Food and drink culture

Question

This piglix contains articles or sub-piglix about Food and drink culture

Answer 1

Nordic bread culture

Nordic bread culture has existed in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden from prehistoric time through to the present.

Four grain types dominated in the Nordic countries: barley and rye are the oldest; wheat and oats are more recent. During the Iron Age (500 AD – 1050 AD), rye became the most commonly used grain, followed by barley and oats. Rye was also the most commonly used grain for bread up until the beginning of the 20th century. Today, older grain types such as emmer and spelt are once again being cultivated and new bread types are being developed from these grains.

Archaeological finds in Denmark indicate use of the two triticum (wheat) species, emmer and einkorn, during the Mesolithic Period (8900 BC – 3900 BC). There is no direct evidence of bread-making, but cereals have been crushed, cooked and served as porridge since at least 4,200 BC. During the Neolithic Period (3900 BC – 1800 BC), when agriculture was introduced, barley seems to have taken over to some extent, and ceramic plates apparently used for baking are found. Moulded cereals, with water added to make a dough and baked or fried in the shape of bread, are known as burial gifts in Iron Age graves (200 AD onwards) in the Mälardalen area of central Sweden. However, it is not certain that this bread was eaten; it could just have been a burial gift. During the Bronze Age (1800 BC – 500 AD), oats and the triticum species spelt seem to have been the most commonly used grains, and we see the first real ovens, probably used for baking small loaves and perhaps the first bread (probably around 400 AD).

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Answer 2

Philosophy of eating

Philosophy of Eating is a concept of food production and nutritional philosophy that matches the source and result of health together.

The core of these points of view is to attach a mental state of mind with the sources of proper agricultural food sources in a balance of harmony in part because the sources have freshness and purity. Modern assertions are that the fresh foods contain vital micronutrients generally lost in most food processing.

Additional issues are brought to light in modern times where advertising along with subtle cues in color or related sensory inputs are masking substandard or even toxic ingredients present. The masquerade of dyes and organic chemicals from non-food sources become key in the current vernacular of various publications and nutrition movements.

As a book The Philosophy of Eating by author Andrew Bellows in the late 1860s,. The author portrayed the concepts in light of science as well as views drawn from religiosity common in the middle to late 1860's era. So with a biblical fervor as an original direction of inspiration the author then supplies a variety of what was then scientific knowledge to correctly apply that in agriculture to the table in the kitchen. Fresh fruits and grains as those so ordained in the work making up a core of inputs to the meats of the day looked upon in detail most up to that time obtained from the local butcher.

More recent incarnations derived from this are exhibited in raw foodism for people. This manifestation seen in a variety of areas including vegan food preparation and offshoots related. The micronutrients amylases, proteases, and lipases aid digestion. to a variety of shared characteristics of the origins of food spelled out in the 1860s book started to mainstream more so as a backlash to simplify the sourcing to consumption in thought as well a contexts for acceptability.

Contemporary revisiting of this in a new updated book continuing is a more secular scientific work by George Davey who published a 2013 book called Break the Trance. Break the Trance . With more up to date scientific analysis than the treatise from Andrew Bellows the author describes how mechanisms of discovery, chemical masks and the driving forces beyond that of the earlier works in the topic.

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Answer 3

The Philosophy of Eating

First edition

The Philosophy of Eating

The Philosophy of Eating was written by Albert Bellows, published in 1867 with the posthumous edition descriptor line Late Professor of Chemistry, Physiology, and Hygiene, and reprinted in later years to the current Philosophy of Eating. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by Bellows, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District Massachusetts stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry.

An introductory section by Bellows dedicates this edition to "The Five Thousand Ladies" who attended his lectures from 1838 to 1858.

In the preface, Bellows states that we have excellent practical treatises on Agriculture and Horticulture, and every intelligent farmer or gardener may learn what element is deficient, in order to cultivate his grapes, his vegetables, or his grains; and having also chemical analyses of these fruits and grains, and of the materials from which to obtain his deficient elements, he has the means of adapting his soil to all desirable productions.

Anthropologist Robert L. Freedman bibliography published in 1981 a book called Human Food Uses: A Cross-cultural, Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography, Volume 1. This bibliographic work of that time cited in its very thorough coverage for anthropological assay of food in culture.

A follow on work to this book How Not to Be Sick guided the reader into a deeper set of specifics started with this original work. George Davey who published a 2013 book called The Philosophy of Eating Break the Trance.

