intro to gastronomy

1. MODULE 1
Introduction to Gastronomy (Food and
Culture)

2. • This module provides an introduction to gastronomy
(food and culture). It will provide a background on
gastronomy and specialty cuisines, the close relationship
between culinary and art, culinary trends, molecular
gastronomy and the various techniques.

3. 1. Discuss the background relating gastronomy and specialty
cuisines.
2. Discuss the close relationship between culinary and art.
3. Discuss culinary trends from past to present.
4. Explain the history of gastronomy
5. Explore the concept of molecular gastronomy and the
techniques applied within the scope of molecular gastronomy.
6. Discuss food preparation techniques using molecular
gastronomy.
7. Design meals to meet specific dietary or cultural needs
8. Design meals to meet specific market requirements
9. Select, prepare and serve special cuisines
10. Create unique or innovative products with ingredients
available

4. Lesson 1: Food and
Culture

5. • Gastronomy is the study of food and culture, with a
particular focus on gourmet cuisine.
• cooking techniques, nutritional facts, food science, and
palatability plus applications of taste and smell in relation to
food consumption. It
• between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving
rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of
particular regions.

6. • much more than food. It reflects the culture, heritage,
traditions and sense of community of different people.
Gastronomy tourism is also emerging as an important
protector of cultural heritage, and the sector helps create
opportunities, including jobs.

7. • Analysis Think of a food product, food preparation
technique, or culinary principle that fascinates you of its
discovery. Share your thoughts in class.

8. • History of Food and People
• One of history's most important lessons is that, the way
we cook now is the culmination of hundreds of years of
work by numerous cooks and individuals. Cooking is
both a science and an art.

9. • Cooking procedures aren't dictated by standards devised
by a few chefs a long time ago.
• Rather, they are founded on an understanding of how
different foods respond when heated in various ways.
• This isn't to say that there isn't opportunity for
exploration and invention, or that established beliefs
should never be challenged.
• it does imply that a great deal of knowledge has been
accumulated over time, and we would be wise to
capitalize on what has previously been acquired.

11. Ancient Food in Egypt
• Cuisine in ancient Egypt was bland and uninteresting.
• Bread and beer were - primary foods.
• Because of the desert, sand was frequently thrown into the
dough during baking.
• People's teeth were worn down in the past when they ate bread
with sand grains in it.
• Meat was a luxury in ancient Egypt- only the wealthy could
afford to eat it frequently

12. • They ate sheep, pigs, cows, and goats, but ducks and
geese provided the majority of the meat.
• Fish, on the other hand, were plentiful
• Marrows, beans, onions, lentils, leeks, radishes, garlic,
and lettuces were all common vegetables .
• Fruits such as melons, dates, and figs were also
consumed.
• Pomegranates were exceedingly expensive, and only the
wealthy ate them. Egyptians farmed herbs and spices, as
well as produce cooking oil.

13. • Beer was lumpy because it was created from crushed
barley bread and barley with water. Before it was drunk,
it was strained. Even so, it was lumpy, necessitating the
use of a wooden straw with a filter. Egyptians who were
well off drank wine.

15. • Ancient Food in Greece
• Ordinary Greeks, like Egyptians, ate simple foods. Bread
(made from barley or, if you could afford it, wheat) and
goat's cheese were their staple foods.
• Meat was a luxury, but there was plenty of fish and
veggies. Pulses, onions, garlic, and olives were staple
foods for ordinary Greeks.
• They ate hen eggs as well. To eat, peasants caught tiny
birds. Raisins, apricots, figs, apples, pears, and
pomegranates were also consumedby the Greeks.

16. • Rich Greeks ate a variety of foods, including roasted
hare, peacock eggs, and vinegared iris bulbs.
• Poor people drank mainly water. If they could afford it,
they sweetened it with honey.
• Wine was another favorite beverage, usually
consumed after being diluted with water.

