Food Culture and Identity Research Papers (original) (raw)

El presente estudio explora las dinámicas de la comensalidad entre los preparadores de alimentos que laboran en restaurantes de comida mexicana en Estados Unidos a través las resistencias alimentarias que se visibilizan al interior de las cocinas de dichos establecimientos. Así mismo, se explica cómo estas prácticas forman parte constitutiva de la identidad alimentaria transmigrante.

Food is central to our daily lives, yet it is often only considered of peripheral interest to the study of politics and society. This course offers political, economic and sociological approaches and examines food in relation to several topics including identity, politics, global institutions, and social inequalities. It questions how global/local politics and what we eat is related by placing food at the center of the debate.

Expressions of Catalan identity have become increasingly significant following increased friction with the Spanish central government. Catalonia-specific foods and festivals are two such expressions that have been mobilised as national symbols, and which I will consider in this paper. I will discuss the role that food plays in festive occasions in the Catalan calendar, including secularised traditional holidays and Catholic feast days, newly created festivals and fairs centred on foods, and finally the three national days (23 rd April, 24 June and 11 th September). In doing so, I will also tease out other, related themes in Catalan cultural identity today, including the feelings of connectedness with a historic past, land and landscape, the championing of seasonality through culinary events, and Catalonia's gastronomic calendar. Creating, adapting and performing festivities that are celebrations of national and culinary symbols are a means of celebrating Catalan identity itself. They are events when Catalans meet to discuss and reformulate their identity, and sources of claims to distinctiveness.

- by Lynn Mastellotto
- •
- Travel Writing, Travel Literature, Motherhood, Food Culture and Identity
- by Caleb Ward and +1
- •
- Sociology, Animal Ethics, Food Policy, Anthropology of Food

Haryana is a state of great cultural heritage. Haryana is a land where Veda was written on the bank of river Saraswati. A legendary land where Rishi Ved Vyas wrote epic Mahabharata. A land where Lord Krishna delivered the immortal message of Gita to humanity at large at the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Apart from, Haryana is a rich land of festivals, such as Makar Sankranti, Holi, Teej, Deewali, Guga Navmi, Basora etc. Each festival celebrates with an excitement and peoples celebrate festivals with preparing of different kinds of food. As the peoples of Haryana like to have milk and milk products for their daily consumption. In most festivals, they make foods in their homes with milk. With this paper, an attempt has been made to explore the festive foods of Haryana and their recipes. The data has been collected from the various source such as published articles, journals, books and websites. An informal discussion with family has been conducted for gather the more information about festive food those they are prepared for festivals, their recipe and cooking style. It has been found that Kheer, Halwa, Puri, Sakkarpare (Sahwali), Ghewar, Pakode, Malpua (Puda) and Gulgulle are some famous festive foods of Haryana that are made on various festivals.

The emergence of Taiwanese cuisine has a lot to do with the democratization process and the growth of Taiwan national identity since the 1980s. In one way, the making of Taiwanese cuisine can be seen as the liberalization of two major ethnic foods: Minnan and Hakka from the dominance of Mainland China’s provincial food systems such as Jiang-Zhe, Szechuan, and Guandong. The two ethnic Han food of Minnan and Hakka have thus been ungraded to constitute the new core components of the rising Taiwan’s national cuisine. It is equally important to note that, however, the non-Han aborigine food has not been considered as an integral part of Taiwanese cuisine.
This paper intends to argue that the rise of Taiwanese cuisine is the direct social product of the above political transformation and cultural change. The Minnan and Hakka ethnic food have since then been rapidly commercialized to become the recognized “cuisine” popularly served in restaurants beyond household consumption. The rise of “cuisinization” as well as “popularization” of ethnic Minnan and Hakka food will then be discussed in this paper by identifying the main features and changes of each of the ethnic food. Special attention is also paid to how Minnan and Hakka food are being “presented “ , “positioned” and “weighted” in the constitution of “Taiwanese national cuisine”.
Finally, in the conclusion, the interplay of democracy, ethnicity and national identity and its impact on Taiwan’s contemporary foodscape will be highlighted.

- by Hsin-Huang Michael Hsiao and +2
- •
- Taiwan Studies, Food Culture and Identity, National Cuisine
- by Jonatan Leer
- •
- Gender Studies, Gender and Sexuality, Food Media, Gender

This paper looks at gastronomic identity in the age of global labor migrations. Focusing on the nineteenth-century inden- tured labor voyages from northern India to the sugar colonies in the Caribbean and Asia-Pacific regions, it highlights the sea voyage as both a social setting and a mirror back onto colonial society. The space of the indentured labor ship serves as an innovative site for understanding the political, cultural, and economic dimensions of historical labor movements, through which colonial politics andgustemic identities were negotiated. An analysis of the food provisions and other culinary items that British colonial officials provided to in- dentured workers during their journeys situates the “taste” of laborers in colonial feedings.

