Philosophical tenets in the construction of culinary discourse: The case of British celebrity chefs’ websites

Abstract

Abstract The study investigates the websites of ten British celebrity chefs, ranging between the age of 38 and 82. They were chosen to be a representative sample in terms of gender, age and, above all, culinary personas. Using the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and the Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) approaches, the study examines the paragraphs that precede the recipes in order to understand the attitude towards food that makes the chefs easily recognizable as specific culinary personas. The ways in which the chefs linguistically construct food-related discourse are interpreted according to four philosophical stances that correspond to four approaches to food found in Ancient Greek philosophers, namely Hedonism, Epicureanism, Platonism, and Asceticism. The analysis reveals that celebrity chefs show a predominant Epicurean approach, at the same time combining elements from the other ideologies. The chefs are also found to shape discourse in ways that challenge the hegemonic, gendered ideologies around food and cooking by positioning themselves as positive role models for a healthy, and yet pleasurable, food experience.