ABSTRACT
As a foreign traveler can attest, the relation between food and national identity is close and strong, as deeply intertwined, perhaps, as the twin yearnings of hunger and love. Not only do citizens of most nations come to perceive some aspect of their cuisine as distinctive, nations themselves are typically associated with particular foods. Consider the people of Japan, whose collective identity is firmly based on their shared consumption of rice, or those of Scotland, who take pride in their distinguished tradition of distilling fine whiskey. These national symbols, of course, are far from arbitrary; the food that represents a nation is frequently said to reveal the special values of the people who live there. A carafe of wine, for example, often serves as the national symbol of France, in part because the complex fragrance of the beverage is a powerful reminder of French concern for aesthetic subtlety. Similarly, a steaming cup of hot tea recalls the nation of England, partly because the leisurely manner in which it must be consumed brings to mind British ideals of civil discourse. Countries are what they eat, or at the very least, people tend to think of nations in culinary terms.
