ABSTRACT
Gastronomy exhibits all the elements which the traveller interested in food appreciates: the production, preparation, traditions, meanings, tableware, manners, even superstitions and magical thoughts and, of course, food. The Jewish community around the world is the best example of how a people's identity can prevail, even after having lost their territory. A very good example of this kind of identity is Tex-Mex gastronomy, found in the border zone between the United States and Mexico. A different case is that of expatriate colonies, communities that for various reasons must relocate in a place beyond their political borders and which successfully adapt their gastronomy to the new gastronomic landscape. Nowadays, Californian gastronomy has become a common ground for geographically distant cultures: using forks, sticks or fingers are valid ways to enjoy an inclusive cuisine. Understanding the evolution of a cuisine as a biocultural process indifferent to political borders makes us discover on every table the human act of cooking and sharing food.
