Professor Barbara Santich

Biography/ Background

Barbara Santich designed the curriculum for the Graduate Program in Gastronomy and developed the core courses which were first offered to online students in 2002. Born and educated in NSW, she gained her first degree at the University of NSW (B.Sc. Hons I). Her interest in food and eating was initially stimulated by her study of biochemistry and eventually, under the influence of Waverley Root (The Food of France) and Elizabeth David (French Provincial Cooking) and travels in Europe (France in particular), she began a food writing career which has continued for thirty years. Her fascination with languages and France developed into a sympathy with the ancient languages of Mediterranean France, which in turn led to a BA (University of Minnesota) and PhD (Flinders University of SA). Her doctoral research on medieval European cuisine argued that the cuisine of Mediterranean France in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was different to that of northern France, as documented in manuscripts such as Le Viandier, and indeed was similar to the cuisines of its Mediterranean neighbours.

 

 

Barbara Santich is the author of six books including The Original Mediterranean Cuisine, based on her PhD, and has written for numerous Australian newspapers and magazines as well as overseas publications including The Journal of Gastronomy, Petits Propos Culinaires, the New York Times and Slow (quarterly magazine of the International Slow Food Movement). She contributed extensively to the Oxford Companion to Food, edited by Alan Davidson, has presented papers at many Australian and overseas conferences, and is a regular participant at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. Her research interests focus on food history and culture in both Australia and France.

Barbara is a member of the Editorial Board of Petits Propos Culinaires and, until it ceased publication in 2007, was also on the Editorial Advisory Board of Slow. She was the founding chair of the Scientific Commission for the Australian Ark of Taste (2003-2007).

In 2005 Barbara was awarded both the inaugural Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Teaching Excellence and the University's Stephen Cole The Elder Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

 

Publications

Books

1. In the Land of the Magic Pudding: A gastronomic miscellany, Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 2000
2. Apples to Zampone, Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 1996; second revised edition 1999
3. McLaren Vale: Sea & Vines, Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 1998
4. The Original Mediterranean Cuisine: Medieval recipes for today, Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 1995; and Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1996
5. Looking for Flavour, Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 1996
6. What the Doctors Ordered: 150 years of dietary advice in Australia, Melbourne, Hyland House, 1995

Editorial works (joint editor)

1. Martin, A Lynn and Barbara Santich (eds) Culinary History, Adelaide, East Street Publications, 2004. (50% contribution)
2. Martin, A Lynn and Barbara Santich (eds) Gastronomic Encounters, Adelaide, East Street Publications, 2004. (50% contribution)

Recent Chapters in Books

1. Margaret at the Woman’s Day. In Margaret Fulton: A Celebration. Canberrra: Friends of the National Library Inc, 2007.
2.  The Encyclopaedic Egg. In Eggs: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 2006, ed. Richard Hosking. Totnes: Prospect Books, 2007.
3. Of Turtles, Dining and the Importance of History. In Dining on Turtles: Food, Feasts and Drinking in History, eds. Diane Kirkby and Tanja Luckins. Basingstoke, Hampshire and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007.
4.  Hospitality and Gastronomy: Natural Allies. In Hospitality: A Social Lens, eds. Conrad Lashley, Paul Lynch and Alison Morrison, 47-59. Amsterdam ; Boston : Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007.
5. The High and the Low: Australian Cuisine in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth centuries. In Culinary Distinction, eds. Emma Costantino and Sian Supski (special issue of the Journal of Australian Studies, 87 (2006)). Perth: API Network, 2006: 37-49.

Recent Journal Articles

1. The Study of Gastronomy: A Catalyst for Cultural Understanding. The International Journal of the Humanities 5, issue 6 (2007): 53-58.
2.  Australian Food Innovations. Food Australia 59, nos. 1-2 (2007): 41-45.
3. The Communities of Food Scholars. Moving Wor(l)ds: A Journal of Transcultural Writings (special issue, Food, Culture & Community)  6, no. 2 (2006): 6-13.
4. With Fork and Pen in Nineteenth-century Paris. Bibliofile 11, no. 4 (2006): 9-17.
5. Paradigm shifts in the history of dietary advice in Australia. Nutrition & Dietetics 62, no. 4 (2005):152-157.

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Arts and culture, Sociology
Expertise	Food history; culinary history; food culture; culinary culture; gastronomy
Notes	Barbara Santich is a member of the Editorial Board of Petits Propos Culinaires. She was the founding chair of the Scientific Commission for the Australian Ark of Taste (2003-2007). In 2005 Barbara was awarded both the inaugural Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Award for Teaching Excellence and the University's Stephen Cole The Elder Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Mobile	0412 671 058

Entry last updated: Sunday, 22 Nov 2009