cross-cultural understanding through the food we eat

What we consume and the way we consume it - clearly represents our culture and identity, whether national, religious or socio-economic. The easiest way to understand one’s culture goes through our stomach, from where the nutrients equal our energy level, way of thinking as well as behaving.

By dividing this world on two halves, developed and still developing one, the foodstuff industry is getting divided on fast or commercial and traditional or national – common to custom-loyal settings, resistant to the trend of globalization. While developed countries due to dynamic biorhythm have a need of food on the run, developing ones cherish traditional and no less ritual dinette set, which phenomenon emphasizes the reverse proportional dependence of the social development and its alienation. While the fast-food industry nourish the mass of people mostly profit-oriented, traditional cuisine is specially created to bring people together and present one’s mentality in front of foreigner’s eye.

Besides the globalization itself, the trend of warfare from the past has enabled drive of food, but never of its traditional flavor. Back to the imperial times, the Ottoman expansion is known as main Eurasian and MiddleEastern provider of commercially adapted delight, coffee, yoghurt or donner, but never of the original one. The original recipe remains heritage of one nation, which ingredients are especially used to satisfy the local dietary needs. In support of the formula, traveling across the oldest continent, with purpose of getting over the low temperatures, we can notice that people from the northeastern block are consuming alcoholic drinks and fatty foods, while those from the southwestern half, with purpose of getting over the high temperatures are using fresh, skimmed foods and light drinks.

Driven by necessity or tradition, not only our health or physical condition, but our mood and appearance remain digestive dependent, which equation results with: WE ARE WHAT WE EAT.