Medical

Questions: Critically Analyse the Historical Concepts Related to Gastronomy. Critically Evaluate the Development of Gastronomy through the Ages. Answers: Introduction Eating habit is the individual habitual decision regarding foods or the decision of group of people what they eat. Dietary habits include proportional amount of carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamin, water and mineral. In human health, dietary habit has a significant role. Food has a relationship with culture and preparation and serving food is an art (Bode 2000). The concern of the relation is known as gastronomy. With the development of eating habit the gastronomy also improves. However, eating habit and gastronomy has significant relationship as gastronomy depends on eating habit of group of people or individual. Eating habits throughout the world has changed drastically since the evolution of men. In the Neolithic Period, humans relied on hunting and scavenging for fruits and vegetables for their diet. In those ages, men consumed far more food than present day men; this is due to their need for energy to resist harsh environments and predators. As the years advanced, so did the types of food that was consumed. The domestication of animals meant that men are less varieties of meat (Montignac, 2016), but saw the development of gastronomy. The rise of gastronomy came alongside social classes, in the past, the food eaten was determinant on what was available to be scavenged or hunted. In the middle ages, food was scarce and selective eating became a way of life, people higher in the social classes feasted on foods that were more refined and consisted of meats while poorer people resorted to eating scraps or stale bread. 1.Concept of gastronomy Gastronomy is a study of practice and progress of the eating habit, culinary system and related matters that has relation with idea of Savarin. However, the idea of Savarin is encompassed field. The nature of this idea is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary both. Agricultural study has a range in urban surrounding to the global commodity trade, which plays a sensitive role to shape particular and cultural food notions. Different role pans and pots played major role to craft the traditional culinary throughout the world. Gastronomy is a holistic matter that utilizes anthropological, economic, historic, scientific and socio-cultural methodologies at the time of embracing sensual and experimental aspects. Gastronomy students have various scopes and goals like food writing, policy advocacy, and entrepreneurship in urban farming. All the scopes are very demanding and prestigious. Gastronomy study helps gain the regional, national and international food system that helps to sustain the taste, cultural importance and texture. The roles are connected with each other to flourish the continuity. Many of the rich people were very selective in case of food in the 19th century who has the opportunity to select the foods on their choice. They paid premiums on the special foods for the best quality and also for the experimental purpose. This developed the cooking process regarding to health. This experiment showed that wheat was more preferable in comparison to rye that is more digestible and good for health. However, only the wealthy people could afford the wheat because of high price. 2.Food selection through the ages Gillespie, C. and Cousins, J. (2006).European gastronomy into the 21st century. 1st ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Gillespie and Cousins mentioned that in Medieval England, wheat was considered to be reserved for the rich and noble inhabitants; rye was generally eaten as it was easier to cultivate and produce. As many people living in Medieval England were considered poor and many died from starvation, the lack of a stable food source led the people to consume food by contemplating the energy value vs. cost. Many richer people who have vast fortunes tend to be more selective of their foods and would pay premiums on special foods, hence, the need of quality and experimental cooking increased. This shows that wheat was more favourable as compared to rye which indicates that gastronomy was preferred and only the wealthy landowners could afford such luxuries. Back in the Neolithic age, humans would eat any protein that was available to them. From this, it is evident that the lack of a food source has subsequently created better foods (Burnett, 1989). Compared to modern times, sustainable farming of a nimals and vegetables meant that there is an abundance of food. Variety is commonplace; however, many proteins and types of vegetables such as truffles are considered exotic and a delicacy which are used in the pinnacle of gastronomy dining. Thirsk, J. (2006).Food in early modern England. 