17. • Food in Rome
• A triclinium is a Roman eating area. The ientaculum was
a bread and fruit breakfast eaten by the Romans. They ate
the prandium, a midday meal of fish, cold meat, bread,
and vegetables.
• The cena was the major meal, which was served in the
evening.
• The Romans also enjoyed a fish sauce known as
liquamen. Oysters, which were exported from Britain,
were also popular. Cooking was elevated to a great art by
the Romans.

18. • Food in the Middle Ages
• Beer was produced by Saxon women.
• Mead, prepared from fermented honey, was another
Saxon beverage.
• Bees were kept in every village since there was no sugar
for the Saxons to sweeten their meal, and honey was
highly important to them.
• Upperclass Saxons drank wine on occasion.
• Wooden bowls were used to eat by the Saxons. Knives
and wooden spoons were the only items available. Cow
horns were used to make cups.

19. • Rich individuals ate a very healthy diet after 1100AD.
Beef, mutton, hog, and venison were among the foods
they consumed.
• Swans, herons, ducks, blackbirds, and pigeons were
among the birds they ate.
• The church, on the other hand, declared that people were
not allowed to eat meat on Wednesdays, Fridays, and
Saturdays.

20. • RICH
• The wealthy had lavish
parties on significant
occasions. The Lord
and his wife sat at a
table on an elevated
wooden platform,
looking down on the
rest of the family.
• They were frequently
entertained by
musicians while they
ate.
• POOR
• Food was plain and
monotonous
• Meat was a luxury for
them. They might have
gotten a rabbit or pig if
they were lucky.
• They also ate a lot of
cheese and coarse,
black bread.
• Every day, they only
had one cooked meal.
They ate pottage in the
evening.

21. Chinese Food
• The wealthy in China ate lavishly.
• Rice, wheat, and millet were among the grains
• Pork, chicken, duck, geese, pheasant, and dog were the
consumedmeats.
• Yams, soya beans, broad beans, and turnip, as well as
spring onions and garlic, were among the vegetables.
• They ate a lot of fish as well. Shark fin, bird's nest, bear
claws, and sea slugs were used in soups.

22. • Wine produced from rice or millet was is a common
alcoholic beverage.
• They drank tea as well.
• In China, the poor ate simple foods. Rice was eaten in the
South.
• Wheat was consumed in the shape of noodles, dumplings,
and pancakes in the north.

23. • Aztec Food
• maize was the Aztecs' primary meal in Central America.
• was crushed into flour by Aztec women using a stone slab
and a stone roller. It was then ground into flour and baked
into a tortilla, a type of pancake.
• Aztec women prepared food on a comal, a clay disc that
stood on stones above a fire.
• Maize was also used to make atole, a type of porridge.
The Aztecs ate tamales, which were steamed maize
'envelopes' filled with vegetables, meat, or eggs.

24. • Tomatoes, avocados, beans, and peppers, as well as
pumpkins, squashes, peanuts, and amaranth seeds,
• Fruit such as limes and cactus fruits were also consumed.

25. • Inca Food
• Rabbits, turkeys, and armadillos were also eaten by the
Aztecs. They ate dogs.
• Meat, on the other hand, was a luxury item for the Aztecs,
and regular people ate it only seldom.

26. • The Aztec nobles
sipped octli,
fermented maguey
juice-based alcoholic
beverage.
• Aztecs of the upper
classes drank
chocolate prepared
from cocoa beans
Poor folks drank water or an
alcoholic beverage known as
pulque.

27. • The Incas lived in the
highlands and
lowlands of what is
now Peru.
• In the lowlands the
staple food was
maize.
In the highlands the main food was
potatoes. They also ate peanuts and a
grain called quinoa.

28. • Mayan Food
• The Mayans farmed maize as their main crop, but they
also grew beans, chilies, sweet potatoes, and squashes.
Fruit such as papaya, melons, and avocados were also
• consumed.
• Deer, turkeys, dogs, peccaries (wild pigs), and agouti
rodents were among the Mayans' favorite foods. They also
went fishing.
• bees for honey production.

