The Cultural Philosophy of High Cuisine

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For most Americans, food is a form of recreation. For the aristocrats, yes, food was an art form. In high cuisine, you have this physiological theory that the upper classes were physiologically different from everybody else. Nowadays, we all eat a middling cuisine and we have a physiological theory that says essentially all human beings can eat the same food. And that's radically new in human history.

Rachel Laudan, visiting scholar at the University of Texas and author of Cuisine and Empire, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the history of food. Topics covered include the importance of grain, the spread of various styles of cooking, why French cooking has elite status, and the reach of McDonald's. The conversation concludes with a discussion of the appeal of local food and other recent food passions.