Idea Transcript
Belgium’s Culinary Culture [Cuisine and the construction of national sentiments] Peter Scholliers
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Food & identity Four parts: 1) 2) 3) 4)
the concept of identity the process of identification Food and identity (Claude Fischler) Case study: Belgium since c. 1800
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Food & identity
1. The concept of identity – Social psychologists: identity is the identification of an individual with the norms, ideals, manners and behaviours of a group
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Food & identity
1. The concept of identity – Social psychologists: identity is the identification of an individual with the norms, ideals, manners and behaviours of a group – Identification is elementary to interpret and understand the world; identification gives meaning to our existence, to happenings and practices
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Food & identity
1. The concept of identity – Social psychologists: identity is the identification of an individual with the norms, ideals, manners and behaviours of a group – Identification is elementary to interpret and understand the world; identification gives meaning to our existence, to happenings and practices – Identity is not “given”, but constructed 5
Food & identity
2. The process of identification • through language • through practice(s)
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Food & identity
2. The process of identification • Through language • ==> people use words, metaphors, images etc., which are clear for the group of peers in order to create sentiments of belonging • Examples: “France is a country of connoisseurs”, “Harvard provides the best education in the world” • Crucial: use of language operates consciously as well as unconsciously
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Food & identity
2. The process of identification • Through practice(s) • ==> people adopt manners, habits, views, attitudes and anticipations of the peer group • Examples: church attending, hand shaking, table manners, celebrations, ... • Crucial: this operates consciously as well as unconsciously
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Fischler
• Where does food come in ? See research by Mary Douglas, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Claude Fischler and others
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Fischler
• Where does food come in ? See research by Mary Douglas, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Claude Fischler and others Claude Fischler, “Food, self and identity”, in Social Science Information, 1988, 27592. Claude Fischler, L'homnivore: le goût, la cuisine et le corps (Paris, O. Jacob 1990, 20104), Manger: mode d’emploi (Paris, 10 2013)
Fischler
Key concept “Food is central to our sense of identity” Three arguments : 1 the omnivore paradox 2 the principle of incorporation 3 the culinary order
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Fischler 1) The omnivore paradox Starting point : people can eat everything • Inuits : meat and fats • South-East Asians: fruit, rice, fish – Socially and physiologically, people need diversity – People are free to choose (for changing, exploring) But! constraints : people are conservative, anxious
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Fischler 1) The omnivore paradox Solution for this paradox : • Classification of food into edible and nonedible, good, healthy, festive, common, ... • cuisine (preparation, recipes, restaurants, culinary culture, restaurant critiques, savoirfaire,...)
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Fischler 2) Principle of incorporation • Food transgresses the frontier between the body and the “out-body”, or the own and the other • Therefore, in-corporation (of food) is the very basis of oneself, of identification of individual • Hence, the saying ‘Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell what you are”
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Fischler 2) Principle of incorporation Incorporation forms the basis of a collective identity
So, food allows to construct oneself and the other(s). Fischler writes : “One may say that the eating process incorporates the eater into a culinary ordering, and therefore into a group that practices this ordering”
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Fischler 3) Culinary order • Food is not just “good to eat” (or edible), but also “good to think” (C. Lévi-Strauss) • Thus, classifying and preparing food are basic actions, touching upon the very core of the individual, the group, the community and society • Fischler: “Cookery helps to give food and its eaters a place in the world, a meaning” 16
A Belgian cuisine? • Belgium invented itself through the revolution of 1830 • North: Flanders (Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges,…), Dutch speaking, agriculture • South: Wallonia (Liège, Namur, Mons,…), French speaking, industry • Brussels: capital city, international, commercial, financial, political and cultural centre • No unity of language, history, economy, territory
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A Belgian cuisine? How to unify this new country after 1830 ? 1) anti-Dutch and anti-French feelings (“enemycreation”) 2) “Brussels” : privileged place (embellissement de la ville, international and cultural life) 3) royal court in Brussels 4) cultural elements (history writing, arts [Ecole belge], world exhibitions,... 5) international political recognition (especially by the English and Germans) 19
A Belgian cuisine? What about food ? Considering the theory, looking for a “national dish” or a “national cuisine” is necessary – “national” is what surmounts social, spatial, cultural, economic and other differences – example: the Hungarian goulash
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A Belgian cuisine? • Does / did a similar dish exist in Belgium ? Present-day Belgian cookbooks stress: – gourmandise and refinement – full plates – fine chocolates, regional beers – so, no moules-frites, waterzooi, carbonnades flamandes or anguille au vert
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A Belgian cuisine?
Historical data ? Use of menus, recipe books, food advertisement, restaurant and travel guides ( = confrontation between “self” and “other”)
Aim: how did/do Belgians and non-Belgians perceive and classify food in Belgium in the past 22
A Belgian cuisine?
