Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastronomy is called a gastronome, while a gastronomist is 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
According to the French Academy , the phrase “make merry” , which meant “welcome” , was used from the xix th century in the sense of “a good meal” , a good meal is an element of good Home. In this sense, “expensive” includes all that concerns the quantity, quality and preparation of dishes .
This “art” includes those, creative in some cases, collecting, adapting or inventing recipes, selecting products, preparing dishes, dishes and tasting them.
A “gastronome” is a wise gourmand, strong of a table culture.
Etymology
Etymologically, the word “gastronomy” is derived from Ancient Greek γαστήρ, gastḗr, “stomach”, and νόμος, nómos, “laws that govern”, and therefore literally means “the art or law of regulating the stomach”. The term is purposely all-encompassing: it subsumes all of cooking technique, nutritional facts, food science, and everything that has to do with palatability plus applications of taste and smell as human ingestion of foodstuffs goes.
History
Gastronomy involves discovering, tasting, experiencing, researching, understanding and writing about food preparation and the sensory qualities of human nutrition as a whole. It also studies how nutrition interfaces with the broader culture. Later on, the application of biological and chemical knowledge to cooking has become known as molecular gastronomy, yet gastronomy covers a much broader, interdisciplinary ground.
Ancient Rome
In Ancient Rome the kitchen evolved from the frugality of the republican era , based on vegetables , legumes and cereals , to the wealth of the imperial era , where numerous foods were imported from foreign countries, with great influence of Greek cuisine. The Romans practiced poultry farming and fish farming , as well as making sausages , and perfected the techniques related to wine and oil. They used to cook with spices and aromatic herbs, and they liked the mixture of sweet and salty. They also gave great importance to the presentation of the food and the ceremonial act of eating, being famous the lavish banquets organized by the rich and noble Romans. Likewise, there were numerous writers who studied the art of cooking, such as Lucullus and Marco Gavio Apicio , author of the famous cookbook Apitii Celii de Re Coquinaria libri decem , highly valued in the Renaissance.
Bird roasting on a spit. Under it there is a vessel to collect the juices and reuse them for sauces. Illustration of the Decameron , Flanders , 1432.
Middle Ages
Heirloans of Greek and Roman cuisine were the Byzantine and the Arab : the first highlighted its pastry , as well as the production of cheeses and the taste for fillings and minced meat ; the second collected all the previous influences, together with the derivatives of Persia and the East, while Spain ( al-Ándalus ) developed new agricultural products, such as rice , sugar cane , pomegranate and eggplant . The Arab cuisine influenced to a great extent in the medieval gastronomy, coupled with the rich Greco-Roman tradition. In spite of the times of intense famine, in the Middle Ages gastronomy was highly valued, gastronomic literature developed to a great extent, with treatises such as The Forme of Cury , written by the cook of Richard II of England ; Daz Buch von guter Spise , an anonymous work published in Germany ; Le Viandier , by the French Guillaume Tirel , nicknamed Taillevent; and Libre del Coch , by the Catalan Robert de Nola .
Renaissance
In the Renaissance classical culture was revitalized, gastronomy reaching high levels of refinement and sophistication. He highlighted the Venetian cuisine, which thanks to its trade with the East favored the importation of all kinds of spices: pepper , mustard , saffron , nutmeg , cloves , cinnamon , etc. A determining factor for a new gastronomy was the discovery of America, from where new foods such as corn , potatoes , tomatoes , cocoa , beans , peanuts , peppers, came, vanilla , pineapple , avocado , mango , tobacco , etc. In the Baroque it began to emphasize the French gastronomy , that acquired some elevated levels of quality of which it still enjoys today. The cultivation of the culinary arts in France was favored by the Bourbons , especially by Louis XIV , monarch with a high palate; however, these culinary delights were reserved for the aristocracy, while the majority of the population used to go hungry. Among the gastronomic treatises of the time it is worth highlighting the Spanish Francisco Martínez Motiño , entitledArt of cooking, pastry, biscuits and canning (1611).
Modern Age
The French Revolution marked a turning point in European cuisine, which spread to the popular level, being a common stock of all social classes, and not just the privileged. Restaurants emerged , the use of canned food was extended (a process favored by the Industrial Revolution), and gastronomic literature proliferated, not just in recipe books, but in research and dissemination, theory and essays, such as Physiology taste of Brillat-Savarin (1826), or Le Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine by Alexandre Dumas (1873); then the gastronomic critic also appeared, with publications such as the Michelin Guide. In the 20th century, the canning industry and the elaboration of precooked foods, as well as the tendency to fast food (with products such as hamburgers and frankfurts ) and preparations for microwaves have had a special relevance . In the opposite direction, a new concern has arisen for healthy and balanced foods, which have favored the emergence of new products that highlight their nutritional qualities. It is also worth noting the revaluation of regional cuisine, favored by the advancement of means of transport and the rise of tourism , which led to the return to natural and simple cuisine, a fact that marked the starting point of nouvelle cuisine, that combines tradition and simplicity with new advances and a certain desire for innovation and experimentation. As relevant cooks we could mention: Auguste Escoffier , Joël Robuchon , Paul Bocuse , Heston Blumenthal , Karlos Arguiñano , Juan Mari Arzak , Sumito Estévez , Ferran Adrià , Santi Santamaria , etc.
