Professor of Contemporary History and director of the University Chair of Asturias Cider at the University of Oviedo. He is a member of the research group “Grupo de Historia Sociocultural (GRUHSOC)” and of the Observatorio de la Alimentación (ODELA) of the University of Barcelona, has been a researcher for the programme “European Network for Gastrointestinal Health Research (ENGIHR)” of the European Science Foundation and head of research attached to the management of the Cider Museum-Foundation.
He has been PI on projects for the Palacio Valdés Museum, Crivencar, Sobrescobio Town Council, Trabanco Group, Montepío de la Minería del Carbón or CERMI. He has participated in projects such as “History of the press in Asturias”, “Dictionary of Spanish parliamentarians” or “Oral sources for the Social History of Asturias”.
His publications include Beber y saber. Una historia cultural de las bebidas (Madrid, Alianza Editorial, 2005 - 2nd international edition 2008 - GOURMAND Award 2005), Las representaciones de la sidra, (Gijón, Red de Museos Etnográficos de Asturias, 2008, GOURMAND Award 2008), «Intemperancia, degeneración y crimen. El discurso antialcohólico como estrategia de control social en la Asturias de la Restauración» (Historia Contemporánea, nº 36, 2008), «Las representaciones de la filatelia» (Historia Contemporánea, nº 40, 2010), «Comensalidad, sociabilidad y rituales de consumo. La espicha en Asturias en el primer tercio del siglo XX» (Historia Social, no. 71, 2011), Sidra y manzana en Asturias (Oviedo, KRK, 2013), «La sociabilidad sidrera durante el franquismo» (Historia Social, no. 92, 2018), La sidra asturiana (DOP Sidra de Asturias, 2019), El mutualismo minero en Asturias (Trea, 2020) or “The historical development of food systems and heritage” in VVAA, Consumer Research Methods in Food Science (Springer, 2022). With Jorge Uría, he co-directed the dossier Alimentación y comensalidad en la época contemporánea for the journal Historia Contemporánea (no. 48, 2014, which includes two of his own articles).
Creator and promoter of the candidacy of the Cider Culture as Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2005, he was appointed its scientific director in 2009 by the government of Asturias, with the unanimous support of the Junta General del Principado, carrying out the BIC dossier and leading the UNESCO dossier team.
He has won two GOURMAND WORLD COOBOOK AWARDS (2005 and 2009), the Extraordinary Doctorate Award (University of Oviedo 2012), the Laviana Town Hall Medal (2012), Best Cider Ambassador (2014), the Golden Spike to the Tradition of the Humanitarians of Moreda and the National Golden Moscón in 2019.