- by Ashutosh Kumar
- •
- Cultural Studies, Gastronomy, Peasant Studies, Labor Migration

This paper aims to identify the specific gastronomic dishes of Dobrudja, a historical region in the South-East of Romania. While the previous papers were based on an analysis considering the inhabitants’ perspective or from testimonies of foreign travellers who visited this land surrounded by bodies of water, this paper is based on the information obtained by the distribution of a survey which was filled in both by respondents who are very familiar with this region and by respondents who have never lived in Dobrudja. Unfortunately, for the people who do not have a direct connection with Dobrudja, the gastronomic aspect is not adequately known, a more thorough promotion at local, national and international levels being necessary, starting from the elements which are considered representative, and which have been highlighted in this study. Then, the data, which was collected, processed and classified, may be used for registration purposes, at a European level as new traditional and local products such as PDO, PGI or TSG or at national level as “traditional products”. Moreover, they may contribute to the development of local tourism by adding ethnical and gastronomical elements to the existing tourism opportunities.

- by LAETITIA CASANGIU
- •
- Gastronomy, Identity (Culture), Cultural Identity, Food and Nutrition

The dog followed Homo sapiens on his journey from the tropics to the Polar zone. Interaction, cooperation, and personal relationships of humans and dogs — as with a cow or horse — were combined with dog meat consumption. Food prohibitions are always a way to structure the world, often framed as religious regulations. Dog meat was largely banned in Europe and the Near East by the Abrahamic religions and was stigmatised. The forbidden practice became, in turn, a point of colonial discourse, contrasting “civilized” nations to “savages”. In Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia, China, and Korea, dog meat is still used. However, it is considered shameful and attributed exclusively to indigenous ethnic groups. Dog meat is endowed with medicinal properties, often seen as “male” food and an aphrodisiac. The only country that openly fought for the legitimization of dog eating was South Korea. There, it was seen as a tradition and part of national identity. However, even there, the pressure of Westernization and the influence of champions of animal rights is so strong that the battle is probably lost. Dog meat consumption moves into a grey zone. This paper looks into the aforementioned issues, using the author’s materials collected in the course of anthropological fieldwork in Southeast Asia, primarily the Philippines from 1995 to 2020 and in Cambodia in 2015, 2017. (In Russian)

The report is a general outline of the food culture in Nagaland in an anthropological perspective, based on secondary sources. I have tried to understand the significance of food in all aspects of Naga culture, using whatever secondary resources were available to me. These have been substantiated by a few formal interviews with people of the Naga community living in Delhi, who have provided me with an empirical and current perspective.

This project aims to explore, holistically, the perspective of food in the culture and lifestyle of the people of village Pindori Mahantan. It aims to examine the way by which food is incorporated in the relevant socio-cultural lives of people. The purpose of the study is completely exploratory, finding the importance given to the food items used in their daily lives. It is quite common for being completely unaware of it; it slowly and quietly keeps on playing its role in social solidarity, political harmony and disharmony, feasts and celebrations, and the role it plays as a sacred element in the religious sphere. These roles that the food plays inside as well as outside the society makes it an irreplaceable part of the society. My study related to food isn’t about food per seen, rather it is about the assumption that food serves as a vehicle to explore broader questions of polity, religion, economy as well as the overall cultural development in the village.

In many ways the foods we eat define us, forming an important part of our identity. Most of the foods we eat have taken a long and complex journey across continents to find their way to our tables. This project tries to outline the role of the local taste preferences with respect to which the introduced food-items slowly get transformed. Though culture, in contexts of taste, is recognized as an influential parameter, it is often mentioned as the black-box, leaving it open to determine exactly how cultures impact taste and food preferences, making the taster acquiescent to various cuisines and culinary traditions. The paper cites some such case studies where different cultural-taste preferences have affected in transformation of cuisines in order to satisfy the local consumers.

¿Vino natural?, pero ¿qué es lo que no es natural en el vino?, ¿es que existe un vino artificial? El vino es el resultado exclusivo del proceso de fermentación alcohólica de la uva o del mosto de uva; sin embargo, esta no se realiza por intervención divina. El vino es consecuencia directa de un número infinito de factores y decisiones. Entonces, ¿qué nivel de intervención en el vino se considera aceptable? El simple hecho de hablar de “vino natural” es controvertido. Joan Gómez Pallarés, catedrático de Filología Latina en la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, creador del Blog De Vinis. Un relato sobre vinos y personas (www.devinis.org) y redactor de “El vino de la semana” en la sección “Placeres” de El País Semanal, afronta este debate al escribir el libro que nos convoca, Vinos Naturales en España. Placer auténtico y agricultura sostenible en la copa.

