... standardof living of the masses (then, as now, a crucial research theme). Some-time during the 1990s, I started to gain interest in cultural aspects of eat-ing and drinking, realizing that food ... cooking is linked to income class and age. Thehigher the income, the less time women spent on cooking: 58 minutesfor the lowest incomes and 41 minutes for the highest incomes, or a sig-nificant ... arrived in Belgium in the 1980s. After a brief period during which newspapers,magazines, and television chefs had to explain the advantages— heatingthe food within minutes, while not burning the...