In the 20th century
In the 20th century , is generally defined vaguely and gastronomy as a particularly careful way, often seen as elitist, cooking and especially taste of food, “with the pillars of the art kitchen and epicurean”…
Its goal is to “satisfy the taste buds” more than to meet a vital need, gastronomy follows or sets rules varying from one country to another and over time. They are based on very elaborate culinary techniques and tasting principles that go beyond immediate pleasure, principles that vary greatly from country to country and from civilization.
The culinary techniques are essentially those of ordinary cooking, but executed to perfection (choice of products, temperature and cooking time, seasonings), and require for some a long learning.
The notion of tasting varies with the context (joyful conviviality or expert meeting taking place as judges). Commonly, it is a question of appreciating and being able to analyze the agreements of flavors, the nuances of preparation, the harmonies between dishes and accompanying drinks, the very presentation of the dishes, the quality of the service. The informed gourmet, sometimes self-proclaimed such, is supposed to be able to judge the respect of the traditions or the interest of the innovations.
The exercise of gastronomy requires knowledge , both to prepare and to taste and, in principle, the sense of friendliness.
One Says that the art of preparing a gourmet meal is that of the cook, and that the art of tasting it is that of the gastronome.
In the 21th century
As a collection of knowledge and practices, gastronomy is gradually being considered a culture.
“It incorporates immaterial data such as knowledge, practices – know-how and rituals -, social connection and sharing – summed up by the formula” humanism of the table “where openness to others and to others is expressed. elsewhere – speeches and performances. Immateriality embodied in the materiality of technical instruments, products, dishes, recipe books, places like restaurants, objects of the kitchen and the table. ”
Being an appropriate element and recognized by the majority of social classes in a region or country, gastronomy is one of the components of “culture” , a synthesis of know-how and traditions (popular and elite) as to to drink and eat.
As such, it constitutes an intangible heritage that various countries- Mexico , as of 2005, France , in 2008 – have requested inscription on the list of World Heritage of Unesco . Everyone sees noon at its bell tower, the tastes differ in terms of education and financial means, many countries are candidates.
The November, 2010, the gastronomic meal of the French is the title under which the history, the originality and the identity of the French gastronomic meals were inscribed on the representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity , by UNESCO . This is the first time that culinary traditions are recorded in this list.
Gastronomy is the object of studies and scientific research all over the world.
Luxury and art
Gastronomy may seem a luxury , because of the high cost of certain foods and the price of high-level catering (cooks mastering precise techniques, elaborating dishes made up of products of high quality taste, possibly unpublished).
Wealthy diners traveling around the world, able to linger at the table and with the curiosity of a specialized literature, constitute an extended gastronomic culture more easily than gourmets with limited financial means, who can, nevertheless, consider themselves as all as much gastronomes.
Gastronomy is also about simple products and everyday recipes that can, as much as luxury dishes, participate in tasting education and tasting training. The one who applies himself carefully to taste a simple dish, by memorizing his sensations, in conditions of “luxury, calm and voluptuousness “, testifies to a behavior of gastronome, unlike the one who eats this same plate distractedly, simply to feed oneself, to satisfy one’s hunger or to sit down by convention.
A philosophy and a science
Charles Fourier , in the utopian development of a better world, gives an essential place to taste regard, he said, four functions: gastronomy, cooking, canning and culture. The combination of these functions generates gastrosophy , where gastronomy is a science designed to offer all “good food refinements of civilization reserves to idle. ” .
“The gastrosophical manifestos attempt to present gastronomy without its usual peculiarities and artifices, highlighting the philosophical vision of this food world, the gastronomic personality that is at the bottom of us, its social interest and the vision of each of the term” gastronomy “… The identity affirmation of gastronomic expectations does not necessarily mean the use of fierce conservatism called” gastronomism ” , says Kilien Stengel .
Geographical and cultural diversity
The rules of gastronomy vary according to the social class, the nations, the regions, the eras and the modes.
The differences are, or were, related to local food resources, with the upper classes having in principle a larger table culture. This was sensitive to the “time of the parishes”. Sociocultural principles, especially religious ones, are particularly important in certain universes.
If there is a gastronomy that can be said to be “global” at the time of Fooding , local, regional and national gastronomic habits remain fairly firmly anchored.
