Culinary Art and Anthropology

Name: Culinary Art and Anthropology
Price: 52.95 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781847882127

✍️ Adapon, Joy

Reader Score

4.4

(1 review)

$52.95

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Cooking & Technique

📚 EDITORIAL REVIEW

“If you are a curious home cook who loves diving into the cultural theory behind what is on your plate, you will adore this. It is not a quick-weeknight guide; it is an academic and ethnographic deep dive featuring traditional recipes that require patience, cultural appreciation, and an interest in anthropology.

— Editorial Team

Author

Adapon, Joy

📚 all books by this author (2) →

🏛 Continnuum-3PL 📅 2008 📔 Paperback ISBN: 9781847882127

📝 Description: Culinary Art and Anthropology

Culinary Art and Anthropology is an anthropological study of food. It focuses on taste and flavour using an original interpretation of Alfred Gell's theory of the 'art nexus'. Grounded in ethnography, it explores the notion of cooking as an embodied skill and artistic practice. The integral role and concept of 'flavour' in everyday life is examined among cottage industry barbacoa makers in Milpa Alta, an outer district of Mexico City. Women's work and local festive occasions are examined against a background of material on professional chefs who reproduce 'traditional' Mexican cooking in restaurant settings. Including recipes to allow readers to practise the art of Mexican cooking, Culinary Art and Anthropology offers a sensual, theoretically sophisticated model for understanding food anthropologically. It will appeal to social scientists, food lovers, and those interested in the growing fields of food studies and the anthropology of the senses.

💎 Expert review

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Eatbook Family editorial team

Cookbook desk

This book is not for casual home cooks seeking quick meals; its dense theoretical engagement with Alfred Gell’s art theory may alienate readers expecting straightforward culinary instruction. It is strictly for academics and serious food theorists who appreciate ethnographic depth over practical utility. While the integration of recipes from Milpa Alta’s barbacoa makers provides tangible context, the primary focus remains on anthropological analysis of women’s work and festive occasions. Readers looking for simple, accessible cooking guides should look elsewhere, as this volume demands intellectual rigor and an appreciation for sensory anthropology rather than immediate kitchen application.

✓ EDITOR'S REVIEW

⭐ Reader reviews

The starting rating comes from the team Eatbook Family —

⭐ eatbookfamily.com editorial review Editorial rating 4.5/5

★★★★★

If you are a curious home cook who loves diving into the cultural theory behind what is on your plate, you will adore this. It is not a quick-weeknight guide; it is an academic and ethnographic deep dive featuring traditional recipes that require patience, cultural appreciation, and an interest in…

Reader rating

4.4

Based on 1 reviews

Eatbook Family editorial team

This book is not for casual home cooks seeking quick meals; its dense theoretical engagement with Alfred Gell’s art theory may alienate readers expecting straightforward culinary instruction. It is strictly for academics and serious food theorists who appreciate ethnographic depth over practical utility. While the integration of recipes from Milpa Alta’s barbacoa makers provides tangible context, the primary focus remains on anthropological analysis of women’s work and festive occasions. Readers looking for simple, accessible cooking guides should look elsewhere, as this volume demands intellectual rigor and an appreciation for sensory anthropology rather than immediate kitchen application.

❓ Frequently asked questions

Because this text is an anthropological study rather than a standard commercial cookbook, precise formatting details like measurement standards are not guaranteed for everyday kitchen use.

No, this is primarily an academic exploration focusing on the social and sensory theory of food, though it does include select recipes to let you practice traditional Mexican cooking.

📖 Who should read this

📜 Historical context

Rooted deeply in Mexican culinary tradition, this work examines the rich, vibrant world of cottage industry barbacoa makers in Milpa Alta, near Mexico City. It explores how local women prepare festive meals and contrasts these community practices with professional chefs reproducing traditional Mexican cuisine in high-end restaurant environments.