Emergence of National Food

What do deep fried mars bars cod and Bulgarian yoghurt have in common? Each have become symbolic foods with specific connotations located to a very specific place and country.<br/><br/>This book explores the role of food in society as a means of interrogating the concept of the nation-state and its sub-units and reveals how the nation-state in its various disguises has been and is changing in response to accelerated globalisation. The chapters investigate various stages of national food: its birth emergence and decline and why sometimes no national food emerges. By collecting and analysing a wide range of case studies from countries including Portugal Mexico the USA Bulgaria Scotland and Israel the book illustrates ways in which various social forces work together to shape social and political realities concerning food.<br/><br/>The contributors hailing from anthropology history sociology and political science investigate the significance of specific food cultures cuisines dishes and ingredients and their association with national identity. In so doing it becomes clearer how these two things interact and demonstrates the scope and direction of the current study of food and nationalism.