Omnivore paradoxes in history. Food traditions and novelties in Europe since 1800

The general research question of the 2009 GOA proposal aims at investigating the way new foodways have been introduced, diffused, and received in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite the fact that this is not a new question, putting the duo neophobia and neophilia right in the centre of attention, is new: it stresses the lived experience of people and the daily functioning of communities, rather than the economic performance of agriculture, manufacturing, trade or retailing. Focussing on this duo, thus, will contribute to knowing social, economic, cultural, political, and geographical developments in Europe since about 1800, exploring and interpreting changing practices, sentiments, and discourses. Various subquestions will be posed: the way in which technology appears in the kitchen; the way people combine time and money in relation to their nutrition and the way in which knowledge about eating culture is transferred through cookbooks.