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Material Culture: A Review Of The 2013 Oxford Symposium On Food And Cookery, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

Articles

The focus of this year’s Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery was on the stew stove not the stew; the knives not the meat; the salt pots or ‘nefs’ rather than the salt; the ‘chasen’ not the tea; the plates (whether pewter, ceramic, delftware, china, silver or gold) but not their food contents. We were gathered to discuss associated material culture of food and cookery rather than the perishable ephemeral substance that usually concerns this gathering now in its thirty-first year.

So, what did the 220 chefs, food historians, writers, scientists, anthropologists and general foodies learn from the weekend’s discussion …

Gastro-Topogrophy: Exploring Food-Related Placenames In Ireland, Máirtín Mac Con Iomaire

Articles

Most Irish people likely have little or no knowledge of the richness and variety of their ancestor’s diet before the arrival of the potato. For generations, food was considered far too common to be considered a field of study. Considering the primacy of food in people’s lives generally throughout history, it is logical that food be reflected in toponymic references to environment and landscape. This article taps into a wide range of material including poetry, prose, travellers’ reports, mythology, folklore, letters, shipping records, and archaeological evidence, both to contextualize the food-related placenames of Ireland, and to explore what Irish placenames …