1st ed. London: Hambled on Continuum. Thirsk states that at the start of the 19th century, majority of foods were still locally sourced and produced, majority of the population lived at the country side which meant that access was convenient and nearby. However, as the country developed, many people moved into the cities which then required innovative ways to transport foods into the cities. The development of the railroad solved the issue and soon after, households had access to fresh produce within the city. Imports started to become cheaper as refrigerated transport came into the Victorian era, this meant that meats and vegetables became cheaper and enabled regularised diets of all classes for the first time in English history. Soon after, gastronomy started to gain a foothold, the most popular and fashionable cuisine amongst the population was French, this was then further enforced by the publishing of books by famous celebrity chefs such as Marie-Antoine Carme. His book was translated from French to English in 1836 which was influential towards the development of gastronomy. Another influential figure that helped garner gastronomy and the changing eating habits was Isabella Beetons cook book which stated precise quantities as well as cooking times (Thirsk, 2006). Trentmann, F. (n.d.).The Oxford handbook of the history of consumption. 1st ed. Trentmann mentioned that British food cannot properly be defined; this is due to the sheer number of former inhabitants by a large array of different cultures and people. In 1066, prior to the Norman invasion, the Romans, Saxons and Vikings had already previously inhabited the island, this then brought many different language, foods and even their eating habits along with them. During the 1800s, many foreign communities such as the Polish, Italian and French immigrated to the United Kingdom. After World War II, Britain experienced many settlers ranging from Pakistan, China and Turkey to the country which furthered the expansion of the already rich culture and food traditions. These then influenced and was the basis of how current diets and gastronomy of British nations were shaped. Up until the 1900s, Britons lived primarily off the land while traders brought exotic foods and ingredients such as fruits and spices from other countries. Since then, these imports were expensive and main ly reserved for the wealthy, while majority others ate from locally sourced meats and ingredients. Modern day money saving methods such as making foods from leftovers such as mashed potatoes for a cottage pie and the use of animal innards for dishes like haggis and blood pudding. Sedghi, A. (2015).UK tops chart of EU food waste. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/uk-tops-chart-of-eu-food-waste [Accessed 12 Nov. 2016]. Sedghi mentions that the recent increase in health concerns as well as the popularisation of celebrity chefs reignited the change of eating habits and gastronomy once again. Recent reports indicated that Britons throw approximately 30% of foods and the root cause of this was the change in habit, mind-set as well as individuals having too much choice rather than having too little. The Invention of Cooking from Collecting' food to 'Producing' Edwards, J.S., 2006. Culinary Pleasures: Cookbooks and the Transformation of British Food.Journal of Foodservice,17(1), pp.60-61. Edwards explained that British cooking has to suffer from horrible decline due to the industrial revolution. For this industrial revolution, the economic base of the country was shifted to cities from the land. This destroyed virtuous tradition of the British country. In 1960, the British cooking began to revive. Elizabeth David, the introducer of Mediterranean delights to middle classes said that food is an enjoyable and energy producing thing. She surveyed House of Management (1861) of Mrs. Beeton and found the difference techniques of cooking of previous time. Edward (2006) mentioned that cooking is the mixture of science and art by applying heat. Cooking method includes all kinds of culinary methods also like washing and cutting of food, presentation of raw and cooked food, garnishing dishes, desserts decoration and meal planning. In the primitive ages, human used to eat raw foods and with the time they started to roast their foods before eating. They found that it was the easiest way to chew and eat the food, which could be digested easily also. In Palaeolithic age, people of South France started to wrap foods in wet leaves and steam it. They mainly used skulls, stones or shells to roast or steam the foods. With the time, the process of steaming spread to the other parts of world. In the next age, people started to learn the making process of earthen pots. They started to cook their foods in the earthen pots. Mintz, S.W. and Du Bois, C.M., 2002. The anthropology of food and eating.Annual review of anthropology, pp.99-119. Mintz and Du Bois mentioned that food is a necessary substance for the human existence. With the development of human, the eating habit of human is also changing. the anthropologists showed the evaluation of foods has a link with the eating habit. Food system is used in illumination of large