ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with food and religion because both concepts take everyone back to origins. Food comes from the hearth, the heart of the house, it symbolizes a deep connection between kitchen, eating and maternal love, family union. When food interacts with geography, the relationship can easily turn from descriptive and promotional to mocking and false. The big food corporations find themselves in the firing line of anti-capitalist protesters in a way that even the major banks seldom do; the big banks may symbolize the cold pounds and numbers side of global capitalism, but the big food corporations symbolize control over very bodies. The food known as Cepelinai or Zeppelin has come to symbolize Lithuanian nationalism in a complex way. The Zeppelin consists of potato dumplings filled with mince or cheese, and is a popular family dish in Lithuania; it also symbolizes Lithuanian national pride.
