What is Commensality

It is widely accepted today that food is symbolically and culturally bounded, which make it also emblematic for cultural and creative industries, as well as entertainment and leisure. This is observed in the increasing use of food in media entertainment such as cooking shows and competitions but also in other variant forms such as culinary schools, specialist food boutiques, gastronomic festivals, and the expansion of traditional media into digital platforms (i.e. with food blogging). This chapter is interested in one particular form of food entertainment. This is food tourism, which is deemed to incorporate different aspects of food entertainment forms within. The chapter initiates on a brief assessment of changing conceptualizations of food in the backdrop of late modernity with the conviction that food's changing conceptualizations are driving food's popularity as an entertainment scheme. Consequently, food tourism is discussed with an evaluation of its development and current positioning in Turkey.