Gastro-Cosmopolitanism

Definition

Gastro-Cosmopolitanism encompasses ideas of eating well or writing about eating well alongside a familiarity with the cultures and peoples of a variety of places. Research on Victorian women’s writing in this field is a burgeoning space, as scholars are beginning to appreciate the significant number of Victorian women writers who were concerned with the cultural, social, medical, national, and economic importance of food and food knowledge in the nineteenth century.

Introduction

Gastro-Cosmopolitanism is a complicated term. It includes gastronomy, the idea of eating well or writing about eating well, and cosmopolitan, a familiarity with the cultures and peoples of a variety of places. Each of these terms has a rich and contested history. Scholars of Victorian women’s authorship have not paid a great deal of attention to gastronomy, even less to cosmopolitan gastronomy. However, a number of Victorian women writers were concerned with both good food and an appreciation and...