Making taste public: ethnographies of food and the senses

'Making Taste Public' takes an ethnographic approach to show how social relations shape - and are shaped by - the taste of food.

Recognising that different cultures have different taste preferences and flavour principles embedded in cuisine, editors Carole Counihan and Susanne Hojlund ask how these differences are generated.

They have compiled 14 chapters to show how specific influences become a part of our sensorial apparatus and identity through shared experiences of making, eating, and talking about food.

Using case studies from Asia, Europe and America, the book presents a theory of how taste is made public through everyday practices.

The authors are exploring how place, production methods and cooking techniques create tastes.

They discuss the criteria determining good and bad tastes, and how tastes and memories evolve over time.