Two phases : pre and post 1900 1. Pre 1900 – Cuisine directly and highly influenced by the French cuisine – High number of French cooks in Belgian restaurants and hotels (see Greepstraat) – Classic French cookbooks (e.g. A. Carême, A. Dubois) utilised in Belgian cuisine
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A Belgian cuisine? – Appreciation by travel guides (Mornand, Baedeker, e.g.) since the 1850s, referring to norms of French haute cuisine: “Le Beauvilliers de Bruxelles est le restaurant Dubost” (1853); « Ces restaurants [à Bruxelles] sont élégants, dans le genre des restaurants de Paris à la carte; tout y est bon, mais naturellement cher » (1878). – Belgian fancy cuisine copied the French
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A Belgian cuisine?
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Bourgeois and popular cuisine, example of a widely spread cookbook: Ph. Cauderlier, L’économie culinaire [Ghent (Hoste), 1867], the first Belgian cookbook since long: no mention of a “Belgian” dish, only of regional specialties. 26
A Belgian cuisine? Regional specials / petty bourgeois cuisine: – – – – – –
Waterzooi (ragout of chicken or fish) Carbonnade flamande (beef stew, with beer) Choesels (pancreas) Anguilles au vert (eels with vegetable sauce) Lapin aux prunes (rabbit with prunes) ...
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A Belgian cuisine?
• So, the influence of French cuisine in Belgium was dominant in various social layers.
• No local dishes to help constructing national feelings
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A Belgian cuisine?
• So, the influence of French cuisine in Belgium was dominant in various social layers.
• No local dishes to help constructing national feelings • E.g., 1880 exhibition (50th anniversary of Belgium): no launching of a national dish (yet: beer stall and waffles)
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A Belgian cuisine?
• Thus, stronger international class ties than national cross-class solidarity
• This has also been stated for other small countries, e.g. Norway and Greece • What then about other small countries (e.g. the Netherlands, Portugal) that did not adopt French cuisine easily ?
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A Belgian cuisine?
2. Post 1900 – Mentioning of regional dishes in fancy restaurants – New restaurants « populaires » (brasserie), offering a regional cuisine – After 1918: diffusion of the word “belge” on the menus and in cookbooks – High appreciation of this cuisine by foreigners – Illustrated by 1910 World fair, Brussels :
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World fair, Brussels 1910: Le Gambrinus, A la Ville d’ Audenaerde, ‘t Kapiteintje…
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Example of a “national” menu, April 1926: “Bruxelles”, “Semois”, “Ardennes”, “Malines”, “Rubens”, Hoeylaert”
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A Belgian cuisine? « Les bruxellois tiennent en Europe la première place comme gastronomes émérites et épicuriens distingués, ils ont le palais fin et le goût friand et relevé » (…) « Bruxelles offre à la curiosité du touriste des promenades gastronomiques qu’on ne saurait faire en aucune autre ville de ce monde » (…) «on y trouve la bonne cuisine bourgeoise, le waterzooi de poulet, les oiseaux sans tête, le lapin aux pruneaux, la carbonnade flamande, les moules marinières d’Anvers » Le Figaro Illustré (Paris), june 1910] 34
A Belgian cuisine?
« Une des spécialités les plus en vogue, la carbonnade flamande, est un plat véritablement national. Malgré son nom, ce plat est d’origine brabançonne pour cette unique raison que ce ragoût de bœuf doit être mouillé au faro, bière aujourd’hui disparue qui ne se brassait que dans les brasseries bruxelloises » [P. Bouillard, « Belgique gourmande », La Cuisine et la Femme, June 1935]
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A Belgian cuisine?
Interpretation: • • • •
International interest in local cuisine Local dishes accepted as national dishes Development of tourism and travelling Very strong national feelings after the Great War (Belgium was seen as a “violated nation”)
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Conclusions Food has been used for constructing a Belgian identity • 19th century: elite and bourgeoisie preferred the French haute cuisine; no national dish • 20th century: elite, bourgeoisie and the common people invented national dishes by classifying and labelling traditional, local dishes as “national” • This development was internationally appreciated
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Conclusions Food has been used for constructing a Belgian identity • 19th century: elite and bourgeoisie preferred the French haute cuisine; no national dish • 20th century: elite, bourgeoisie and the common people invented national dishes by classifying and labelling traditional, local dishes as “national” • This development was internationally appreciated • Belgium: representative for Europe? • Identification via food applicable on Europe? 41
Bibliography • M. Jacobs, “Endives, Brussels sprouts and other innovations”, in: Culinary Cultures of Europe. Identity, Diversity and Dialogue. Goldstein, D. & Merkle, K. (eds.): Council of Europe Publishing, 2005, pp. 75-85. • P. Scholliers & A. Geyzen, “Upgrading the local. Belgian cuisine in global waves”, Gastronomica, 10: 2 (2010), pp. 49-54. • P. Scholliers, Food culture in Belgium. Greenwood Press, 2009. • Anon., “Belgian Cuisine”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_cuisine
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