Românii între Septentrional şi Meridional. Repere pentru o etnologie a alimentaţiei
The Romanians between North and South Europe - Highlights of the Ethnology of Nutrition

Summary/Abstract: The paper is based on structuring the European space in four areas (Mediterranean, Central and Western, Eastern and Scandinavian) and two power systems: the Mediterranean (with strong vegetarian diet, centered on wheat, wine and oil) and the Celtic-Germanic (based on meat, animal fats and beverage produced by fermentation). We considered it useful to present ethnographic and linguistic arguments due to which the Romanian civilization is characterized as a pastoral one which includes both specific food dominant in the Northern zone as well as the triad of Southern food valued positively in the spread of Christianity. The items presented diachronically are completed with a rich set of oral traditions (apocryphal legends and ceremonial ritual texts) which demonstrate that food is related to archaic mythical patterns that consecrate it as a divine gift, not only in the ritualistic field but also in the festive and even daily one.

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