Culture is not only the summation but the expression of beliefs, practices, experiences, adaptations, and traditions. Our cultures influence our lifestyles based on our attitudes, personalities, traditions, economics, and backgrounds. Culture is not all about looking at others but learning about their different cultural backgrounds including food, entertainment culture, music and level of indigence through sharing of our experiences in small details.
One of the easiest ways to share culture is through cooking and sharing meals. Food promotes tolerance and diversity thus bringing people together. Each diverse culture has its own expansive food heritage that inclusively covers production, processing, preparation and even consumption. The most interesting thing about food is that it brings together students, artists, movies stars and other professionals from cross-cultural nature from all over the globe. Sharing a meal with others can give you a better understanding of their distinctive food traditions.
Cooking together with your friends, schoolmates, family or colleagues can give you something new to celebrate and embrace in terms of recipes, cooking methods, consumption, and legacies behind every food heritage. The American culture is all about sharing a meal with others as a way bringing people together and nourishing each other. Furthermore, we all know that one does not necessarily have to travel to China, Italy, Japan, Canada, France or Africa to taste their food. Different cultures reside in America among other parts of the world. In today’s world, it is possible to enjoy Chinese, Italian, Japanese cuisines or African delicacies without having to travel all over the globe thanks to food globalization.
Converging and sharing universal food concepts are not only exciting but also interesting. In fact, sharing meals is a binding and communal thing in most cultures in the world. We all love to eat irrespective of where one comes from. Our first memories of food are at the root of our family traditions and legacy. There is nothing as exciting as being able to share a recipe that has been in existence in our family for many generations. Watching friends enjoying your cooking can leave you feeling incredibly special.
For many years, food has been a tremendous vehicle for people from various backgrounds to share their cultures effectively. We have all attended dinner parties and BBQs where we can trace some of our coolest food experiences either as kids, teenagers or adults. Heritage cooking makes it possible for us to taste and share delicacies from different cultures. Our biggest moments in life come during family gatherings where our food cultures are evidenced. Hosting people from different cultural backgrounds and cooking for them what your grandmother or mum taught you how to prepare while growing up will leave you feeling good about yourself.
Believe it or not, food and culture are always interconnected thus bridging our cultural differences in many special ways. For instance, Americans are always importing a myriad of healthier food versions from different traditions and geographical boundaries. Resultantly, it has made it easy for multi-cultural groups to interact, share and embrace each others’ food choices. It is obvious that food plays a major role in each community’s history and heritage. Globalization has made it possible for students from all over the globe to connect successfully with other cultures. This is accomplished through teaching, learning and sharing about their food and nutrition cultures with natives without fear of judgments and assumptions.
It is common for high-end food joints to recruit multi-cultural chefs for effectiveness and convenience. Consequently, it makes it easy for those who love Chinese food, Italian or Indian delicacies to have vivid food experiences within their borders. Whether you are hosting a Thanksgiving feast or a birthday party you can promote multi-cultures through different food experiences. It is imperative to capitalize on such celebrations to trigger dialogues that will help us learn about other people’s food traditions.
To connect across cultures through cooking, you must have the will to share your own food experiences as well as listen keenly to what other participants from different cultures have to say about their recipes. Additionally, refrain from making assumptions about their knowledge, follow their leads, respect others’ personal space, make time to talk, and get to know them better. On a deeper level, cooking can be a tremendous source of happiness and a chance for multi-cultural groups to connect uniquely.
Food globalization makes life more interesting for international students, artists, and others in the entertainment industry. Food heritage allows different multi-cultural groups to combat homesickness by incorporating some of their traditional dishes in their holiday or Christmas celebrations wherever they are. Generally, it is always exciting to share, acknowledge and celebrate food traditions that are unique to your native country.
Sharing a meal with others presents you with an opportunity to get to know them on a personal level. People open more about themselves when their stomachs are not rumbling. You can learn so much from people by creating a memorable and unique food experience. Don’t hesitate to share your food traditions with your multi-cultural friends via Skype, Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Twitter among other social media platforms. The beauty of sharing food with multi-cultural groups is that it allows us to learn and understand their cultures in detail.
It is worth remembering that food habits and practices change over time as multi-cultural groups immigrate. About 90 percent of families bring their traditional recipes with them when they move to new locations to match their personal food tastes and ingredients. Sharing food with others gives you a perfect opportunity to not only promote your culture but to learn about other cultures delicacies and recipes. Don’t forget that every society has its own cultural foods that define their values, beliefs, and preferences. Some food items may not be edible in your country but they are a special delicacy in some regions. All these can only be learned through sharing of meals.
Besides cooking and sharing other cultures’ foods, it is important to focus on how those delicacies are eaten. Different people have their own unique food consumption methods. Taking an interest in the culture behind every dish you taste is a beautiful way of paying tribute to other cultures. Most of our history, beliefs, bonds, traditions, values and shared cultures are created through cooking and sharing of meals. Food has a reputation for uniting different groups of people from distinct cultures. Therefore, there is a need to keep teaching our younger generations how to cook and share food to interact with other cultures effectively.
Bottom line
Learning and understanding other cultures of food besides our American culture can profoundly boost international cultural exchange by making it more fun and exciting. Whether you travel abroad or stay at home, taking interest in different cultural food patterns can result in richer, healthier and unique cooking experiences. Keep it fun.
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