What is gastronomy for the French? An empirical study on the representation and eating model in contemporary France

Abstract The aim of this article is to explore the French population's lay conceptions of ‘gastronomy’. To achieve this, a combined method of exploratory interviews and a web-based questionnaire (n=438) developed based on the sociology of eaters was conducted. The findings demonstrated that 1) gastronomy as a representation consists of five semantic classes – the art of cooking, culinary tradition, Grand chefs, eating with pleasure and expensive meals – from the plural perspectives of chef-artists, eaters and community members. 2) The further analysis of gastronomy as eating model concretises its total elements (such as spatial, temporal, social and value), implying the primary importance of the ‘socialised pleasure’. In contrast to the previous view of gastronomy as an elitist privilege, the core definition of contemporary gastronomy was commonly shared by the French public regardless of socio-demographic difference.