AMERICAN REGIONAL CUISINE AN INTRODUCTION TO IMPORTANT VOCABULARY -MS. HARPER

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: Culture: The beliefs, attitudes, values, customs, and habits accepted by a community of individuals.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: Culture is learned, not inherited. It is passed from generation to generation through a process called enculturation.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: Cultural membership is defined by the term ethnicity.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: Assimilation occurs when people from one cultural group shed their ethnic identity and fully emerges into the majority culture.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: Acculturation: When people from one cultural group moves to an area with different cultural norms, adaptation to the new majority society begins.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: Bicultural: When the new cultural group is a complementing, rather than competing with ones; ethnicity.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: An ethnic group: A race or nationality of people with common characteristics.

Roles of Culture in Food Habits: The foods and food traditions that belong to an ethnic group are called Ethnic Foods.

Components of Culture Material Culture: Anything made, grown or harvested from nature by people Made: cheese, processed foods Grown: corn, fruit, vegetables, domesticated animals Harvested from nature: game, water, herbs, spices, fungi, salt

Language: The means of communication people use with one another. Components of Culture Language: The means of communication people use with one another. Slang terms Terms associated with cooking Menus

Components of Culture Symbols: Anything that carries a particular meaning recognized by members of a culture. Example: Golden Arches

Components of Culture Values: Our judgments about the world around us. Judgments meaning: good vs. evil, right vs. wrong, beautiful vs. ugly, fat vs. thin.

Beliefs: Our judgments about what is true or false. Religion Science Components of Culture Beliefs: Our judgments about what is true or false. Religion Science

Norms: the rules, which guide our behavior. Use of Silverware Components of Culture Norms: the rules, which guide our behavior. Use of Silverware Order of meal / Course

Symbolic use of food: Food is more than simply nutrients. Bread: “Staff” of life One “breaks bread” with friends Represents the body of Christ in Christian Communion. White bread = Wealth (traditionally) Dark bread= poor Wheat bread= concerned with health “lots of money” = lots of money