'Foie gras or fish fingers': Why menus matter and what can they teach us

Description

Menus are more than a mere list of dishes. They are curated texts that communicate intent, cultural values and the status of relationships. In certain contexts, they can be used to signal prestige or a lack thereof. This paper explores how the menu functions to inform participants and observers about the esteem in which a guest is held. It examines variables such as the type of meal served, the choice of venue, the number of courses served and the presence of specific menu items. Building on established scholarship on the semiotics of the meal, the rituals of dinner, and guest network analysis, this paper presents findings from doctoral research on diplomatic dining which demonstrated how a hierarchy of prestige was applied when entertaining important state guests. The aim is to establish a model for decoding the menu that might be applied to the meal more broadly to complement existing research and emerging methodologies in the field of food studies.

Period	2 Oct 2025
Event title	Food and Drink as Education
Event type	Conference
Location	IrelandShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International