This introduction and special issue explores the legacy of Claude Lévi-Strauss for the study of contemporary foodways. We revisit Lévi-Strauss’ structural writing about food through different angles. To begin with, based on our ethnographic research with Moroccan cooks, we propose to consider some basic elements of food culture as an “alphabet,” as a shared language and, more generally, as a formally structured and normalized set of practices. Then, the first research article of this special issue proposes to use Lévi-Strauss’ model of myths in a novel way, by bringing culinary and social practices in Western Kenya into relation through the concept of mereological ambivalence. In the second and third articles, Lévi-Strauss’ so-called culinary triangle, which represents a semantic field within which the various forms of food’s transformation are structurally meaningful and constitutes possibly his most well-known theoretical contribution to food studies, will be explored and questioned through contemporary practices of dumpster diving in London and the discourse among raw food eaters in France and the United States. Overall, this special issue hopes to demonstrate that despite valid and enduring critique of his semantic models, Lévi-Strauss’ theoretical engagement with food can still generate an exciting and fruitful analysis of contemporary foodways.

本简介和特刊探讨了克劳德·列维·斯特劳斯（ClaudeLévi-Strauss）在研究现代美食方面的遗产。我们从不同角度重新审视了列维·斯特劳斯关于食物的结构性著作。首先，基于我们对摩洛哥厨师的人种学研究，我们建议将饮食文化的一些基本要素视为“字母”，作为一种共享语言，并且更广泛地视为一种形式化和规范化的做法。然后，本期特刊的第一篇研究论文提出以新颖的方式使用莱维-斯特劳斯的神话模型，通过单调的矛盾观念将肯尼亚西部的烹饪和社会实践联系起来。在第二和第三篇文章中，列维·斯特劳斯（Lévi-Strauss）所谓的烹饪三角 这将代表语义领域，其中各种食物的转化形式在结构上有意义，并可能构成他对食物研究的最著名的理论贡献，将通过伦敦现代垃圾箱潜水实践以及生食者之间的对话来探讨和质疑这一领域。在法国和美国。总体而言，本期特刊希望表明，尽管对他的语义模型进行了有效而持久的批评，但列维-斯特劳斯对食物的理论参与仍然可以对当代饮食方式进行令人振奋而富有成果的分析。将通过伦敦的垃圾箱潜水现代实践以及法国和美国的生食食用者之间的对话来探讨和质疑。总体而言，本期特刊希望表明，尽管对他的语义模型进行了有效而持久的批评，但列维-斯特劳斯对食物的理论参与仍然可以对当代饮食方式进行令人振奋而富有成果的分析。将通过伦敦的垃圾箱潜水当代实践以及法国和美国的生食食用者之间的对话来探讨和质疑。总体而言，本期特刊希望表明，尽管对莱维·斯特劳斯的语义模型进行了有效而持久的批评，但列维·斯特劳斯对食物的理论参与仍然可以对当代饮食方式进行令人振奋而富有成果的分析。