced to innovate culinary techniques (History of European Cuisine and Gastronomy,
2018).
Influencers
European cuisines is distinct and renowned by thousand of years. It is composite of
influences from many cultures from all over the world. In Brazilian Gastronomy there are three
cultures: Indigenous, Portuguese and Indian. The changes took place after the commercial and
political relation between Portugal and Indian in 15th century. When the colonization of Brazil by
Portugal in 1530 takes place several food products were also brought in the culture. In Europe
people eat insects as their culture food. But in current situation people have changed their
choices by change in availability of physical presence and price of insects. Psychobiological and
social factors like to save insects from killing have also made people to reduce eating insects.
In earlier period people eat very much as when they will get food next time they do not
know. But now it has reduced as consumers eat according to their diet and are economical in
nature. Taste buds of consumers have also impacted the change in food culture. People want to
show their creativity in cooking and have reduced a special interest towards a particular product.

People have started preparing food at home as they believe they will save money and eat safer
food. People preference have changed from artificial products to organic ones.
Preference of products related to food behaviour has changed. As people now wants more
snacks and deserts stuffs in their meals. Choice of large portion has reduced to small portion,
wants to eat less food. Healthy related food behaviours has also changed overtime as people want
food that do not make them weighted ones and have controlled pattern of eating. People eat food
and deliver to others in same way. When new techniques were introduced people try to do
presentation before giving to others. Culture food have also been influenced by religious beliefs
and habits. The study of gastronomy shows that Icelandic food is consisted of meat and dairy
products which has changed in 19th century due to shortages.
In Portugal, Roman, Arabs and Moors existence has affected their cuisines. When Roman
came in Italy they brought different places spices and other ingredients. They brought wines,
olive oil, and breads. Other countries like Greece have introduced macaroni and Arabs
introduced fusilli. Pasta was famous food in Italy. For making pasta, Etruscan has introduced
technologies related to cutting machines and rolling pins to make food easier. During the Middle
Ages, Sicily was captured by Arabs. New techniques were introduced to preserve food. When
Christian came many dietary restriction were made related to sins. The Renaissance has also
impacted the European gastronomy as in this period communication with neighbouring countries
increased. Introduction of new foods has also changed the dominant part of population's diet.
When Italy reunified in 19th century, people started adapting different cultures and flavours of
different geographical places (SERT. 2017).
Influences
Food is great mediator that connects people across all generations and cultures. All
Human have moments when they smell something and it reminds of childhood. When people try
recreating dish, memory of the place dish belongs comes in our mind. Food brings one to another
place without leaving the dining table. That is why food culture is an important way to connect
with each other. Different countries around the world are influenced by different factors. People
use different ingredients and spice that evokes their unique flavours of their culture. This is why
food culture depend on landscape, weather and history that each region experiences.

The changing gastronomy influences people when they share food with other community
and friends. Gastronomy teaches food to use in different religious and community events. It
makes people to use local and seasonal ingredients to create unique and distinguished flavours. It
teaches the needs of land to fulfil the desired needs people. The study shows that food is
something that cannot be manipulated but it is used for celebration and sharing.
Portuguese culture most influenced the Brazilian culture by using products like
pineapple, cassava and cashew in cooking. Colonization in Brazilian culture leads to farming of
livestock like cattle, goats, sheep was also started. The Portugal influence Brazilian food habits
by bringing Brazilian feijoada and started pastry and confectionery in country (Aleixoa,
Rodriguesb and Bartholoa, 2018). As the world is rising people have reduced the eating of
insects as now cost is high and supply is less. So, it is treated as rich man food.
People have started eating small bites and less food to be healthy. People started buying
organic food has reduced the sales of culture foods. Taste buds of consumers ave also changed as
they want more flavours like melt in mouth or much crunchier in nature. Change in pattern and
consuming small meals has increased the number of times people ate food. Earlier it was just 3
time but now it has increased. This has increase spending ability of consumers.
In Europe, people from Christians, Jewish and Muslims live together. Each religion has
different diet which makes consumers to increase their choices for food. Due to shortage of
resources Icelandic people have started growing vegetables and including in their meals. Due to
limited wood availability people have started to at meat uncooked as wood is considered as the
source of fuel for cooking food. Arabian influence in Portugal cuisine has made desserts sweeter
and consumers have increased the use of almonds and honey in their food. People started
presenting the food in presentable manner as it was the tool to attract more customers. When
Roman came to Italy, they were fond of breads. So, people started making breads and learn new
techniques in making of food (SMARANDA, 2017).
The people of Italy also started using technologies for making pasta and fermenting
grapes in making wines. When the Arabs arrived many spices and fruits were introduced which
makes consumer to make and eat different products (White, 2018). The country started using
technology to preserve food for long voyages. This help people to start eating dried pasta when
they are travelling or cannot make their religious food. When Christians invaded Italy new laws
were made which lead to rise in popularity of eating fish, bread, cheese and fruits. Christians