Davey consolidated into a modernized with scientific breakdown in relation to more modern processed foods that entered the western cultural diets of the new millennium.

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Answer 4

Food photography

Food photography is a still life photography genre used to create attractive still life photographs of food. It is a specialization of commercial photography, the products of which are used in advertisements, magazines, packaging, menus or cookbooks. Professional food photography is a collaborative effort, usually involving an art director, a photographer, a food stylist, a prop stylist and their assistants.

In advertising, food photography is often – and sometimes controversially – used to exaggerate the attractiveness or size of the advertised food, notably fast food.

For a long time, food photographs tended to be shot and composed in a manner similar to the way people were used to encountering their food: laid out on a table setting and shot from an overhead perspective, i.e., from the point of view of the eater. Stylists accordingly arranged the food to appear good from above, with the items arranged flat on the plate and clearly separated from each other.

Later, romantic lighting, shallower angles and more props came en vogue, with extreme cases leading to the term "food porn". Most recently, the prevailing trend in Western commercial food photography is to present the food as simple, clean and naturally as possible and with little props, often using effects such as selective focus, tilted plates, and extreme close-ups. This complements trends in professional cooking to make the food more visually interesting. For instance, the height of dishes tends to increase and their elements are often layered, which lends itself well to narrow-angled shots.

The role of the food stylist is to make the food look attractive in the finished photograph. The time and effort a stylist takes to carefully and artfully arrange the food, is the cause of differences between the way the stylist presents it and the way a home cook or chef may. Visual know-how is also a requirement, as is the knowledge of how to translate the perception of taste, aroma and appeal that one gets from an actual dish, to a two-dimensional photograph.

Food stylists have culinary training; some are professional chefs or have a background in home economics. In addition to knowledge of nutrition and cooking techniques, food stylists must also be resourceful shoppers. As creative professionals they envision the finished photograph and style the food accordingly.

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Answer 5

Social lubricant

A social lubricant is any food, beverage, drug or activity that helps people feel more comfortable in social occasions. Different cultures use different social lubricants for this purpose. Some common social lubricants are:

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Answer 6

Sociology of food

Sociology of food is the study of food as it relates to the history, progression, and future development of society. This includes production, consumption, distribution, conflict, medical application, ritual, spiritual, ethical, and cultural applications, environmental and labour issues.

The aspect of food distribution in our society can be examined through the analysis of the changes in the food supply chain. Globalization in particular, has significant effects on the food supply chain by enabling scale effect in the food distribution industry.

Scale effects resulting from centralized acquisition purchase centres in the food supply chain favor large players such as big retailers or distributors in the food distribution market. This is due to the fact that they can utilize their strong market power and financial advantage over smaller players. Having both strong market power and greater access to the financial credit market meant that they can impose barriers to entry and cement their position in the food distribution market. This would result in a food distribution chain that is characterized by large players on one end and small players choosing niche markets to operate in on the other end. The existence of smaller players in specialized food distribution markets could be attributed to their shrinking market share and their inability to compete with the larger players due to the scale effects. Through this mechanism, globalization has displaced smaller role players. Another mechanism troubling the specialized food distribution markets is the ability of distribution chains to possess their own brand. Stores with their own brand are able to combat price wars between competitors by lowering the price of their own brand, thus making consumers more likely to purchase goods from them.

Since the beginning of mankind, food was important simply for the purpose of nourishment. As primates walked the Earth, they solely consumed food for a source of energy as they had to hunt and forage because food was not easily on hand. By early humans fending for themselves, they had figured out that they needed a high energy diet to keep going on a daily basis to survive.

These developments eventually lead to agriculture, which also goes into the labor for food and the economic part of the sociology of food. As the years went on, food become more and more of a way to bring cultures and people together. In many cultures, food is what brings people together. This carried for centuries. From the homo-sapiens hunting and gathering, to the colonists to the New World sharing a feast with the Native Americans (that carried on as a tradition named Thanksgiving), to the popularization of restaurants/eating out in the last several decades and the togetherness that comes with eating, shows how the communication and connectivity that comes from it. According to sociologists there are different groups of food that are divided up due to their purpose and meaning. There are cultural super foods, which are the stables for a culture. There are prestige foods, which often reflects economic status, body image food which is mainly consumed for the good of the body. Another would be sympathetic foods that are eaten for their desirable properties, like a superstitious property. Lastly, there is physiologic group, which are consumed for a specific category (like what a pregnant woman eats for a healthy pregnancy). These different categories help researchers and sociologists study culture in the perspective of food. It often shows how food grows, molds and changes with society. For example, if someone believes in homeopathy, that would fall under the sympathetic foods or physiologic foods. This is because they are consumed for their properties and beliefs of what it could do. Another example of one of these categories of foods would be caviar or oysters for the prestige foods, because they are often more expensive and those who consume it and purchase it do so to show their socioeconomic status, or SES.

