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You might assume we are living in a golden age of food. Our restaurant sector is thriving; ethically reared meat and environmentally friendly produce are widely available; exotic ingredients, once hard to find, can be sourced in supermarkets; and pride in regionally distinctive cuisines is on the rise. Is this culinary renaissance connecting us with food in any meaningful way? Or does our obsession with celebrity chefs, the latest fad diets, the glossiest cookbooks and ‘must-have’ kitchen gadgets, signify that food is nothing more than an object of fashion?
Donald Sloan, of Oxford Brookes University, is joined by philosopher Julian Baginni, and two of the UK’s most admired chefs, Antonio Carluccio and Michael Caines, to explore our relationship with food.

In Virtues of the Table, Baggini argues that we are lacking a coherent philosophy of food and that our culinary habits are shaped by contradictory forces. Baggini is the author of several books on philosophy including The Pig that Wants to be Eaten.

Carluccio has championed genuine, regional Italian food and wine for more than 50 years. He founded the successful Carluccio’s restaurant chain, has published 13 cookery books and recently returned to UK television with Gennaro Contaldo in Two Greedy Italians.

Caines is the acclaimed executive chef of Gidleigh Park, where he has held two Michelin stars since 1999. He is also responsible for Michael Caines Restaurants in the Abode hotel chain. He appears regularly on British television and his first book, Michael Caines At Home, was published in 2013.

Sloan is chair of Oxford Gastronomica and head of the Oxford School of Hospitality Management at Oxford Brookes University.

Presented by Oxford Gastronomica