I have just finished preparing a part of tomorrow nights dinner (am I organised or what?) and while doing that I was pondering how food tells us a lot about a culture.

For lunch today I had a beautiful kebab (Turkey), my preparation was getting together the marinade for Tandoori Chicken (India) and tonight I am heading out for Paella (Spanish). In the space of an afternoon and evening I will have engaged with, albeit in only a small way, three unique cultures.

What we eat and how we eat it can tell us a lot about ourselves or about another culture. Many cultures spend lots of time preparing meals that will be shared amongst an extended family. A Friday night sees Jewish families coming together to celebrate the Sabbath meal.

Sadly, for many people in Western countries, food has become utilitarian. We eat because we need to. We also eat alone, or in front of the television. The food we eat is either fast to cook or bought from a place that serves it quickly. Fast food for fast lives.

We could delve deeper and explore where our food comes from. For some cultures it comes from the backyard, or family farm. The animal is slaughtered and because it was the only one the family owns it needs to last all year. For others, we are so far removed from the food production we would struggle to know the difference between a pumpkin and a zucchini (courgette for my British readers) plant. Because we are removed from the farming practices we don’t care what goes into the soil or the animals to prepare them for our table.

So if what we eat and how we eat has a large part in define us, what does it say about you?

Photos courtesy of roland and Christian Cable