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Answer 7

Food and drink prohibitions

Some people abstain from consuming various foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the meat of a particular animal, including mammals, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs, crustaceans and insects, which may relate to a disgust response being more often associated with meats than plant-based foods. Some prohibitions are specific to a particular part or excretion of an animal, while others forgo the consumption of plants or fungi.

Food prohibitions can be defined as rules, codified by religion or otherwise, about which foods, or combinations of foods, may not be eaten and how animals are to be slaughtered or prepared. The origins of these prohibitions are varied. In some cases, they are thought to be a result of health considerations or other practical reasons; in others, they relate to human symbolic systems.

Some foods may be prohibited during certain religious periods (e.g., Lent), at certain stages of life (e.g., pregnancy), or to certain classes of people (e.g., priests), even though the food is otherwise permitted.

Various religions forbid the consumption of certain types of food. For example, Judaism prescribes a strict set of rules, called Kashrut, regarding what may and may not be eaten, and notably forbidding the mixing of meat with dairy products. Islam has similar laws, dividing foods into haraam (forbidden) and halal (permitted). Jains often follow religious directives to observe vegetarianism. Most Hindus do not eat beef, and some Hindus apply the concept of ahimsa (non-violence) to their diet and consider vegetarianism as ideal, and practice forms of vegetarianism. In some cases, the process of preparation rather than the food itself comes under scrutiny. For instance, in early medieval Christianity, certain uncooked foods were of dubious status: a penitential ascribed to Bede outlined a (mild) penance for those who ate uncooked foods, and Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary (in a letter preserved in the Boniface correspondence, no. 87) asking him how long bacon would have to be cured to be proper for consumption. The Kapu system was used in Hawaii until 1819.

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Answer 8

Witblits

Witblits, or "white lightning", is a clear spirit that has been distilled in South Africa for many years. Witblits is predominately produced in the Western Cape where it has enjoyed over 200 years. Many producers take great pride in their product, often brewing small batches to sell at informal markets so as to maintain or improve their recipes. Another name used to describe this alcoholic beverage is "firewater", a name earned without a doubt from the strong punch it delivers.

In 1924 KWV was granted legal control over the production of wine, spirits and brandy. Accordingly, the distillation of Witblits was criminalized for many years. Although KWV maintained a monopoly on certain lines of liquor, it is evident that many traditions and familial practices could be maintained. Once the ban was lifted distilling for personal use is now legal, provided an appropriate license is obtained.

Witblits is a brandy made from grapes, usually by using leftovers from the winery. Witblits is un-aged, meaning no maturation takes place which results in the liquid staying quite clear. Another one of Witblits' traits is that it is undiluted; this gives it its characteristically high proof. These factors, as with Mampoer, allow us to classify Witblits as Moonshine. The association to Moonshine should not necessarily be linked to quality. Many farmers take pride in making witblits using refined handed down recipes resulting in a brandy of higher quality than typical moonshine.

Drinking - The dominant reason for production. Witblits consumption is associated with social activities as well as those of relaxation.

Cleaning Agent - Thanks to Witblits' high alcohol content it is really good at cutting through stains and clean them up. Add to this that the alcohol has a strong smell and evaporates quickly, it can be used to assist with deodorizing too.

Medical Applications - Witblits is a strong disinfectant, again due to the high alcohol content. Alcohol denatures proteins very well and by extension germs too. Soaking items in Witblits or rubbing it onto an area where skin is going to be pierced (Example. injections and piercings) will reduce the risk of infection.

Herbal Remedies - The high alcoholic content has found use by many as a solvent in tinctures, increasing the shelf-life and effectiveness of the flowers and herbs in use.

Various farms producing Witblits in the Western Cape have scheduled witblits tastings and witblits tours to promote the liquor and raise the profile of their brands. In Philippolis, located in the Free State Province, an annual Witblits Festival is held every April, where visitors to the festival and taste and purchase their Witblits liquors. If you do find yourself attending the Wiblits Festival, be prepared to witness or partake in the ’bokdrol spoeg’ a competition which involves spitting Witblits-soaked kudu droppings.

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