- by Eva Parga-Dans and +1
- •
- Foodways (Anthropology), Anthropology of Food, Food, Gender, Culture, Wine Economics

Nutrition is one of the fundamental needs of human beings in order to maintain our life. The
social reflection of such necessity of life in social life is the dining tables which are jointly
attended. The Turks, who have established many states throughout the history and expanded
to a vast geography, have their own specific nutrition habits and dining table manners and
rules. However, such habits and rules have substantially evolved and changed throughout the
centuries, in particular following the westernization process of the Ottoman Empire.
In Turkish literature which contains a huge and rich corpus in both writing and verbal forms,
authors have utilized the concept of nutrition for different purposes. Besides expressing their
own food pleasures and table memories in their literary works, the methods such as guiding
the society, assuming an instructive role and voicing their social and political reviews are also
the ones that the authors referred to via nutrition and table. Therefore, examining the table in
Turkish literature necessitates a long and detailed study.
This thesis, which is entitled “From Tray to Dining Table: Dining Tables in Turkish Novels”,
aims to explore the reflection of changing table cultures of the Turks on Turkish novel and to
determine the functions of such changing cultures in the works. “Novel” type entered into the
Turkish literature after the westernization process. Therefore, the main purpose of this thesis
is to investigate the relation between changing table culture and that “western type” which has
recently entered into the literature, and to determine if the dining table has contributed to the
structure of novels.
As the table cannot be imagined separately from food, issues such as nutrition habits which
have been existant since old Turkish people, the relation of religions with nutrition and table
rules and cookbooks are outlined in the introduction part of the thesis.
In the first section of the thesis, the following subjects are covered: reflection of the
westernization adventure of the Ottoman Empire on the table and social life, the social and
economic impacts of the First World War and the Independance War, altered state structure
upon the foundation of the Turkish Republic and Ataturk's table.
The second section, which is the focal point of our thesis, is devoted to the usage of tables in
novels and determining their functions. For this reason, one hundred and forty five novels
have been reviewed since Tanzimat Dönemi (i.e., Reform Era) until 2013. Great effort is
made to use the best examples of those novels representing the aforementioned relation. In
this section, it is highlighted that in Turkish novels, the table is used in forty five different
functions and the headings are tried to be explained through the examples and analysis from
the texts. Such tables are ranked among themselves from the most encountered to the less
encountered ones. The most dominant ones are given at the forefront of the examples under
the headings. In this respect, rather than publication date of the novel, the nature of the
example are considered in ranking. The tables that can be included under more than one
heading in the same novel are examined in accordance with their dominating features.
Furthermore, if the different tables in a novel set good examples for the assigned headings, no
harm is seen in using the same novel more than once. Given the scope of our subject, other literature types are not taken into consideration except for few stories and memoirs which are
used only to support the examples.

- by Nihan Abir
- •
- Food History, Food and Nutrition, Food Culture and Literature, Turkish Novel

This paper is partially about eels. These fish are loved and hated in different parts of the world, and I use this as the entry point to discuss how food move in and out of fashion. The more general issue is, why do tastes change? How can... more

- by Richard R Wilk
- •
- Archaeology, Anthropology, Social Sciences, Social and Cultural Anthropology

In "A ‘Splendid Idiosyncrasy’: Prehistory at Cambridge 1915-50" Pamela Jane Smith charts the development of prehistoric archaeology from an amateur ‘haphazard’ pastime to a fully ledged academic discipline. Smith argues persuasively that the formalization of prehistory as a university subject emerged
out of the daily round of informal exchanges centred around the tearoom of the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. The convivial atmosphere engendered by the exchange of tea and cakes established a close relationship of trust amongst the participants which necessarily prepared the way for academic exchanges. Reflecting the centrality of food and drink in Smith’s analysis of the birth of prehistory, the Editors broke with the recent tradition of book reviews in these 'Proceedings' to talk to Pamela Jane Smith over a convivial lunch at Wolfson College, Cambridge. What follows is an annotated transcript of our conversation, which critically reviews her recent study.

- by David Barrowclough
- •
- History, Cultural History, Sociology, Archaeology

Pork consumption, or to be more precise, its avoidance, became a major issue in the study of ancient Israel in the 1980s. Subsequently, it became closely associated not only with the debates over Israel's emergence in Canaan and ethnic interaction during the Iron Age I, but also regarding the transformations of Philistine society, as well as with general debates on relations between pork consumption and taboos, ecology, and environment. Relying on the vast database that accumulated, it is my aim here to reexamine the distribution of pork-consuming communities during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages in order to see if clear and meaningful patterns can be identified. Subsequently, the paper will study the emerging patterns, and examine how they should be interpreted, and whether patterns of consumption and avoidance can, or cannot, be associated with the different groups that inhabited the region at the time, and if the explanations to these patterns should be attributed to culture or to ecology and economy.

