Culinary Secularisation Theory
I'm a bit uneasy about your culinary secularisation theory. I agree that its
highly possible that the choice of what one eats may have become
increasingly detraditionalized; we now choose to eat a particular thing
because of the chronic reflexivity of late modernity and the desire to
maintain ontological security rather than being told to do so by a chef.
however, I'm suspicious of the idea that people no longer eat because we
don't see them in restaurants - people still enjoy eating but they do it
privately. All the statistics show that people still eat, even the ones that
don't go to restaurants ('eating without restaurant-going')
Plus, your Middle Ages argument is a bit of a myth. if you read the right
manuscripts you find that there has always been credulity amongst diners -
some chefs couldn't even read the menu (which was in Latin anyway) and
records show that even then not that many, for example, did the '2 meals for
£5' deals. In fact, many restaurants didn't even have chefs, but rather
relied on a buffet system (see Stark's 'No one ate out in the Middle Ages'
for further discussion).
Of course, we also have to consider that some other cultures are witnessing
a resurgence of (sometimes militant) eating out and the links in America
between major restaurant owners and politicians.
Couldn't we just say that culinary secularisation transforms eating; leading
to some larger outlets to shut and the growth of a diverse number of
eateries?
> Perhaps we should also consider Culinary Secularisation Theory.
> According to this theory, the process of social differentiation
> included the rise of a specialised food provision sector that
> eliminated religious considerations in favour of food science and
> produced rational edible products with which religions could not
> compete. This in turn stimulated a shift in the focus of people's
> lives from tea and scones consumed in the vicarage to cappuccino and
> continental pastries taken in swish cafe bars. In short: restaurant
> killed the church. Recent attempts by religious groups to provide Mars
> Bars, vegetarian foods in basements, etc have made relatively little
> impact on the numbers of persons who have given up Church Halls in
> favour of Starbucks, Macdonalds, Pizza Hut, etc.
>
> A comparison of the number of restaurants during the religious Middle
> Ages and the secular twentieth century provides clear evidence for the
> thesis. Further evidence comes from the close association between the
> Enlightenment and coffee houses.
>
> Wayne Spencer
>
>
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