A major theme in Dr. Sammells work is critical food studies, especially in regards to Bolivian cuisine and touristic gastronomy. She has done ethnographic fieldwork on foodways in rural and urban Bolivia, and among Bolivian migrants living in Madrid, Spain.
Some of her publications in this area include:
2010. Adventures in Eating: Anthropological Tales of Dining Around the World. Coedited with Helen R. Haines. Boulder: University Press of Colorado. Chapters include:
“The Importance of Food and Feasting Around the World,” co-authored with Helen R. Haines. pp. 1-17.
“Ode to a Chuño: Learning to Love Freeze-Dried Potatoes in Highland Bolivia.” pp. 101-125.
2019 Reimagining Bolivian Cuisine: Haute Traditional Food and its Discontents. Food and Foodways 27(4):338-352.
2018 “Local-politan” Gastronomy and Bolivian Cuisine: How the Cosmopolitan is Forged from the Local. In Cosmpolitanism and Tourism: Rethinking Theory and Practice, Robert Shepherd, ed. Lanham: Lexington Books. 163-177.
2016 Frosted Windows And Compartmentalized Intimacies: Forging Relationships In A Bolivian Restaurant In Madrid. Food and Foodways 24(3-4): 213-231. Special Issue “Eating In Semi-Public Spaces,” co-edited by Clare A. Sammells and Edmund Searles. (Submitted as a manuscript with the tenure packet in 2015.)
2016 Restaurants, Kitchens, Markets, Feasts, And Parties: The Anthropology Of Semi-Public Culinary Spaces. Co-Writted with Edmund Searles. Food and Foodways 24(3-4): 129-135. Introduction to Special Issue “Eating In Semi-Public Spaces,” co-edited by Clare A. Sammells and Edmund Searles. (Submitted as a manuscript with the tenure packet in 2015.)
2014 Haute Traditional Cuisines: How UNESCO’s List of Intangible Heritage Links the Cosmopolitan to the Local. In Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage, Ronda Brulotte and Michael Di Giovine, eds. Ashgate. 141-158.
1998 Folklore, Food, and Seeking National Identity: Urban Legends of Llama Meat in La Paz, Bolivia. Contemporary Legend (1):21-54. Winner of the 1997 David Buchan Student Essay Prize.
1995 La carne de llama: alta viabilidad, baja visibilidad. Co-authored with Lisa Markowitz. In Waira Pampa: Un sistema pastoril camélidos-ovinos del altiplano árido boliviano. Didier Genin, Hans-Joachim Picht, Rodolfo Lizarazu, Tito Rodriguez, eds. La Paz: ORSTOM/IBTA. 195-206.