A Food Craze in Europe

The pain intégral in Belgium around 1900

Authors

  • Peter Scholliers Vrije Universiteit Brussel Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ppc.27887

Keywords:

food crazes/fads, Belgium, pain intégral, early 20th-century, social history, media/press, health fads, food industry, marketing, wholemeal

Abstract

Food crazes and fads inform about consumers’ deeper concerns, desires or fears regarding health, status or identity. Primarily, food crazes provide insight in the way food innovation may occur. How about bread crazes in the past? Did some sorts of bread receive attention that made them popular during a particular period? If so, when, where, and why? I look at nineteenth-century newspapers to investigate discourses and practices about bread fads. I tackle my topic in a pragmatic way. First, there is the geographical limitation. Because bread has so many types and meanings throughout the world it is necessary to select a specific region, and Belgium will be studied. Second, this essay will focus on one such fad concerning bread during the Belle Epoque (1890 to 1914).

Author Biography

  • Peter Scholliers, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

    Peter Scholliers is Professor of Social and Cultural Food Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is joint editor of the journal Food & History and international editor of the journal Food, Culture & Society. He has written many books about food history and the wider social, economic and cultural contexts of food in Belgium and Europe.

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Published

2020-03-01

Issue

PPC 116 (2020)

Section

Articles

How to Cite

A Food Craze in Europe: The pain intégral in Belgium around 1900. (2020). Petits Propos Culinaires, 46-66. https://doi.org/10.1558/ppc.27887