To reflect about food one must endure a wide spectrum of definitions, feelings, and experiences. Food can be simply defined as a substance consumed for either nutrition or pleasure. However, the definition ignores another vast function food serves throughout the life of a modern human being. Almost every person on the planet has memory of a time when they gorged at a special feast that provoked feelings of unity between all the feast-goers. My personal reflection about the significance of food evoked thoughts of human connections and intertwining culture. Food has to be seen as a cultural affair. The public eats in a socially ordered manner. In the environment of one specific culture, there are unambiguous ideas about good and bad table-manners, correct and incorrect ways to present dishes, and clear understandings about food fitting to different occasions. Foods themselves can be seen to convey a range of meanings, such as the ability to communicate information in terms not only of occasion but also social status, ethnicity and wealth. As celebrated food connoisseur Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin stated, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.”
My immediate family does not cook. My parents don’t cook often and when they do, the meal is most likely very simple. Guests are usually taken out to fancy restaurants. Barbeques are also an option. Restaurant frequenting is our family’s specialty. Food preparation as anything but a survival skill was never stressed in my household. Therefore, my memories of food are from occasions outside of my home and my times outside of my family. Food, in my life, has been used as a bridge not to bring my family closer together but as a means to better understand different societies.
My tour group was treated to a traditional Bedouin meal complete with all the customs intact. I learned that the Bedouin’s introductory course, a bowl of fresh and colored herbs, is meant for appetite honing and palate cleansing. I learned that in the days before cars and planes, the site of a Bedouin tent for weary travelers was equal to that of seeing an oasis. Apparently, the hospitality of the Bedouin society is well known to natives of the Middle-East. I learned that sharing a meal with the Bedouin society places one under their protection for up to three days after the meal. Eating with your fingers is the method of choice among Bedouin tribes. More precisely, custom calls for eating with just three fingers on your right hand. I was still imagining how to eat certain foods with only three fingers when the first of the food arrived. The appetizer consisted of a luscious baba ghanoush, a baked and mashed eggplant dish, which was earthy with a hint of citrus juice. Next up was the tabbouleh and hummus. The tabbouleh, a Middle-Eastern salad, was bright and fresh; a surprisingly colorful contrast to the desert lands. The hummus was creamy yet substantial. Mutton ragout was the featured meal, present with whole chickpeas, sheep intestine, grape juice, and breadcrumbs. The cooking was delicate and aromatic. By eating their food with their tribe members, I could get a sense of what it was like to be a Bedouin, if only for a brief moment. 
Traditional Bedouin stove.
Reflecting on that dinner, I can get a sense of the philosophy that the Negev Bedouin live by. The Bedouin emphasize that nature provides the best foods. You won’t find any processed or refined goods in a Bedouin home. By living and eating with nature, the Bedouin feel the need to be peacefully in tune with their environment. During the meal, one of the elders seemed to be able to gauge the upcoming weather based on the vivacious dance of orange, red, and purple in the sunset. The Bedouin live a simpler life. They don’t get stressed about world events and know the importance of keeping a calm and positive attitude towards life. One can look up and read about the Bedouin civilization online or in a textbook, but to share a meal with them allows for one to actually get a taste of the type of life that a Bedouin lives. The context of the dinner meal allowed for the indulgence and transmission of cultural values between an American citizen like me and members of the Bedouin tribe.
Bedouins relaxing during a meal.
While it would be easy of me claim that food is so significant to me because it provides the sustenance of life, I think the real significance comes from food’s ability to become a representation of a society. Food is one of the few universal commonalities between every human. That connection allows for people of completely different backgrounds to communicate effectively. Food is truly important to me because of its pervasiveness within every sect of world society. So before eating your meal, think about the food on your plate and where it has come from. Think about how it has been made and the distances it has travelled to get there. Finally, eat it slowly, savoring the flavors for full appreciation of the culture that brought that meal together.
Kaczmarek, Krzysztof, artist. “Bedouin women prepare food” Photograph. (n.d.) From trekearth.com.
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Africa/Egypt/Inland/Red_Sea/East_Desert_near_Hurghada/photo445086.htm (accessed September 28, 2009)
“Tent.” Photograph.n.d. From darkhlabedouins.com. http://www.dakhlabedouins.com/by_bedouin_life.html (accessed September 28, 2009)
