Next time you order from a menu, you know who to thank? The same people who brought us sandwiches, picnics, mineral water, vegetarianism, going out to ethnic restaurants -- and, in fact, visiting restaurants at all.

The European Romantic writers and others in their intellectual circle initiated the idea of food consumerism 200 years ago, says UC Davis English professor Timothy Morton.

Much in Western food culture can be traced to changes begun about the time of the French Revolution, says Morton, editor of a new book, "Cultures of Taste/Theories of Appetite: Eating Romanticism."

"In particular, the very politics of food and the way we look at eating came directly from the Romantic era when people in Europe became aware that they had a choice of what to eat -- and what not to eat," Morton says. "That's the beginning of the self-conscious consumer."

The idea of eating out at a restaurant was triggered when French cooks, fleeing for their lives in the revolution, found themselves setting up businesses in France and England. These restaurants were very different establishments than the traditional inns, Morton says. The French chefs offered menus -- and thus choice of what to eat.

Also during the Romantic period, the British quest for adventure abroad -- plus experience in foreign colonies -- brought ethnic restaurants home to England, Morton points out.

"They had a fascination with the 'Orientalism' of food -- Chinese and Indian," he says. "The whole idea was to try on somebody else's culture through their cuisine."

Morton says the current reactions to mad cow disease are directly related to political, ethical and health concerns raised by Romantics regarding food consumption.