made meat as religious food which drop the popularity of eating meat as they can consume only
when some festival is celebrated.
During Renaissance period people started moving from agriculture traditions to urban
centres. Now food has become a source of enjoying cultural exchanges. People started keeping
professional chefs as staff members. When Italy opens the door for the new world many new
ingredients also came. People make tomatoes as new dominant part for cuisine. People for first
time tasted and start using corn, chocolates, and squash in their cooking (Cinotto, 2019). When
Italy unified in 1860 people started sharing their cuisines all over the world. People of different
countries started evolving cuisine of different places as per their taste and needs (Derek, 2020).
CONCLUSION
From the above it can be concluded that Gastronomy means study of food and culture. It
has mainly focuses on gourmet cuisines. It gives knowledge and skills on how to make food and
deliver to stomach. It covers all type of foods and beverages that are part of culture. It teaches the
manner to deal with food. Gastronomy helps the individual to learn different culture and
different ingredients present in nature. It helps individual in showing creativity and use of
technology in kitchen. Study of food shows how people keep leftover food safe and how other
people use it. Food is made from natural ingredients but takes lot of time for preparation. As
food are organic, they are not tested. European cuisine was started during Roman Empire.
Changes took place in Middle ages, 17th-18th century and then in 19th-20th century. Afterwards
cuisines are keep on evolving. There are many factors that affected the European Gastronomy
which led to change in cuisines and eating habits of people.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Aleixoa, M., Rodriguesb, E. and Bartholoa, R., 2018. Cultural Gastronomic Traditions from the
city of Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies. 350. p.360.
Caporaso, N., 2021. The impact of molecular gastronomy within the food science community.
In Gastronomy and Food Science (pp. 1-18). Academic Press.
Cinotto, S., 2019. Italian Diasporic Identities and Food. In Italians and Food (pp. 43-70).
Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Derek, M., 2020. Ethnic Cuisine in Urban Space. In Gastronomy and Urban Space. (pp. 225-
237). Springer, Cham.
Ittu, G.L., Ittu, C. and Bondrea, I., 2019. From the history of fine cuisine from Renaissance to
present day. Highlights of Sibiu. The publishing house of „Lucian Blaga” University of
Sibiu.
Mohapatra, P. and Biswas, S.N., 2017. Gastronomy and its impact on Tourism: A Case study on
Regional Cuisine of Coastal Odisha, India. International Journal of Research in Social
Sciences. 7(6). pp.154-168.
Rowan, E., 2019. Same taste, different place: looking at the consciousness of food origins in the
Roman world. Theoretical Roman archaeology journal. 2(1).
SERT, A.N., 2017. Italian Cuisine: Characteristics and Effects. Economic Research. 1(1).
pp.49y-57.
Shukla, D.P. and Ailawadi, P., 2019. Computational Gastronomy-Use of Computing Methods in
Culinary Creativity. TRJ Tourism Research Journal. 3(2). pp.203-211.
SMARANDA, S., 2017. Traditional Romanian food-as the result of history, nature, way of life
and human ingenuity. Agricultural Management/Lucrari Stiintifice Seria I, Management
Agricol. 19(1).
Ueda, H. and Poulain, J.P., 2021. What is gastronomy for the French? An empirical study on the
representation and eating model in contemporary France. International Journal of
Gastronomy and Food Science. p.100377.
White, M.C., 2018. Exotic Arabs and American Anxiety: Representations of Culinary Tourism
in Diana Abu-Jaber's Crescent. Journal of Transnational American Studies. 9(1).
Online references
History of European Cuisine and Gastronomy, 2018. [Online], Available through
<https://euspecialties.com/history-of-european-cuisine-and-gastronomy/>
Moncorgé, M. J., 2021. [Online]. History of cuisine and gastronomy in Europe
<https://www.oldcook.com/histoire-gastronomie>
Spacey, J., 2018. [Online], 14 examples of Gastronomy
<https://simplicable.com/new/gastronomy>
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