The Symbolic Functions of Culinary Practices Shaping Romanian Gastronomic Identity
The Symbolic Functions of Culinary Practices Shaping Romanian Gastronomic Identity

Summary/Abstract: In approaching Romanian dominant feeding and cooking practices diachronically, our paper intends to outline some specific social and cultural factors leading over the centuries to either scarcity or abundance of food, and ultimately, to the social phenomena of poverty and wealth. In addition to influencing culinary trends and fashions, the particular geo-political context of our country (including the cyclic change of the seasons and the alternation of peace and war times, on the one hand, and of fasting and fast-free periods, on the other hand) also played a significant role in getting the population divided into well-fed vs. starving people. The theoretical background is mainly provided by the anthropological food studies conducted by Levi-Strauss (particularly Le cru et le cuit, 1964 translated as The Culinary Triangle, 1966), whereas the research methodology is largely influenced by a model of analysis proposed by The Social Issues Research Centre from Oxford, in a 1998 report to the European Commission examining the Social and Cultural Aspects of Drinking. Applied to the situational context specific to the Romanian population, national foods and meals fulfil four symbolic roles similar to the ones attributed to drinking: situation definers, indicators of social status, gender/age differentiators and statements of affiliation.

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