French Foodscapes

With the concept foodscapes as a point of departure, this paper explores the fundamental notions and the history of the traditional French cuisine in order to gain understanding of the ostensible rootedness of tradition in the modern French landscape of food and eating habitsConcerned voices about the destructuralisation of eating habits have been raised since the 1980s, but numerous studies emphasise that the traditional French meal is still playing an important role in everyday life in France. Despite regional variations, the general view of the structure of a traditional French meal as based on the succession of flavours and the accordance with wines is widespread. Such a comprehension means giving precedence to gastronomic reasons for determining the order of dishes. However, the French meal has not always been composed in the way it is today and the reasons for the composition have not always been gastronomic By exploring how local and regional products and uses of food interact with the changes in the French cuisine over time, this paper seeks to retrace the history of the French meal through meanings of place and time, terroir and savoir-faire. The study will be based on sources from early modern/modern history of France. Socio-economic changes, customs determined by the church, dietetic and gastronomic reasons for the structure of the French meal will form the basis of this historic perspective of foodscapes