- by Avraham Faust
- •
- Archaeology, Near Eastern Archaeology, Anthropology, Archaeology of Ancient Israel

2008 yılında 3. ayağı Safranbolu'da gerçekleştirilen ve UNESCO Türkiye Milli Komisyonu'nun desteklediği Geleneksel Lezzetler Şenliği'nin 2007 Kasımında başlayıp 2008 yılı Mart ayına kadar hazırlık çalışmaları sırasında yürütme kurulu üyesi olarak görev aldım. Yeni bir il olan Karabük'ün yemek kültürünü taramak ve sivil toplum kuruluşlarının etkinlik paydaşlığını sağlamak amacıyla düzenlenen bir dizi "Keşkek Şölenleri"nin ilk üçünün (Bulak Keşkek Şöleni, Yenice Aşı ve Eflâni Bandırma Şölenlerinin) moderatörlüğünü yaptım. Şenliğin ev sahibi olan Karabük'ün mutfak sunumunun içerik ve şeklini belirlemek için önemli sayıda sözlü tarih görüşmesi yaptım . Yaklaşık 7 aya yayılan arama çalışmaları sonucunda 1 oluşturduğumuz Karabük Sofrasını konuklarımıza sunduk. Şenliğin katılımcıları olan beş 2 Paflagonya şehrinin ve menülerinin belirlenmesinde görev aldım. Bu şehirler Karabük yanında, Bartın, Kastamonu , Çankırı ve Bolu 'ydu. Gerek menülerin hazırlanması sürecinden 3 4 gerekse sunumdan bölgenin özgül bir mutfağa sahip olduğu açıkça gözükmekteydi. Sonrasında arazi çalışmaları, geziler ve kaynak araştırmaları sonucu bölgenin yemek kültürüyle ilgili önemli kazanımlarım oldu ve bir süredir seçilmiş Paflagonya yemeklerini hazırlamakta ve konuklarımıza sunmaktayım. Payitahttan uzaklaşıldığında yerel tarih yazımı için hemen hemen hiç yazılı kaynak bulunmamaktadır. Hangi disiplinde olursa olsun, yapılacak yerelle ilgili araştırmalarda hep bu sıkıntı yaşanmaktadır. Aynı sorun yemek kültürü araştırmalarında da söz konusudur. Bu çalışmada yemek kültürünün kendisi bir belge gibi değerlendirilmiş ve geçmişe doğru sosyal katmanların yaşamları ve mekân kullanımları için bazı çıkarsamalar yapılmıştır. Bu nedenlerle zaman zaman spekülatif bir tavır içinde olmaktan kaçınılamazdı. Belki de sizlerin $ Görüşme yapılan kişiler: Bedriye Kavsa, Hatice Büyükkaragöz, Hikmet German Şeyhoğlu, Nezihe Aycan 1 Kadıoğlu, Gülten Bayramgil, Zahide Deniz, Şenol Adalar ve İlhan Kavuşturucu'dur. Kendilerine ve bu isimleri öneren Aytekin Kuş'a teşekkür borçluyum. Bu çalışmalarda bana Kadriye Cebeci asistanlık yaptı. $ Karabük Sofrasının sunumunda iki giriş, ana yemek, tatlı, yanında kiren (yabani kızılcık) ve kuşburnu urubu 2 sunduk. Geleneksel yemek sunumunda yan-yemek yoktur ancak geleneksel yemeklerin ticarileşebilmesi açısından biraz da deneysel bir tutumla ana yemek olan bütün eti, galiye yatağında sunduk. Menünün hazırlanmasında ve sunulmasında Avrasya Aşçılar Derneği Genel Sekreteri Gürsel Keleş'in çok değerli desteğini aldık. Kendisine teşekkür ederim. katkılarıyla ileri süreceğim savların bir kısmı doğrulanabilir, bir kısmı yadsınabilir ve daha kesin sonuçlara ulaşabiliriz. Bu açıdan lütfen metodolojimi anlayışla karşılayınız. Yerel yemek kültürünün özünde güçlü bir omurgaya sahip olmakla birlikte değişim ve etkilenmeye açık çok dinamik bir yapıda olduğunu belirtmem gerekir. Toplumsal yaşamın ayrılmaz bir parçası olan yemek kültürü farklı etnik topluluklar ve katmanlar arasında önemli ayraçları içerir. Yerel yemek doğası gereği yerel ürünleri kullanır. Yine doğası gereği yerel ürünler, yaşanılan toprağın coğrafi özelliklerinin bir sonucudur. Ancak, zaman boyutunu irdelediğinizde yemek kültürünün o toplumun tarihini yansıtan ancak yavaş da olsa değişikliklere uğramış çok önemli göstergelere sahip olduğunu da görürüz. Bir de buna dönemlerin ruhunu katmak gerekir. "Bana ne yediğini söyle, sana kim olduğunu söyleyeyim" sözü bu 5 özelliği çok iyi anlatmaktadır. Bu nedenlerle Paflagonya'nın coğrafi özellikleri yanında tarihine de kısaca değinmek gerekir.

