Carolyn A. Nadeau
This essay summarizes how literary scholars have analyzed and evaluated premodern Iberian foodways over the past five decades. The first section provides insights on the rise of literary food studies, particularly as they relate to premodern texts of the Iberian Peninsula. The author includes key examples of academic programs, publications, and conferences dedicated to food studies. The second segment offers an historic overview of the major cooking manuals up to the sixteenth century and points to trends that developed over the centuries and across regions. The third section acknowledges contributions of literary scholars who bring to food studies insights regarding fictional forms that reflect human existence, daily life and struggles, and a search for, or perhaps a questioning of, taste and pleasure. The essay closes with proposed future directions for approaching works of literature from a food studies perspective.