Cultural Transmission through Culinary Practices

Abstract

 Food is an intrinsic part of human life. Apart from being a source of survival, food serves the purpose of conjugating people from different cultural backgrounds. In a fast paced world, where there is no time to spare, meal time offers great time to communicate and to break bread with one’s family members and associates. Food is an articulation of love and often consorted with hospitality making it a core of many traditions. The alimentary preference of an individual divulges his/her cultural background and in turn communal cultural heritage. Food is a powerful instrument that aids the immigrants in preserving their cultural identity and enables them to attain a place in their new nation. The dietary constituents, preparatory method, choice of food is distinct for distinct cultures. In a cross cultural society, there is a high chance of amalgamation of culinary practices, like the recent mushrooming of multiple multicultural cuisines, which can result in a commingling of multiple cultures. This paper is an attempt to examine the extent to which food functions as a tool for cultural transmission.