Acquiring competence: Sommeliers on ‘good’ food and beverage combinations

Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020Source: International Journal of Gastronomy and Food ScienceAuthor(s): Henrik Scander, Nicklas Neuman, Richard Tellström, Agneta YngveAbstractResearch on food and beverage combinations is dominated by the sensory sciences, where sensory taste is seen as objective and quantifiable. Knowing which beverages and foods to serve together to attain optimal sensory quality is a core competence of sommeliers. Still, little is known about how this competence is actually acquired. Furthermore, scholars of cultural sociology suggest that cultural aspects of taste as “good” or “bad” are products of social processes, rather than objective characteristics.This paper explores the development of professional competence of food and beverage combinations, by focusing on sommeliers in Sweden. The study is based on qualitative focus group interviews of sommeliers (n = 21) in Sweden, with different levels and types of work experience.A thematic analysis of the data demonstrated that sommeliers talk about “good” combinations as a matter of delicate and refined taste, acquired through long-term practical engagement with wine and food. Foods deemed “unrefined” were expressed as becoming legitimate as cultural capital when combined with the right beverage, for example by revaluating “lowbrow” food when combining it with wine. Competence and taste were also expressed as being acquired through relationships with important people ...
Source: International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science - Category: Food Science Source Type: research