- by Ibrahim Canbulat
- •
- Food & Culture, Food Culture, Food and Culture, Food History, Food Culture

This work aims to analyze and understand the meaning of food and commensality relations, limited to the changes and remains related to the eating habits of rural families in the municipalities of Piranga, Porto Firme and Presidente Bernardes. The chosen methodology was qualitative, using semi-structured interviews and observation. The instruments used were the recorded interviews, photographic
register and field notebook. The empirical research analysis was built under the light of theoretical approaches of anthropology and sociology of the alimentation and history of the alimentation. Despite the tendency pointed out by some contemporary authors of a food homogenization in Western society, as a result of the modernization and globalization process that would have the power to influence and transform the eating habits, this was not the reality observed in the surveyed rural families. The research indicated the need to consider the cultural
diversity and the socio-historical context in order to study issues related to eating habits of the groups. In the studied families the issues related to eating habits have a strong bond with the tradition and local food production. That doesn’t mean they are immune to interference and to contemporary changes. In this sense, the observed changes in dietary practices such as the adoption of new technologies have occurred still timidly and don’t imply a total abandonment of tradition. Families are living or adapting themselves to the changing processes in the contemporary world without, however, transforming significantly their own culture. It’s important to highlight that the incorporation of modern eating habits options is not uncritical, too. The families know that the replacement of a habit by another entails risks, losses and gains, as in the case of pork fat. They proved to be conscious about the matter on health in consumption of that food, but it remains primarily used in the preparation of traditional foods. What prevails in this case, it is the choice by the flavor of the food and by the symbolic and traditional
meaning attached to it. Inserted in the process involving both the desire to maintain its productive autonomy and eating culture, and the need to give in to some changes, these families are learning to adapt to the everyday experiences; they aren’t closed in their cultural cores and even take posítion averse to change; they demonstrate a resigned but critical attitude by submitting to the items of food modernity they please and consider important, as well as rejecting what is not interesting to them.

The Mistress of Spices examines several tropes all together. It addresses issues of Culture, Identity, the immigrant and diasporic experience and is an evocative account of the protagonist Tilo's journey from awareness to self-discovery. Tilo takes the spice route to self-discovery; the spices speak and lead her throughout the narrative. Tilo's discourse with exotic Indian spices imbued with magic in a dusty old shop in Oakland, California provides Divakarunithe platform to speak to the heart of the American immigrant experience through the language of Food. As Tilo, the mistress of spices to Maya, Tilo mediates self-awareness into discovery as the spices provide an axis for understanding these innovative explorations with Food (read spice) as an autobiographical experience of culture and identity. This paper discusses the cultural significance of Food as metaphor and the notion of Food as metonym in the elaboration of culture and identity.

- by Dr.THAHIYA AFZAL and +1
- •
- Postcolonial Studies, Food, Gender, Culture, Indian English Literature, Diaspora Studies

'ların İzm r' nde coşkuyla karşılanan keş flerden b r yd . Kent n s mges olab lme potans yel bu yıllarda fark ed ld ve tüm İzm r'e tanıtıldı. "İzm r k ml ğ "nde yer ed nmeye bu dönemde başladı. O yıllara dek boyoz fırınları Agora, Az zler Sokağı, Kahraman Sokağı ve Kapılar'ın dışına pek çıkamamıştı. Bu fırınların çıkarttığı boyozlar, başka semtlerdek müşter ler ne elde taşınan ya da tekerlekl camekânlarla ulaştırılıyordu. Hal böyle olunca İzm r' n her semt nde, her sosyal grup tarafından tanınmıyor; ülken n başka kentler ndeyse adını sanını b len bulunmuyordu. Yıllar önce kent n ayaküstü mutfağı üzer ne çalışırken, ömründe boyoz yemem ş, hatta boyozun adını duymamış, tela uz ederken zorluk yaşayan yaşlı Alsancaklılarla, Güzelyalılılarla, Karşıyakalılarla karşılaşmıştım. Alsancak tarafının lk boyoz fırını 'te açıldığında semt sak nler ne tanıtmak ç n boyozu ücrets z dağıtmıştı. O yıllara kadar İzm r'dek yaygınlığı Basmane, Mezarlıkbaşı ve Kemeraltı'nın şlek noktaları, otobüs-dolmuş durakları, fabr ka önler ve okul kant nler yle

