Food Anthropology

I can’t remember exactly when but I do remember where I first heard mention of food and anthropology together. I was watching “Good Eats” on the Food Network. The exact details of the show escape me, but to explain the context of his food concoction Alton consulted with a food anthropologist. “Gosh, how fascinating,” I thought. “I’ve always been intrigued by cultural and historical contexts with food, but I did not realize that there was a formal study of such things.”

Well a few years have passed since that show, and I did not make a career change, but I’m still fascinated by the history and culture of food and sometimes my friends jokingly call me the “self-appointed food anthropologist.”

Knowing my love for things food and cultural, this Christmas, one of my friends gave me a book called “Food is Culture” by Massimo Montanari. It is published by Columbia University Press as part of their series called Arts and Traditions of the Table – Perspectives on Culinary History. While it is a small book and not a heavy academic tome, it is intellectually stimulating and I’m enjoying Sig. Montanari’s perspective and insights.

You know, our food traditions from what we eat to how we prepare it define us and our cultures. I think when you live in a metropolitan area like Los Angeles, we sometimes lose site of this because we are swimming in a multi cultural sea and are at ease with combining the ingredients of many food cultures and making new taste treats either by accident or design.

Speaking of taste treats, my husband and I were invited to dinner at one of our friends last Saturday night to enjoy ham and bean soup. It was the boil down of the ham hock from the Honey Baked Ham we’d eaten at her place during our New Year’s Eve to New Year’s Day Party. We also had a "leftover" bottle of chilled champagne from a minor house in Epernay -- Janisson Baradon Brut -- which we had to open under the rationale that we were using up the leftovers. That turned out to be a palette pleaser! From now on we have decided that every time we serve up ham and bean soup, it must be accompanied by the complimenting taste of fine champagne. Ce´magnifique!