There is, moreover, no contradiction between the attachment to traditions and local recipes and curiosity towards the new. Many lovers of good food are open to various table cultures and appreciate what comes from elsewhere: the mere reading of innumerable restaurant menus, in Paris , London , Moscow or Tokyo , proclaims. This openness has proven especially from the xix th century , when gourmets have discovered other lands as their province, other dietary habits than those of their city or their village.
The various Asian gastronomic cultures, very different from each other, are evidently not those of the West, where one can sit in very different ways on both sides of the borders. This despite the relative standardization of haute cuisine, increasingly indifferent to the terroirs: the chiefs prefer in principle local products but make, for the most part, their market in the distance, given the ease of transport, the new possibilities conservation, etc. Most of these chefs travel a lot, do internships, and then run restaurants abroad.
The religions are important, although recognized gourmet, or wanting such, are cautiously make reference: Muslim or Jewish faith gourmets do not necessarily share the preferences of Christians gastronomes, Buddhists, etc., because of religious prohibitions more or less respected and community habits.
Social background, education and financial resources also play a great role. To taste caviars and to differentiate them, for example, is not accessible to all.
The gastronomic differences also depend on technical and artistic principles. Cooking evolves like science and other arts, with which she can relate; often evokes molecular gastronomy revealed by Hervéand Pierre Gagnaire , since the beginning of the 21th century.
The so-called “modern” gastronomic repertoire offers preparations that differ from those of the so-called “traditional” cuisine .
The founding fathers of modern Western cuisine
Around 1800
Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) is an illustrious French gastronome, who was, all his life, an Epicurean (in the strictly philosophical sense of the term). His most famous publication, Physiology of Taste 6 , was published without a name in December 1825 .
Grimod (1758-1838), lawyer, acquired under Napoleon I fame by his sensual life and gastronomy. Of particular note is his book of 1803 , The greedy Almanac .
Charles Durand (1766-1854) is a cook and famous gourmet. In 1830 he published Le Cuisinier Durand 16 , one of the first cookbooks. He also develops the concept of “regional cuisine” . He has made himself the apostle of Provencal cuisine and local cuisines unknown outside the vineyard. It was he who made known in Paris a Nîmes specialty: the brandade of cod .
Around 1850
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), a personality of French literature , was also a gourmet and claimed to be a cook. His Great Cookbook, to which he devoted the last years of his life and published posthumously, contains a glossary related to cooking, ingredients (spices, vegetables, animals), dishes, desserts and more than three thousand recipes .
Baron Brisse or Baron Léon Brisse (1813-1876) was general guard of the forests. He left the administration around 1850 and went to Paris to become a journalist. Amateur of good food, he is responsible for writing a daily gastronomic column in La Liberté . After his death were published Three hundred sixty-six menus Baron Brisse, or The Kitchen Lent.
Charles Monselet (1825-1888) is a poet, journalist, novelist, columnist and gastronome, who took pleasure in brushing portraits of his contemporaries, as well as commenting on a good meal. He published cooking books, poems on the theme of gastronomy, such as Sonnet asparagus , Anthem trout and Ode to the pig and the greedy Letters.
Around 1900
Curnonsky, a French gastronome born in Angers ( 1872 – 1956 ), proclaimed Prince of Gastronomes in 1927, a title that remains attached to him today.
In 1950, the Dr.Auguste Bécart, renowned journalists Jean Valby and Curnonsky and heads Louis Giraudon and Marcel Dorin revive the brotherhood of the Chaine des Rotisseurs and make the World Association of gastronomy (still active today in 70 countries).
Gastronomías by type
Regime
Vegetarian gastronomy
Vegan gastronomy
Naturist gastronomy
Macrobiotic gastronomy
Frugivorous gastronomy
Creative gastronomy
Homemade gastronomy
International gastronomy
Times
Christmas gastronomy
Gastronomy of Holy Week
Colonial period
Medieval gastronomy
Religion
Buddhist gastronomy
Christian gastronomy
Rastafarian gastronomy
Muslim gastronomy
Jewish gastronomy
Currents
Fast Food
Slow Food
Ecogastronomy
Molecular gastronomy
Diseases
Gastronomy of diabetics
Celiac gastronomy
Orthorexia
Writings on gastronomy
There have been many writings on gastronomy throughout the world that capture the thoughts and esthetics 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 as listed below:
Apicius: A 5th century collection of Roman recipes by the gourmet Marcus Gavius Apicius. Contains instructions for preparing dishes enjoyed by the elite of the time.
Suiyuan shidan (隨園食單) : An 18th century manual on Qing dynasty Chinese Cuisine by the poet Yuan Mei, which contains recipes from different social classes at the time along with two chapters on Chinese gastronomic and culinary theory.
The Physiology of Taste: A 19th century book by Chef Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin that defined classic French cuisine. The work contains a large collection of flamboyant recipes from the time, but goes into the theory on preparation of French dishes and hospitality.
Source from Wikipedia