- by Nejat Yentürk
- •
- Food History, Mediterranean Studies, Food Culture and Identity, Sefaradic Studies

INTRODUÇÃO Este artigo investiga o processo de formação de um bem cultural resultado do imbricamento de processos sociais amplos. O mito da baianidade e a construção de um ideal da comida baiana é produto da ação de intelectuais, do setor comercial privado e de instituições governamentais, alinhados com a definição de um mercado de bens culturais no Brasil, de influências políti-cas e econômicas variadas, elegendo determinados repertórios como mais destacados para compor uma imagem ampla de Bra-sil, incluindo o regional-baiano. Por tratar-se da análise de uma mercadoria com apelo à identi-ficação, vale pensar sobre os impactos da construção moderna de identidades nacionais que se empenham em criar um ideário unificante para compreender o processo mais local que culmi-na na definição de identidades regionais. Como observado por Stuart Hall, a narrativa nacional fornece " uma série de estórias, imagens, panoramas, cenários, eventos históricos, símbolos e ri-tuais nacionais que simbolizam ou representam as experiências partilhadas " (2003, p. 52). O discurso da nacionalidade cria signos do que representa ter nascido em determinado território, e é

In unserer heutigen Gesellschaft reden wir mehr über Ernährung und Mahlzeiten als
uns bewusst ist. Wir reden um den heißen Brei, beißen in den sauren Apfel, bekommen
Extrawürste, geben Butter bei die Fische und haben uns zum Fressen gern. Dass
nicht allein diese sprachlichen Ausdrücke Beweis dafür sind, wie allgegenwärtig wir uns
mit dem Thema Essen im Alltag beschäftigen, möchte ich mit dieser Arbeit aufzeigen.
Es ist an der Zeit, über den Tellerrand zu schauen.
Obgleich ihm aufgrund seiner biologischen Selbstverständlichkeit oftmals zu wenig Bedeutung
beigemessen wird, beinhaltet kaum ein anderer Aspekt menschlichen Habitus
eine derart große Deutungsvielfalt wie das Ernährungsverhalten. So banal wie es für
viele auch scheinen mag, Essen dient weitaus mehr als nur den Zwecken der Lebenserhaltung,
Sättigung oder der Stimulation unserer Geschmackssinne: Essen bestimmt
wer wir sind. Jedes Element seiner Ausprägung trägt Bedeutung, die es gilt zu verstehen.
Was wir essen, aus welchem Grund wir essen, in welcher Situation und in welchem
Umfeld wir es tun – all diese Faktoren kontextualisieren den Vorgang der Nahrungsaufnahme
und machen ihn zu einer Praktik, die Aufschlüsse über das individuelle
Wesen eines jeden Menschen gibt. Die Allgegenwärtigkeit des Themas Essen in Form
von Diätenwahn, Nahrungsmittelknappheit oder medialen Kochevents hat in den letzten
Jahren dazu geführt, dass sich das gesellschaftliche Interesse mehr und mehr auf
den Themenkomplex Essen konzentriert. Der öffentliche Diskurs über Ernährung, Kochen
und Körperkult ist aus dem Alltag des 21. Jahrhunderts nicht wegzudenken. Denn
Essen erfüllt weit komplexere Bedürfnisse als lediglich jene der Nahrungsmittelzufuhr.
Es schafft und stärkt menschliche Bindungen, liefert den Wesenskern für diverse Gemeinschaftsaktivitäten,
entscheidet über Gruppenzugehörigkeiten, liefert Kenntnisse
über Status, Identität und Gefühlslage eines Individuums. Es belohnt und bestraft, es
hält den Menschen am Leben.
Um dieser Komplexität und Vielschichtigkeit der Materie Essen gerecht zu werden und
sie ausreichend erforschen zu können, bedarf es der Expertise verschiedenster Disziplinen
der Natur- und Geisteswissenschaften. Diese Arbeit konzentriert sich jedoch ver2
mehrt auf Erkenntnisse und Forschungsergebnisse geisteswissenschaftlicher Disziplinen.
Der spezielle Fokus der Betrachtung liegt außerdem auf gegenwärtigen westlichen
Ernährungsweisen und Trends, da ein derart ausführlicher Diskurs nur dort möglich
ist, wo Wohlstand und Sättigung herrschen.

