Part of the Taste and Interdisciplinary Food Studies Network at Westminster seminar series
This paper explores how Scotland as a land, and Scotland as its people, are communicated through food products and practices. Focusing on encounters in Scottish food tourism, this paper follows two strands: 1) the delicious, ‘authentic’ tastes of natural, artisan food production (smoked fish and cheese, whisky, fresh seafood). These carefully curated tastes and visuals are strictly prescribed to exclude any foods, smells or consumption rituals that may contaminate the image of Scotland as a bountiful, ‘natural larder’ that invited tourists to ‘step back in time’ to Scotland’s historical, rural heritage. 2) In contrast, the ‘carnivalesque’ or ‘disgusting’ Scottish products that symbolise national and cultural identity (Irn Bru, Buckfast tonic wine, deep fried Mars Bar) communicate a darker side of Scotland’s ‘poverty tourism’ through satire. Food tourism literature and marketing can be one-dimensional, yet closer encounters with food products and practices provide a more nuanced understanding of how we conceptualise national identities and tourism imaginaries.
Location
Room Regent Street 352, University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW.
Nearest station: Oxford Circus
About the speaker
Dr Emily Falconer
Dr Emily Falconer is the convenor of Taste and Interdisciplinary Food Studies Network at Westminster, bringing together scholars from across disciplines who share an interest in the social and cultural role of food and taste. Emily is also Co-Convenor for the BSA Food Studies Group. She has recently been awarded Quintin Hogg Trust (QHT) Innovative Project funding for Taste-walking London (2026–2028), which explores the previously unheard stories of ‘food heritage’ through mobile, multi-sensory walking methods.
