Food and Class Distinction at Israeli Weddings

AbstractDespite a legion of studies on the omnivorous consumption patterns of the new middle class, the actual tastes of omnivores in particular social settings remain understudied. In this article, I differentiate three types of food omnivorousness (diversity, experientialism and knowledge), before identifying the classificatory schemes of omnivores in Israel through food at weddings, perceived not as individual lifestyle practices but as a locus of class distinctions, where class tastes are formed, manifested and reproduced. The culinary choices made by both the new middle class consumers and producers I interviewed were governed by what I term the "simple taste." My respondents invoked simplicity mainly, though not exclusively, through a close-to-nature rhetoric. I show that the "simple taste" enables the new middle class to mitigate the conflicting cultural strategies of elitism and pluralism, and in so doing, bridge between obligations to one's self and others. I conclude that the "simple taste" is part of a new, classed taste regime premised on personal authenticity.Keywords: new middle classomnivorousnesstastedistinctionweddingsIsrael Additional informationNotes on contributorsDana KaplanDana Kaplan is a PhD student at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and a doctoral Scholion fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is a cultural sociologist working on the middle class in Israel. Her doctoral dissertation interrogates the relationship between heterosexuality and class under neoliberalization. Scholion—Interdisciplinary Center in Jewish Studies, The Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Rabin Building, Mount Scopus, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91905, Israel (dana.kaplan@mail.huji.ac.il).