Abstract Summary
Food genres such as recipes increasingly contain “no-X constructions” like “no fat” or “sugar free”. This paper will analyse the comment sections of vegan food blogs with regard to such “ex-gredients” focusing on the question how taste is constructed and used as a resource in technologically mediated communication about veganism.
Abstract :
With an increase in allergies and intolerances, but also health consciousness, environmental considerations, and food as life-style choice, food genres such as recipes increasingly contain “no-X constructions” like “no fat” or “sugar free”. This paper will analyse the comment sections of vegan food blogs with regard to such “ex-gredients” focusing on the role taste plays in this matter.
Studies on vegan technologically mediated communication (TMC) have shown that not only animal-based products are excluded from recipes, but also a range of other ingredients is marked as being non-present, e.g. “gluten free” or “no artificial flavours” (Gerhardt to appear). When looking at the commentary sections of vegan food blogs, the high demand for “no-X” recipes become apparent in that readers often ask whether there are alternative preparation methods or surrogates e.g. to replace soy or wheat. Hence, the traditional “list of ingredients” seems to be accompanied today by a complementary construction, the exgredient.
The reasons for such exclusions are manifold: besides health considerations (allergies, intolerances), readers also often refer to ecological or environmental concerns. Some simply base their request on family regulations (“we don’t use X in our house”) or food theories (“it is believed that X resonate at a different frequency”). However, taste is also mentioned as a factor when ruling out certain ingredients: “you can totally omit the cashews and it still tastes great (it just lose a tiny bit of richness).” This paper represents a contribution to the question how taste is constructed and used as a resource in TMC about veganism.
Gerhardt, Cornelia (to appear). How less means more in the comments section of vegan food blogs: exgredients such as gluten-free and extreme case formulations. Sofia Rüdiger & Susanne Mühleisen (eds.), Talking about Food – The Social and the Global in Eating Communities. Amsterdam: Benjamins.
