Constructing Cuisine

Sorry I have been so quiet on this page. On the food front, I have only been thinking about one thing recently: my dissertation. I wrote a short article recently outlining my study, which I share here. Forget picnics, beaches and BBQs, this is what I'll be doing this summer...

The aim of my study is to investigate the context(s) in which having a national cuisine becomes significant. I will be looking at when, why and for whom it becomes important to talk about a national cuisine in Britain and Australia.

Like most aspects of culture that are the focus of anthropological studies, cuisines are never static, but constantly being made and remade. Nevertheless, it seems that at a particular moment, or moments, having a national cuisine becomes an important part of the ‘cultural capital’ of a nation. My research so far suggests that in Australia and Britain this becomes especially important in the 1980s and gains momentum in the 1990s. This is not to suggest that either country is lacking a rich culinary history, but rather that “the globally held view that every nation must have its own cuisine” (Cusack, 2000: 208) is actually quite a recent phenomenon.

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What is food anthropology?

When I tell people I am studying the anthropology of food, I am usually met with a blank expression. Some people are game to ask what that means, a question I find difficult to answer even now, a year and a half into my course.

I generally start by saying “Well anthropology, very generally, is the study of human culture and society. Food anthropology is about that, but the focus is always food related.” This, it turns out, is not very helpful. Expressions have changed from blank to baffled. 

The main thing I find difficult to convey is the breadth of the topics covered. People often assume that the subject is largely historical and that it namely deals with the exotic. I'm not sure where the first idea comes from, but the second is hardly surprising. Anthropology is a discipline with its roots in Western colonialism, and for much of its development the focus was on ‘other’ cultures. 

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