Gastromythology examines the intersection of food, mythology, and culture, revealing how culinary traditions carry narratives of power, identity, and desire. Slavoj Žižek’s concept of surplus enjoyment, which highlights the paradox of pleasure in excess, offers a compelling framework to understand the ideological functions of food in society. The act of eating, far from being a mere biological necessity, is deeply entangled with symbolic structures that determine what, how, and why we consume.

Arup K. Chatterjee’s theory of gastromythology moves beyond the materiality of food to explore its mythic dimensions, showing how cultural narratives attach surplus meaning to culinary practices. Gastromythology is not just about food history or gastronomy but about the ways in which food becomes a vessel for storytelling, ideology, and national identity (Chatterjee, 2024a). This aligns with Žižek’s (2022) argument that “surplus-enjoyment implies the paradox of a thing which is always (and nothing but) an excess with regard to itself: in its ‘normal’ state, it is nothing” (p. 6). In other words, the pleasure derived from food is not solely about taste but about the surplus of meaning attached to it—whether in the form of religious rituals, nostalgia, or capitalist commodification.

For example, in Indian traditions, the act of offering food to deities is not about physical sustenance but about an excess of devotion and belief. The offering carries a symbolic weight that goes beyond nutrition, reinforcing the idea that food serves as a conduit for meaning. Similarly, global food markets commodify authenticity, repackaging traditional dishes for mass consumption. The exoticization of cuisines, the marketing of “homemade” or “artisanal” foods, and the reinvention of traditional recipes for elite dining reflect how food is not just about sustenance but about ideological consumption. Žižek (2022) notes that “modern capitalism began with counting the pleasure (of gaining profit), and this counting of pleasure immediately reverts to the pleasure of counting (profit)” (p. 6). Gastromythology exposes this dynamic, showing how capitalism transforms cultural authenticity into a product to be bought and sold.

Žižek’s (2022) discussion of enjoyment as a “reflexive turn” in which pleasure arises from the very act of missing an unattainable object (p. 235) is key to understanding food nostalgia within gastromythology. The longing for an idealized culinary past—whether through revived ancestral recipes, regional food festivals, or commercialized “homemade” flavors—mirrors the psychoanalytic structure of drive. As Žižek (2022) states, “desire stands for lack, non-satisfaction, while drive’s circular movement generates satisfaction” (p. 235). This paradox is central to gastromythology, where the pursuit of an authentic taste is never-ending because the object itself is always elusive.

Chatterjee (2022) explores this concept in relation to English tea culture, noting how Victorian-era advertising mythologized tea drinking, transforming it into a nationalistic performance. Tea’s historical associations with colonialism and the British Empire were reimagined in advertisements that emphasized an aestheticized, domesticated version of Englishness, where tea drinking was tied to national pride and cultural superiority (Chatterjee, 2022). The nostalgic longing for a lost culinary past, much like Žižek’s theory of surplus enjoyment, keeps the consumer in a constant loop of desire.

Žižek (2022) argues that “capitalism can only thrive through its own constant self-undermining and revolutionizing” (p. 241). This insight is particularly relevant in the evolution of food culture. The food industry operates through cycles of invention and reinvention: fusion cuisine, organic and slow food movements, farm-to-table dining, and the simultaneous glorification of indulgence and restraint. This dynamic is a perfect illustration of how gastromythology and surplus enjoyment function together.

Chatterjee (2023) highlights the paradox of authenticity in London’s curry culture, where the desire for “traditional” Indian food has led to the creation of an idealized, commodified version of Indian cuisine that no longer reflects its origins. He argues that the commercialization of ethnic food often strips it of its historical and cultural context, replacing it with a constructed authenticity designed to cater to Western palates (Chatterjee, 2023). In this way, the cycle of capitalist reinvention ensures that food culture remains in a state of perpetual transformation, feeding the desire for both novelty and nostalgia.

A striking example is the rise of “clean eating” and diet culture, which promotes restraint while paradoxically feeding an obsession with food. As Žižek (2022) puts it, “in capitalism, hedonism and asceticism coincide” (p. 241). The food industry thrives on this contradiction: it sells high-calorie indulgences while simultaneously marketing detox diets and weight-loss programs. Gastromythology reveals how food myths are repackaged to sustain desire—whether through the fetishization of ancient grains as “superfoods” or the reinvention of fasting as a wellness practice. In both cases, the emphasis is not on sustenance but on the ideological excess that makes food a cultural spectacle.

Ultimately, gastromythology and surplus enjoyment expose the ideological nature of everyday consumption. Žižek’s (2022) claim that “enjoyment is always the enjoyment of the subject’s alienation” (p. 181) is particularly relevant to food culture. Eating is never just about sustenance—it is always entangled in myths, desires, and structures of power. Whether in the form of nostalgic longing, ritualized offerings, or capitalist commodification, food operates as a site where surplus enjoyment is produced and sustained.

Through the lens of gastromythology, we see that food is not just about taste but about the stories, myths, and ideological investments that shape how we consume. In a world where culinary traditions are constantly being reinvented, the excess of enjoyment remains the driving force behind our engagement with food—an enjoyment that, like Žižek’s surplus enjoyment, thrives precisely because it can never be fully satisfied.

References

Chatterjee, A. K. (2022). The gastromythology of English tea culture: On the UKTC’s advertisements and making tea a “fact” of English life. Canadian Journal of History, 57(1), 47-80.

Chatterjee, A. K. (2023). The “decline” of London’s curry houses invented tradition, authenticity, gastromythology. Consumption Markets & Culture, 26(6), 443-465.

Chatterjee, A. K. (2024). Mythologizing late Victorian tea advertising: the case of the Illustrated London News (1890–1900). History of Retailing and Consumption, 10(1), 43-82.

Žižek, S. (2022). Surplus-Enjoyment: A guide for the non-perplexed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic.