Since man figured out that other men existed he has been ineterested in what the other men ate. The ancient Egyptians actually sent scholars out to find, study and report back to the pharoah, upon new & different foods. Some of the Roman emperors did likewise. Next to sex, food is mankind's greatest interest in life. It was at the end of the 19th. Century, 2 anthropologists, William R. Smith & Garrick Mallery, started the ball rolling for modern scholars. They delved into foods, cuisines & the respective cultures of origin.
Food, or the lack of the same, has been the underlying cause of more than a few wars. In many pastoral societies there are rituals that revolve around food, its presentation, its source & its ultimate ingestion by man. In hunter-gathering societies it is not so formal nor involved. Being a good food provider is the paramount characteristic of a leader in such societies. All-in-all food is considered to be of primary importance in all cultures. Without food we do not survive.
What we eat, how we prepare it or even if we do, how we eat it, when we eat it & what do we eat it with are all valid & often asked questions about food. Man's environment, both physical as well as socio-cultural, plays a major part in determining much of the underlying set of answers to these questions.
Food preservation along with food preparation is greatly influenced by environment. Preservation techniques vary in method, in product & are directly utilized as the need arises. Smoking meats takes time, needs fuel, is not easy to hide the activity and is labor intensive in preparation. Drying meats is like wise the same. Pickling is less labor intensive a bit more technology oriented and requires more tools sophisticated tools of the trade. Freezing is an old friend in food preparation that dates back to the ice ages. It is easy, if you inhabit a cold region where it ca be done easily. In this modern world we have the technology to freeze foods without depending upon the weather. Salting requires access to that simple sodium compound, sodium chloride or what we call simply salt! Yes, food preservation is a many faceted gem in the word of cuisine.
Origins of foods (Where did that kiwi fruit come from?), origins of food preparation (Just how DOES one cook that slimy thing?, origins of food rituals, ie. Japanese tea ceremony, and much more are all integral parts of the fascinating field of food or cuisine anthropology. The potato & the tomato, 2 foods given to us by the Americas, have become the 2 most primary sources of recipes in European cultures. Rice feeds more people than any other grain including the many varieties of wheat. Tea quenches thirst across more cultures than any other beverage on earth except for water. The list goes on & on but you can see that the anthropology of cuisines is of vital importance.
Studying food in all of its aspects has proven to be of significant importance from both an intellectual standpoint as well as a practical & easily applied standpoint as well.
History, sociology, chemistry & physics all are part of the world of food/cuisine anthropology. Physics? Yes…..you must cook the foods or prepare them in some manner so physics plays an important role. Chemistry? Yes definitely...all food preparation is chemistry particularly when you begin to use spices, add flavors (salt & pepper), add heat & manipulate the physical aspects of the food by stirring, etc. Sociology? Indeed as may be seen when studying the rituals that abound around certain foods. History? Yes of course as already pointed out in the illustration of the potato & tomato as only 1 example set.
Food chemistry is a big & burgeoning modern technology field that pays extraordinarily well. Large companies hire food chemists to work with nutritionists & dietitians to develop new & palate pleasing recipes incorporating their products. Food physics is a subject that is added into this as well when developing preparation techniques.
Nutrition is of major importance to us all in this modern world. What foods do what to our physiological selves? What is done to my detriment when I eat that doughnut? What happens to help me when I have that mid-morning snack? These are just a sampling of the questions answered by the nutritionists & dietitians in their realm of cuisine anthropology.
Studying this absolutely wondrous subject is fun & usually results in good eats & can assist you in the development of more and better meals for you & your family. You cannot escape the fact that like air we also need food to survive, be it raw, cooked, dried, smoked or fermented or salted it is food and we need to know all about it
Sources:
Diet, demography, and disease : changing perspectives on anemiaÂ
Patricia Stuart-Macadam and Susan Kent, editors. 1992
"When we eat what we eat: classifying crispy foods in Malaysian Tamil cuisine",
Anthropology of Food. June 2003, Theresa D/O Wilson Devasahayam
Encyclopedia of food and culture
Solomon H. Katz, editor in chief ; William Woys Weaver, associate editor. 2003
Food, ecology and culture : readings in the anthropology of dietary practices
edited by J.R.K. Robson 1980
Handbook of medical anthropology : contemporary theory and method
 edited by Carolyn F. Sargent and Thomas M. Johnson.
Published: Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1996.
Human diet : its origin and evolution
edited by Peter S. Ungar and Mark F. Teaford.
Published:Â Westport, Conn. ; London : Bergin & Garvey, 2002.
Nutritional anthropology
editor, Francis E. Johnston
Published:Â New York : A.R. Liss, c1987
Rapid assessment procedures for nutrition and primary health care : anthropological approaches to improving programme effectiveness
Susan C.M. Scrimshaw, Elena Hurtado
Published:Â Tokyo : United Nations University ; Los Angeles : UCLA Latin American Center Publications, University of California, c1987
Researching food habits : methods and problems
edited by Helen Macbeth and Jeremy MacClancy.
Published:Â New York : Berghahn Books, 2004.
http://www.book-thoughts.com/s/s_agf.html
http://edition.cens.cnrs.fr/revue/aofood
Copyright © 2006-2008 Donald R Houston, PhD. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the author's consent.
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