Abstract:

This article aims to evaluate the contribution of Stephen Mennell to the field of food sociology in the framework of a developmental approach. According to the developmental approach, the social factors that shape a generation’s flavour are largely shaped by the dynamics of the very long-term social development processes from the past to the present. This approach takes into account the impact of social, cultural, economic or political arrangements on the formation of kitchen cultures. It examines the reflection of changes in social structures in the kitchen cultures. In this regard, the first part of the article will focus on the determining roles of the palace cuisine in the formation of the damp taste and the loss of the palace roles of modeling in the formation of the damp taste from the 18th century. In the second part, the effects of social and political developments on the shaping of kitchen cultures will be discussed on three main issues: comparative kitchen cultures; civilization of appetite; unpleasant, avoided and denied foods. The third part will focus on how progress in printing technologies helps to strengthen the widespread cooking traditions and in what aspects food writing affects the development of cooking cultures. The last chapter deals with the dynamics of the rise and decline of a public dining space and the democratizing functions of the gastronomic writings and the guest books.

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Abstract:

The aim of this article is to evaluate Stephen Mennell’s contributions to the sociology of food within the framework of the developmental approach. According to this approach, social factors that shape the taste of a generation are largely formed by the dynamics of long-term social development processes from past to present. This approach takes into account the impact of social, cultural, economic, and political arrangements on the formation of culinary culture. It examines the impacts changes in social structures have on culinary culture. In this sense, the first part of the article focuses on the roles court kitchens have had in taste formation and how courts gradually lost their determining functions. In the second part of the article, the impact of social and political developments on shaping culinary culture is discussed through three main problematic issues: comparative culinary cultures; the civilizing of appetite; and food dislikes, avoidances, and prohibitions. The third part of the article questions how improvements in printing technologies have helped strengthen common culinary traditions and how culinary writing influences culinary culture as well. The last part deals with the dynamics of the rise and fall of a public sphere of eating and the democratizing functions of gastronomic guides.