ABSTRACT

Based on fieldwork in the UK and Portugal, this paper considers the relationships between cultural analyses of taste and the embodied activity of tasting. As part of a wider project on the multiple ontologies of ‘freshness’, the paper conceptualises taste as an emergent effect of tasting practices. Drawing on evidence from a series of ‘tasting events’ (where research participants were recorded shopping, cooking and eating a meal with friends and family), the paper explores the multiple dimensions of taste concluding that even the most personal and sensory aspects of tasting food involve a social dimension which we interpret through the lens of practice theory. The paper identifies three specific dimensions of tasting as a social practice involving food’s material and visceral qualities; the links between embodiment and emotion; and the contextual significance of family and social relations. Our findings contribute to recent debates about ‘making taste public’, even in the apparently private context of household consumption.

摘要

本文基于英国和葡萄牙的实地考察，考察了品味的文化分析与品尝的具身活动之间的关系。作为关于“新鲜度”多重本体的更广泛项目的一部分，该论文将味道概念化为品尝实践的一种涌现效应。该论文利用一系列“品尝活动”的证据（研究参与者被记录为与朋友和家人一起购物、烹饪和吃饭），探讨了味觉的多个维度，得出的结论是，即使是品尝食物最个人和感官的方面涉及我们通过实践理论的视角来解释的社会维度。该论文将品尝的三个具体维度确定为一种涉及食物材料和内脏品质的社会实践；体现与情感之间的联系；以及家庭和社会关系的背景意义。我们的研究结果有助于最近关于“公开品味”的辩论，即使在家庭消费的明显私人背景下也是如此。