society method like creation of socio-economic value, social memory construction and symbolic value. Fernandez-Armesto (2001) pointed that food studies has a vital role to debate about the cultural materialism and human behaviour explanation or structuralism. The cultural and biological evolution of food is different. Before Christ, China became very popular for soybean cultivation and quick spread in eastern Asia. After, rice, wheat, barley and millet, soybean is considered as the fifth grain. However, in the Bronze Age, human learnt about the lentils and started to cultivate the lentils. In the 15th century, the British countries started to use cast -iron stoves whereas, Chinese knew it before hundred years. In the middle 15th age British came to know about the chillies. Lighten, C. (n.d.).How food shapes everyday life. 1st ed. [ebook] Available at: https://www.bl.uk/learning/resources/pdf/foodstories/lightengodeeper.pdf [Accessed 12 Nov. 2016]. Although there is an increase demand in gastronomy cooking/dining, Lighten mentions that due to the invention of microwaves and fast foods, the method of food preparation has evolved drastically. In the past, economic downturns meant that any food on the table had to be eaten despite how badly it tasted or cheaply made it was, currently, foods are made more cheaply at the cost of quality. The microwave then came to make food on the go such as ready to eat meals and cup noodles; this then made the household more flexible as children could potentially prepare these foods themselves. Although the nutritional value of these foods is considered very low and unhealthy, many households favour the cost and convenience of it over the quality of the food. Albeit gastronomy cooking/dining is considered to be at its peak, lower income households are leaning towards junk food as compared to the past where peasants ate bread and pottage which was still considered to be healthy. The availability of takeaway restaurants and fast foods completely changed the development of eating habits as well, as household members no longer require culinary skills. Schlosser, E., 2012.Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. food and the amount increased to $110 billion in 2001 (Sloan 2004). British people now spend more money in the fast food rather than education, cars, homes and technology. Fast food became a part of British life. In the British industry, fundamental changes have driven the extraordinary progress of fast food. In the fast food industry, Mc Donald became a powerful brand. However, in America, Mc Donald provided 90% of fresh job (Spence and Piqueras-Fiszman 2014). Another famous fast food brands are Pizza Hut, Subway and KFC. In 1950, the famous fast foods were French fries and hamburger. However, the process of making fast food is completely different from the traditional cooking method. The cooking process of fast foods in recent days is completely different from the traditional cooking methods (Schlosser 2012). Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin Jean Anthelme Brillat Savarin was first who defined the term Gastronomy, Jean states that Gastronomy as a knowledge and understanding of the eating habit of man. The purpose of gastronomy is to provide possible best food to men. The debate area is the usage of possible best food on the consideration of vague and other gastronomic approaches. Jean Anthelme Brillat Sarvin was a French lawyer of 18th century, who explained that by the eating habit one can identify the nature of human. According to Savarin, gastronomy is related to the men what they eat. The main challenge for the gastronomy is to understand the difference between good food and best food. Famed French anthropologist of 20th century, Claude Levi-Strauss stated that food is a good think that is related with sensitivity of human. It is needed to understand that what is food, good food, best food and bad food. Warde and Martens (2000) considers gastronomy as the isolation of chemicals within foods that are able to stimulate our senses and appetite and provide energy. Food gastronomy is conscious about the cookery system and evolution of cookery. However, gastronomy is a good eating art. Gastronomy includes healthy diet that starts from the way of preparation and ends to the way of serving. The gastronomists mainly help to develop the quality of food production, servicing and make the food healthier. Gastronomy has relation with the culinary art. It provides the knowledge of diet, food science and nutrition that is responsible to prepare the foods. According to Pantelidis (2014), Culinary art is responsible to give pleasure to the eyes and also palatable. Culinary art includes works in the hotel and hospitality industry. Industrialization of foods and Haute Cuisine Haute cuisine is a brief presentation and preparation of small and various courses. In European hotels and restaurants, this is made by the big and stratified staffs. According to Strong (2002), British diet has