Food Beyond Terroir

Food Beyond Terroir: Tasting Place and Placing Taste in Global Perspective is a collection of papers on taste and place by leading food scholars, edited by myself and my colleague Dr Katharina Graf, and published by Berghahn in 2025.

From winemaking in occupied territories to fishing in polluted seas, home cooking in refugee communities, and vegan cheesemaking, this collection explores the complex ways taste and place intersect with political, ecological, social, and economic issues. Through diverse ethnographic case studies, leading food scholars examine the meaning and making of place and taste. In doing so, the book challenges terroir-inspired notions of a fixed taste of place and pushes the boundaries of what we think we know about taste-place relations.

Reviews:

“Food Beyond Terroir offers global perspectives on the cultural, social and political aspects of the connection between food and place. The case studies and theoretical chapters are sure to spur excellent discussions in the classroom.” • Rachel Black, Connecticut College

“An outstanding collection, which provides a genuine rethinking of terroir. Each chapter piqued my interest and got me to think about familiar topics in new ways. Food Beyond Terroir is sure to be a touchstone for future scholarship on the “taste of place,” and required reading across the spectrum of food studies.” • David Sutton, Southern Illinois University

“This is an exciting new collection of critical perspectives on taste of place by leading theorists working with diverse and rich empirical material.” • Krishnendu Ray, New York University

“How do people come to believe that they can taste place, history, culture, and more in their food? Is “terroir” just marketing hype or is it the antithesis to bland globalization? Readable and sometimes provocative, these essays are essential for anyone who wants to understand the contested connections between food and place.” • David I. Beriss, University of New Orleans

Click here to find out about more and download the book for free.