Gastronomy is the study of relationship between culture and food. It is often thought erroneously that the term gastronomy refers exclusively to the art of cooking (see Culinary Arts), but this is only a small part of this discipline: it cannot always be said that a cook is also a gourmet. Gastronomy studies various cultural components with food as central axis. Thus it is related to the Fine Arts and Social Sciences, and even to the Natural Sciences in terms of the nutritional system of the human body. The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... A culinary profession is cooking as a profession, i. ... Cooks in training in Paris A cook is a person employed to prepare food for consumption, whether in a restaurant or institution, for a caterer or in domestic service. ... A gourmet is a person with a discriminating palate and who is knowledgeable in fine food and drink. ... The Cornfield is an oil on canvas painting by John Constable in 1826 Fine art refers to arts that are concerned with beauty or which appealed to taste (SOED 1991). ... The social sciences are groups of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world. ... The term natural science as the way in which different fields of study are defined is determined as much by historical convention as by the present day meaning of the words. ...

A gourmet's principal activities involve discovering, tasting, experiencing, researching, understanding, and writing about foods. Gastronomy is therefore an interdisciplinary activity. Good observation will reveal that around the food, there exists dance, dramatic arts, painting, sculpture, literature, architecture, and music; in other words, the Fine Arts. But it also involves physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, geology, agronomy, and also anthropology, history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. The application of scientific knowledge to cooking and gastronomy has become known as molecular gastronomy. For other uses, see Dance (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into theatre. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... An Italian Futurist sculpture by Umberto Boccioni at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City (MoMA). ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... The Parthenon on top of the Acropolis, Athens, Greece Architecture (from Latin, architectura and ultimately from Greek, αρχιτεκτων, a master builder, from αρχι- chief, leader and τεκτων, builder, carpenter) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ... Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. ... The first few hydrogen atom electron orbitals shown as cross-sections with color-coded probability density. ... For other meanings of mathematics or math, see mathematics (disambiguation). ... Chemistry (from the Greek word χημεία (chemeia) meaning cast together or pour together) is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms (such as molecules, crystals, and metals). ... Biology (from Greek βίος λόγος, see below) is the branch of science dealing with the study of life. ... The Blue Marble: The famous photo of the Earth taken en route to the Moon by Apollo 17s Harrison Schmitt on December 7, 1972. ... Agronomy is a branch of agricultural science that deals with the study of crops and the soils in which they grow. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word άνθρωπος, human or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... For other senses of this word, see history (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of the human mind, brain and behaviour. ... Social interactions of people and their consequences are the subject of sociology studies. ... Molecular gastronomy is the application of science to cooking methods. ...

The first formal study of gastronomy is probably The Physiology of Taste by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (early 19th century). As opposed to the traditional cooking recipe books, it studies the relationship between the senses and food, treating enjoyment at the table as a science. Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (April 1, 1755, Belley, France - February 2, 1826, Paris), a French lawyer and politician, was quite possibly the most famous French epicure and gastronome of all. ... Senses are the physiological methods of perception. ...

Etymologically, the word "gastronomy" is derived from Ancient Greek gastros "stomach", and nomos "knowledge" or "law". Note: This article contains special characters. ...

See also

• Gastropub

A gastropub is a British term for a public house (pub) which specializes in high-quality food a step above the more basic pub grub. The name is derived from gastronomy and was coined in 1991 when David Eyre and Mike Belben opened a pub called The Eagle in Clerkenwell...

External links

• Comprehensive list of books and links on Molecular Gastronomy and Kitchen Chemistry
• Gastronomie catering trade job