Chapter in a book: Busi G., Greco S. (2016), “Vi servirà di segno. Cibo e identità nell’ebraismo”, in Busi G., Greco S., Lambrugo C., Curatola G., Albanese M. (eds.), Cibo e identità culturale e religione tra antico e contemporaneo. Ebraismo, tradizione classica, Islam e India. Milano: Comune di Milano-Civico Museo Archeologico, Milano, pp. 11-40. ISBN: 978-88-97568-10-0

- by Silvana Greco
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- Religion, Food and Nutrition, Food Culture and Identity, Sociology of Judaism

In Dan. 1, scholarship has proposed a range of plausible answers to the question, why did Daniel and his friends refuse the king's provision of food and drink? Given that such a refusal was not absolutely necessary for a faithful Israelite living in exile (e.g. Jehoiachin, Esther, and Nehemiah), uncertainty remains regarding Daniel's exact motivation. The suggested answers range from a concern for Pentateuchal dietary regulations to political subversion. This article surveys the relevant textual data points and several of the major proposed interpretations, and proposes that an underappreciated allusion to Exod. 15-16 points to the multi-layered significance of Daniel's abstention from the king's portion, namely, both a ritual concern attending the exiles and a statement from Daniel that Yahweh is his only provider, contrary to Nebuchadnezzar's claims.

- by Michael Seufert
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- Exile, Book of Daniel, Exodus, Inner-Biblical Exegesis

Plant foods are closely connected to cultural, social and economic aspects of human societies, both past and present. Food-preparation techniques and the etiquette of consumption involve complex interactions of natural resources and human cultures. During European prehistory, these changes included the shift to sedentism, the cultivation and domestication of plants, food storage, the production and exchange of alcoholic beverages and luxury foodstuffs, and the continuous adaptation of established culinary practices to newcomers in fields and gardens.

- by Stefanie Jacomet
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Archaeobotany, Food History

Objective: South Asians living in western countries have increased risk for developing diet-related chronic disease compared to Caucasians of European heritage. To increase understanding of social and cultural factors associated with their food habits, this study examined the meanings of food, health and well-being embedded in the food practices of families of Punjabi heritage living in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Design: Qualitative research design. Setting: Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Method: Data collection included individual interviews with 39 members of 12 families of Punjabi Sikh origin (ages 13 to 70 years) and participant observation of a grocery shopping trip and family meal. Themes were generated through constant comparative analysis of transcripts to describe, organize and interpret influences on participants' food decision-making in families. Findings: Participants' descriptions of their eating habits were characterized by contrasts between elders' reliance on traditional Indian foods and young people's desire for their diets to include at least some 'western' food. Participants articulated two different understandings of how food habits affect physical health: a scientific approach that related specific food components (eg, fat, cholesterol, vitamins) to risk of chronic disease, and a view based on centuries of traditional knowledge about food. Food choice was also shaped by concerns for the psychosocial well-being of individual family members, exemplified by women's attention to food preferences of individuals in the family. Conclusion: These findings add to understanding of the varied ways food practices are implicated in constructing ethnic identities, and provide insight into cultural influences on health behaviours.

- by Svetlana Ristovski-Slijepcevic and +2
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- Food Culture and Identity

The entity of food and the act of eating have always been central to life as well as literature. However, it is only recently that food studies has developed as a new area of study and the study of food and eating is gaining currency in the world of literature. Food and eating can be seen as floating signifiers, for they represent many ideas like memory, tradition, taboo, power, identity and purity in various texts. The present paper analyses two stories: " Mrs Sen's " by Lahiri and " The Remains of the Feast " by Hariharan to see how the acts of cooking and eating becomes signifiers of memory, identity and power in these two works. While in Lahiri's story finding and cooking fish becomes a central concern of the protagonist because it is her way of staying attached to her roots and thus preserving her identity in an alien land, in Hariharan's work eating tabooed food items becomes a signifier of finding her own identity for the great-grandmother Rukmini and her great-granddaughter Ratna. Lahiri Food and eating have always been two of the most primary concerns of human beings. Food and the acts/scenes of eating are present everywhere, including literature. It has, however, occupied a central stage as a multiple metaphor only in the recent years. Food studies within works of literature is a recent trend which has focused on these images of food and eating that are so often present in literature. The images and symbols

- by Sneha Pathak
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- Cultural Studies, Self and Identity, Identity (Culture), Post-Colonialism
- by Stephen Wooten
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- Ethnohistory, Cultural Studies, African Studies, Ethnography
- by Sonia Blough
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- Gender Studies, Ecofeminism, Masculinities, Food Studies
- by Daniel Kelly and +1
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- Ethics, Environmental Philosophy, Applied Ethics, Moral Psychology