29. • ate saka, a 'porridge' composed of maize and chilies, in
the morning.
• During the day, they ate maize dough 'dumplings' with
veggies or meat inside.
• Tamales were the 'dumplings,' and they were wrapped in
maize plant leaves.
• The main course was served in the evening. Tortillas were
maize 'pancakes' that people ate.
• They were served with a 'stew' of vegetables and
(sometimes) meat.
• The Mayans drank an alcoholic drink called blache and
Mayan nobles drank chocolate

30. • 16 th Century

31. • Rich individuals
continued to eat a wide
variety of foods,
including a lot of
meat,in the 16th
century
• Poor individuals, on the
other hand, frequently
ate bland food.
• Theyhad bread, cheese,
and onions for
breakfast. Every day,
they only had one
cooked meal.
• They combined grain
with water, vegetables,
and (if they could
afford it) beef strips.

32. • Bread was eaten by
all classes, but the
quality varied. Fine
white flour was
usedto make the bread
of the wealthy.
• Poor folks ate grainy
barley or rye bread.

33. • Sweets were also a favorite of the Tudors (if they could
afford it).
• Sugar was expensive in the 16th century, therefore most
people used honey to sweeten their diet.

34. • Around 1525AD,
turkeys were brought
to England. In the
1580s, potatoes
wereintroduced to
England, although
just a few English
people ate them at
first.
• Apricots were brought
to the United States
from southern
Europe.
• A new vegetable
arrived in England. It
was referred to as
cauliflower.

35. • People used knives and their fingers or spoons to
• eat their food. Silver or pewter spoons were used by the
wealthy. The impoverished had to make do with wooden
ones.
• People in England began using forks to consume their
meals in the early 17th century.
• Meanwhile, new types of food, such as bananas and
pineapples, were brought into England (for the wealthy)
during the 17th century.

36. • The Origins of French Cuisine

37. Application (Activity 1)
• Research on the following topics and share your views or
a short reflection (3-4 paragraph only) on each given
topic. Submit activity paper. 5 pts each
1. Great Potato Famine in Ireland
2. History of beer or ale
3. British Lion mark on eggs
4. One of the rarest salt in the world from the Philippines
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd1YtrTXa4c

38. • The Origins of French Cuisine

39. • The history of French in the culinary arts can be traced to the
Italians.
• As the 15th century dawned, the highest of Renaiss ance
culture flourished at Florence.
• Italian born, Catherine de Medici, daughter of Lorenzo, Duke
of Urbino, arrived in France in the 1540's to become the bride
of the future King Henri II.
• In her entourage were cooks skilled in the ways of Florence.
She brought with her also the expectation that ladies would be
in regular attendance at sumptuous feasts, and would dress in
fashionable (and revealing) attire when doing so.
• Dinner, in France, was to become theatrical.
• France is accredited with the recording of culinary instructions
and details.

40. • 1652, a book entitled "Le Cuisine François", written by
France's premier chef, La Varenne.
• Detailed instructions appeared in this book, the recipes
listed alphabetically, with the introduction of new
techniques, such as the use of the roux as a sauce
thickener.

41. • Louis XIV, the meaning of sumptuous dining took
another leap in extravagance at his palace at Versailles.
• The "fork" began a regular appearance, and instead of all
the food appearing all at once (much of which would
become cold,
• He introduced the idea of dining in a series of steps, or
courses.
• Cooks became specialized, and strange looking
containers and instruments appeared to better prepare
individual things.

