Trained as a cultural anthropologist and as a chef, she has spent her career working as an interlocutor between the preoccupations of the discipline of anthropology and the everyday practices of cooks and other food (and drink) producers. She has focused on such varied topics as the history of the culinary profession, cuisine and nationalism, globalization of the food supply, the relationship between taste and place, and cooking as a cultural practice. She is the author of The Taste of Place: A Cultural Journey into Terroir.