North Korean restaurants operating outside the DPRK is an interesting example to explore the meaning of national cuisine as an instrument of the state official politics of national cultural identification. While the DPRK is still quite closed in its contacts with the outside world such restaurants become practically the only place where the country can demonstrate on the regular base its culture, traditions and way of life to the broad international audience and thus transmit certain cultural and ideological messages using the language of national foodways. Under such conditions we can regard these restaurants not just the places to taste Korean food but in a sense an instrument of public diplomacy of the DPRK.
The paper presents the results of the field research conducted by the author in two North Korean restaurants (Koryo and Reungrado) operating in Moscow at present time. The main purpose of the field research was to investigate how these restaurants present Korean cuisine for foreign clientele, what extra-culinary meanings they transmit and in this regard, if it is possible to see their activity as an instrument of public diplomacy of the DPRK.
The author argues that the sphere of national food culture is a terrain where we can trace the actual evidences of indirect (latent) inter-Korean cultural interaction in spite of the fact that on the surface both states declare the independence and authenticity of their vision of national culinary tradition. The author also asserts that in contrast to the previous decades, nowadays the DPRK has started to reconsider its attitude toward the cultural resource of the national foodways in order to use it more actively as an element of the official politics of national identification.

- by Maria Osetrova PhD
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- National Identity, North Korea, DPRK, Food and Identity

National food traditions play an important role in national identity, and therefore constitute an effective instrument in a state’s cultural politics and the construction of its global image. Since the division of the Korean Peninsula into two independent states in 1948, Korean cuisine has developed in two separate directions. Today, two variations of Korean cuisine not only differ in their official names (hansik in the South, chosŏn ryori in the North) but also transmit different cultural and ideological messages both within and beyond the two Korean states.
This chapter examines the construction of the national food narrative in the DPRK and its relationship to North Korean ideology. It shows that the state’s ideological apparatus often mobilizes food topics to address its immediate problems. To do that, it may invent food traditions by connecting new food practices with the country’s leader (his words, images, writings or biography), and thus legitimizing and institutionalizing these new practices into North Korean social reality. At first glance, the main reason for such inventions might appear to be the DPRK’s notorious food shortages, especially in the 1990s. However, a close study of the North Korean national food narrative reveals that there are more diverse reasons. By stressing the idea of improving people’s nutrition and the key role the state leader plays in this process, North Korean national food discourse reinforces the connection between the people and power. The state leader in this respect not only takes on the role of “the father feeding his children” but is also promoted as the (re)creator of national food history and traditions. To prove this argument and to show the actual mechanics of the invention process, various examples of invented food traditions are presented including the one that the author defines as guerrilla cuisine – the contemporary North Korean eating practices which propaganda relates to the time of Kim Il Sung’s anti-Japanese guerrilla struggle.
In this way, the invention of new food traditions can be interpreted as an instrument for unifying the North Korean people. These new elements in North Korean food culture and imagery help the regime to construct a new, chuch’e-styled worldview and life patterns that will contribute to the formation of the accepted national identity on a very basic level – that of dietary culture.

This article, presented as an essay, brings forward a conceptual reflection on food and culture. In this context, part of the discussion is geared towards commensality and its importance throughout the historical and social process involved in the formation of different peoples, presenting use of fire as a major cultural and social factor that promoted the integration, as well as the core piece for the change of eating habits. The dynamics of commensality, dietary habits in the contemporary era and its connections with the traditional and the modern. This debate also brings forward the approaches used by some authors on the anthropology and sociology of food, the difference between nourishment and food – when it comes to physiological and automatic aspects, such as a support for human survival and the meaning given by the cultural bias – when eating also acquires a symbolic importance. Therefore, this article is based on a cultural and social understanding of food. It is that sense in which, through socially established rules, bonds between the eater and other dynamics involving commensality are created. The present work is a small excerpt of the theoretical framework of the doctorate thesis: " Eating habits and sociability in rural families of the forest zones of State of Minas Gerais: changes and permanences " .

This book is the second of a two-volume collection of essays published on the occasion of the 450 th anniversary of the Great Siege of Malta Editorial

Durante las últimas décadas, la inmigración hacia los países del sur de Europa se ha convertido en una cuestión cotidiana. En el caso de España, estudios recientes señalan que el flujo inmigratorio ha crecido muy rápidamente, cambiando su tradición de país emisor a país de receptor de inmigrantes. Este artículo persigue un doble objetivo, por un lado analizar cómo el cine español representa la vida cotidiana (Lefevbre, 1971; De Certau, 1999; Perec, 1973 y Juan, 2008) de los inmigrantes que llegan al viejo continente; por otro indagar acerca de la importancia de las comidas (Harris, 1992; Deveny, 2012 y Counihan y Van Esterik, 2008) en un corpus de películas españolas que tienen como tema principal la inmigración: Cosas que dejé en La Habana (1997) de Manuel Guttiérrez Aragón; Flores de otro mundo (1999) de Icíar Bollaín y El próximo Oriente (2006) de Fernando Colomo.

- by Julieta Zarco
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- Spanish Cinema, Inmigracion, Vida Cotidiana, Cine Español