evaluated to industrial perversion from the medieval barbarity. However, human sentiment is related with food and food has the magic power to convert the emotional status of human. Industrial perversion plays a significant role in development of haute cuisine that has developed the variety, quality and quantity of diet. Industrial decadence has a significant impact on Western countries as well as on the other nations of world. The factors of industrial decadence are preserving, mechanisation, retailing and transport. The canned foods like dried meat, fish and vegetables are easy to distribute worldwide. The drying process includes pickling, salting and icing that has an important impact on the European countries. Public and Royal banquets There is much difference in the public banquets and royal banquets. In royal banquet, four to six courses are added with seven to nine types of dishes in each course. The table for royal banquet has variation. There are different places for the royal guests, major guests and minor guests for eating purpose. There was public gallery for the general people in royal banquet hall. On the other hand, public banquet is referred to hotels, restaurants. In public banquet, there are also various dishes and courses are served but not like royal style. Policy needs the influenced support of the food writer whereas sustainable food business needs the support of sustainable farmers to thrive. The research of cultural anthropologists helps to achieve the access of equitable urban food. Every country needs significant anthropological, cultural comprehension and sociological to stifle the food related diseases. For this purpose one should understand the meaning of food and the role of foods in individuals life. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that gastronomy has different branches and evaluated very much from the primitive ages to the modern age. Gastronomy develops with the human food behaviour and nature. Gastronomy defines the historical, socio-culture, scientific, economic, culture and anthropological theories and evidences. In the primitive ages human had the habit of eating flesh. With the evaluation, individuals became know about roasting, streaming and other cooking methods. With the evaluation of gastronomy, culinary substances also developed. The changes also have seen in menu of the human eating. Variety of foods are added in the menu of the restaurants and hotels form the 19th centuries to 21st centuries (Beardsworth and Keil 1997) Culinary method includes the cleaning, washing and cutting of vegetable and other staffs, healthy preparation of food that not only please the eyes but also palatable. The discussion covered the difference of royal and public banquet st yle of food. With the changes of food selection and food production method, British people became habituate to consume fast foods that is not healthier. From the invention of earthen utensils, microwave has come in the modern age for the cooking purpose. Gastronomy students have bright future they can achieve regional, national and global reputation due to the significant and beautiful mixture of art and science. They have various opportunities and cultural and economical benefits. Industrialisation decades of foods provide them another chance to reach the global market. Industrialisation of foods helped the regional and busy people to get healthier foods instantly like canned and dried foods. The procedure of making dried food is concerned with gastronomy. The main reason of gastronomy is to provide healthier foods to people that please the eyes as well as taste also. However, gastronomy includes the food writers as well as the sustainable farmers also. The process of cultivation also should be healthier that is use of less pesticides and other poisonous chemicals. The chemicals affect the food quality. References: Beardsworth A. and Keil T. (1997) Sociology on the Menu. London: Routledge. Bode, W. (2000) European Gastronomy. London: Grub Street Press. Edwards, J.S., 2006. Culinary Pleasures: Cookbooks and the Transformation of British Food.Journal of Foodservice,17(1), pp.60-61. Fernandez-Armesto, F. (2001) Food a History. London: Macmillan. Goody, J., 1982.Cooking, cuisine and class: a study in comparative sociology. Cambridge University Press. Mintz, S.W. and Du Bois, C.M., 2002. The anthropology of food and eating.Annual review of anthropology, pp.99-119. Pantelidis, I.S. (Eds.) (2014) the Routledge Handbook of Hospitality Management. London: Routledge. Schlosser, E., 2012.Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Sloan, D., (2004) Culinary Taste, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. Spence, C. and Piqueras-Fiszman, B., 2014.The perfect meal: the multisensory science of food and dining. John Wiley Sons. Strong, R. (2002) A History of Grand Eating. London, Pimlico Warde, A. and Martens, L. (2000) Eating Out, Social Differentiation, consumption Pleasure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.