The Fat of the Land: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2002

Citation

Fairchild, R. (2005), "The Fat of the Land: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2002", British Food Journal, Vol. 107 No. 3, pp. 187-187. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700510586506

The Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery is an annual event on all aspects of food in history, held at St Antony's College, Oxford. In 2002, following successful symposium on cooking pots, staple foods, fish, milk and the meal (among other topics), the focus was on fat. The symposia regularly attract an international audience, around 200‐strong, from the myriad of disciplines that food encompasses – media, science, history, sociology, chefs and anthropologists, to name but a few.

At first glance this volume seems to be an eclectic mix of 31/42 of the presented papers, with no particular order, tempting the reader to just launch in, luscious lipids perhaps, or a treatise on fat in the Jewish diet written by an author called Bacon?! However, it soon becomes apparent that several themes are afoot here, approached from different angles. The manner in which fat has lost favour in the majority of cultures clearly chartered by Albala and Alcock, Dalby and Fletcher among others. Specific health problems relating to high consumption of fats, overviewed by Groves and Lim Castillo. The primary roles that fats have continued to play in the cuisine of various regions: Japan, Greece, Ireland, Iran and Victorian Britain. Its importance in flavour development as ably described and enacted by Blank and Fisher.

The papers are all succinct and thought‐provoking – few run for more than ten pages, giving an agreeable volume for “foodies” and anthropologists alike to dip into and ponder on.

However, both the order of the book – alphabetically by author surname – and the length of the papers leave many questions unanswered. The best possibility of course being, having whetted ones appetite, the nutrition meets cookery meets health meets ethnography meets history enthusiast, is bound to attend next years symposium, for a full participation in the questions and answers session and ensuing debate that may arise from such conference papers.

I am unsure as to whom the audience for this book may be – those with an interest in the food they eat, why they eat it and how fashion and service contrive to change our beliefs about the food we eat. With its scientific glossary, it would be manageable by sociologists as well as scientists and could easily become an excellent reference source for food historians and writers. My only hope is that the next volume might be a little better ordered – by theme perhaps, rather than author, thus increasing the chances that such a volume could be used by those embarking on the ever increasingly devise food courses on offer at undergraduate and postgraduate level.

More information about the symposium is available from www.oxfordsymposium.org.uk