Tasting French terroir - Thomas Parker

This book explores the origins and significance of the French concept of terroir, demonstrating that the way the French eat their food and drink their wine today derives from a cultural mythology that developed between the Renaissance and the Revolution. Through close readings and an examination of little-known texts from diverse disciplines, Thomas Parker traces terroir's evolution, providing insight into how gastronomic mores were linked to aesthetics in language, horticulture, and painting and how the French used the power of place to define the natural world, explain comportment, and frame France as a nation.

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Thomas Parker is Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies at Vassar College. He is the author of Volition, Rhetoric, and Emotion in the Work of Pascal.

"An academic, meticulously researched, attentive journey through to the very complex roots of the concept of terroir . . . If you're looking for a book that will both fascinate you and challenge all your preconceptions about terroir, France and the French, this is it."

"Of great value to researchers . . . Highly recommended."

"Admirable... Thomas Parker has greatly increased our understanding of the intellectual origins of terroir."

"This book can help the French to answer a question they sometimes ask about why other cultures and countries have not adopted the notion of terroir, even those who share with France the reality of terroir products."

"Innovative and revealing... This is a wide-ranging, thoroughly researched, and well-articulated work."