42. • Marie-Antoine Carême.
• A frustrated student of architecture, he would put
architectural methods into food and its presentation:
bridges made of confection, pastry fashioned into Greek
temples, etc., and much of it done on a grand scale

43. • Classical cuisine traces back to the middle of the
seventeenth century when food production in France
was regulated by guilds.
• Guilds controlled various aspects of food production,
such as catering, pastry making, roasting, and butchery,
limiting choices for consumers.
• In 1765, a Parisian named Boulanger challenged the
guilds by advertising soups or "restoratives" in his store,
offering innovative dishes like sheep's feet in cream
sauce.
• Boulanger's legal victory marked a turning point in food
service history by challenging guild regulations.
• The French Revolution of 1789 led to the downfall of the
monarchy and the abolishment of guilds, prompting
many skilled cooks to open restaurants to sustain
themselves.
• This revolutionized the food service industry, allowing
chefs to showcase their talent and innovation, leading to
a significant increase in the number of restaurants in
Paris from around 50 before the revolution to
approximately 500 a decade later.

44. • From the 20th century, two French chefs stand out:
Montagné and Escoffier. Montagné composed the
excellent "Larousse Gastronomique" in 1938, the basic
encyclopedia of French gastronomy. His contribution was
to turn French cuisine away from "architectural"
presentations toward simplified decoration and shortened
menus, and he adopted "Russian" service.

45. • Georges-Auguste Escoffier (1847–1935), the greatest
chef of his time, is still today revered by chefs and
gourmets as the father of twentieth-century cookery. His
two main contributions were (1) the simplification of
classical cuisine and the classical menu, and (2) the
reorganization of the kitchen. he called for order and
diversity and emphasized the careful selection of one or
two dishes per course, dishes that followed one another
harmoniously and delighted the taste with their delicacy
and simplicity.

46. • Food plays a crucial role in human civilization and
identity.
• The concept of "civilized" is subjective and varies among
cultures.
• Using utensils like forks, knives, spoons, or chopsticks is
often seen as a marker of civilization.
• Some associate vegetarianism with civilization, arguing
that abstaining from meat consumption distinguishes
humans from "savages."

48. • Food is polysemic. It carries many meanings
simultaneously.
• Food has been used in rituals to guarantee fertility,
prosperity, a
• good marriage and an after life.
• Used to display the power and wealth of the state, the
church,
• corporations, aperson
• Food is one of the ways human define themselves
civilized

49. • Food is a marker of religious, national, and ethnic
identity.
• Food is sometimes used to identify individuals following
a particular belief system and to differentiate between
followers and non- followers.
• Example: Jewish and Muslim prohibit themselves from
eating pork, while Hindus prohibit consuming beef, as
beef is sacred. French identity is connected to white
bread, while Southern Italians to tomato sauce

50. • Food can be a political weapon.
• Example: In 2012, the US offered North Korea some
much needed food aid in exchange for suspending their
nuclear program. Then after North Korea attempted to
launch a long range nuclear rocket later that year, the US
rescinded their offer

51. • What is Culture?
• Culture has a pervasive influence on
human diet; it affects what we eat, when
we eat, how we prepare our food, and
with whom we share it.
• "Culture" encompasses the collective
norms, beliefs, values, and shared
understandings within specific social
groups, such as ethnicities, classes,
professions, or organizations like public
health, nutrition, or medicine.

53. Cultural traits or elements:
• Information
• Meanings
• Taste preferences
• Symbols
• These unique combinations transmitted to the group’s
members comes to characterize it and distinguish it from
other special groups.
• Subculture‖ are the values, rules, information, and
meanings that its members share

54. • Culture as a mechanism for responding to the
environment
Culture influences how people respond to the
opportunities and constraints the environment poses.
• Culture is learned.
Parents play an important role in teaching their
children the society’s food practices.

55. • Culture as a guide for behavior.
• In many societies, it is normative to eat with your hands.
(Norms in preparing food, cooking, and serving food.)
• Culture as a functionally integrated system
• Meaning, its parts have a special relationship to the
whole.
• Food practices are integrated into the overall culture and
serve many functions: economic, political, recreational,
social, aesthetic, religious, ceremonial, magical, legal and
medical
• Ex: The variety of ways food functions in people’s life
(ex: symbols of prestige or used to cope up with boredom
or anxiety.