gastronomies

Gastronomy typically refers to the study of the relationship between food and culture, and to the practices, culinary arts, and institutions involved in producing and consuming meals. The plural term gastronomies is used to discuss multiple gastronomic traditions or systems, such as the different culinary cultures that exist around the world. In this sense, gastronomies encompass not only recipes and techniques but also social, historical, economic, and symbolic aspects of eating.

Historically, the concept emerged in 18th- and 19th-century Europe with writers like Brillat-Savarin, and has evolved to include interdisciplinary perspectives from anthropology, sociology, history, and nutrition. In modern usage, gastronomy can refer to both the study of cuisine as culture and the practical craft of cooking, restaurants, and food service, as well as tourism that centers on food experiences.

Different regions articulate their own gastronomies through distinctive ingredients, techniques, dining rituals, and institutions (markets, schools, guides). Examples include French haute cuisine, Japanese washoku and kaiseki, Italian regional cooking, and Mexican and Peruvian culinary traditions.

Contemporary scholarship on gastronomies often examines globalization, authenticity, sustainability, and governance of food systems. Gastronomy studies appear in universities and in culinary programs, blending history, gastronomy, and culinary science.

Because gastronomies highlights diversity, the plural form is useful to emphasize multiple traditions rather than a single universal model of cuisine.