Blood, water, and (nowadays) coffee are embued with cultural meanings. Whether denoting pollution (to some), blessings, or connoisseurship, the ritualized behaviours around the use and categorization of these liquids (sometimes…

Those in control set the menu. Whether reflecting on deprivations, the loss of autonomy through monotony, or using food to celebrate treaties, this panel probes food as an effective tool…

When, what, and how much to consume? Whether explicit or implicit, these questions shape cyclical religious fasts and feasts and underlie quotidian practice. In their observance, these rules and rituals…

Cuisine is often a fundamental marker of identity, with shared expectations and the reassurance of belonging to a group. Yet cuisines (and individual foodstuffs) are constantly evolving within the globalized…

Folklore often features stories of abundance, taking the listener away from the fears of hunger to exalt in the fecund harvest, and modestly wasteful rituals reinforce the hope that the…

We have all been frustrated by the recipe that "doesn't work," whether inartfully drafted or through our own mistakes. But what is the role of the text, given that cooking…

Challenging rule-driven food practices, redefining rules of etiquette and where trends, traditions, and rules for food come from, this panel investigates unconventional dining, cultural symbolism, and the playful nature of…

The "discovery" of food as an academic subject and well as increasing prominence in popular culture and discourse has created new technologies, organizational structures, and venues for talking about and…

Finding familiar foods when one is away from home, especially when part of a diaspora community, can challenge the outsider to find new ways of enacting innate rituals to maintain…