Gastronomy, Culture and Media in Everyday Life

The fact that human beings, who have to eat like all other living beings, blend this action with space, social environment, visuality, health, economy and entertainment distinguishes them from all other living beings. Because we are creatures who eat sometimes at a dinner table, sometimes at a table decorated with silver and rare porcelain; sometimes in a tavern with music, sometimes in the taste of a sandwich wrapped in a napkin; when we are happy and when we are in mourning; at the iftar table or in a festival atmosphere. Moreover, we do not only do it for nourishment; we do not avoid diversifying it for pleasure, health, economic, etc. reasons or cultural expansions. We have local cuisines, symbolic flavors and fusion designs that are compatible with global palates. As inhabitants of the global village, we have now opened the doors to a gastro-capitalist social universe where, on the one hand, we develop our industrial food brands ranging from fast food or packaged foods to restaurant chains, and on the other hand, we produce branded gastronomes, chefs, TV programs that reach millions of viewers, and stars who become stars with their recipes on social media channels.
In this new civilization we live in, which some define as Industry 4.0 based on high technology, it has become a separate research topic to observe that our eating habits are changing at an extraordinary speed and to follow the change in the spirit of the dining spaces. The author of this book, Durmuş Durukan, tries to convey the sociological environment on both sides of the Bosphorus and the spirit of gastronomy venues, where not only eating and drinking, but also other accompanying social activities take place, through this study that examines the effects of gastronomy on the space-human-society level. Durmuş Durukan shows us all how important interdisciplinary research is in academia with this qualified work that blends gastronomy, sociology and communication disciplines.

Prof. Dr. Deniz Ülke Arıboğan