f Exotic Eating in Interwar Paris: Dealing with Disgust

Taste is a conservative sense and there are many barriers to the consumption of new and exotic foods. One of these barriers is disgust, which is not only physical, but also interpersonal. It serves a social function of maintaining hierarchies and boundaries between peoples. Yet despite the conservatism of taste, in interwar Paris there was an increase in the eating of exotic foods, especially of those foods associated with the French colonies. By examining an exotic dining experience that elicited disgust as well as exotic eating venues that avoided disgust reactions, this article explores how colonial foods in interwar Paris were mediated to appeal to French diners.