From Natural Philosophy to the History of Food in Early Modern Europe

A vital topic today, food history is an exciting new field of study.  Contemporary food historians think of themselves as trailblazers in the academy.  Yet the curious Europeans of the 16^th and 17^th centuries were fascinated not only by the exotic foods and culinary practices in their own day, but also with cooking and eating in ancient times. Writing the history of food is a tradition that goes back to the earliest humanist writings, the re-discovery of classical texts, and natural philosophers’ compulsion to record the foodways of foreigners that they encountered in their travels.  In the 18^th century such writers created new genres of food history.  I examine four primary texts to understand the history of the history of food in early modern France. We see that, contrary to the arguments today about the invention of gastronomy by the French at the beginning of the 19^th century, gastronomy, or at least proto-gastronomic writings had a place in mainstream scientific writing in the early modern era. Like other genres of natural philosophy, the history of food played an important role in contemporary perceptions of earlier societies.  The texts are: Jean Bruyérin-Champier, De re cibaria (Lyon, 1560) ; Le Thresor de Santé (Lyon, 1607) ; Nicolas Delamare, Traité de la Police (Paris, 1726) ; P.J.B. Le Grand d’Aussy, La vie privée des français (Paris, 1782)