Acculturation: the symbolism of ethnic eating among contemporary British consumers

Abstract In the last two decades there has been a dynamic growth in consumption of ethnic foods both in and outside home in the UK. Explores symbolic meanings associated with ethnic food consumption by native British consumers in the light of this growth. At a very broad level, an acculturation framework is applied to describe this cultural transformation of tastes from the traditional to the exotic. Starting from an initial dislike of these alien ethnic foods, argues that consumers have moved towards acculturation, and in some cases overacculturation, of these foods. Draws on participant observation of food consumption among seven English households, and on in‐depth interviews with 22 participants.