When Champagne Became French: Wine and the Making of a National Identity

摘要

To most Americans it would seem frivolous or even incomprehensible to base significant portions of their national identity on mere victuals. To the French, however, food has always had social, political, and even spiritual connotations that far transcend questions of mere nutrition. In addition, the French have a compelling economic interest in projecting the image of an alluring gastronomic distinctiveness. Both these books concern the struggle to define and redefine the French national identity in terms of renowned regional products of the French soil.