Impact of Religion and Culture on Traditional Food Usage and Dining Practices

Impact of Religion and Culture on Traditional Food Usage and Dining Practices

Religion accords a notable, “set of guidelines, implicit or explicit, prescribing a specific manner to collect, select, prepare, consume, preserve, and store food,” (Cummings, Francis and Marvin, 28). In Buddhism, consumption and food selection practices are highly liberal, with directions only accorded for banquets and holiday periods. Rice is usually held as the traditional food in Buddhist communities and is therefore a constituent of the various diets that may be enforced in the belief system. Holiday periods in Buddhism that are associated with food practices are cultivation and harvesting periods where a fraction of the yields are dedicated to Buddha as a symbol of appreciation before consumption. Foods that are accorded such treatment include coconuts, sugar cane, rice, sesame germs, and peanuts. The focus is mainly directed to vegetables and legumes as Buddhist food deities are considered as vegans in their dietary practices.

Meat is only allowed in discriminative periods when greatly valued rituals towards a deity are to be accorded. Upon the dedication ceremonies, the food items are allocated amongst the Buddhist followers as blessed portions (Schmidt and Paul 27). Rice is a mandated item in this observance as it denotes affluence within farming activities. With regard to events like marriage ceremonies and birthdays, the food types are not limited by tradition. In funerals however, most Buddhists prepare puffed rice as a reflection of the demise. Food restrictions are majorly revealed within the monastery practices as related to the premise that sacrifice is a prerequisite to spiritual progression. Fasting is mandated in one or two instances within daily routines with the eating periods employed for mediation functions. In this, food is served in three separate articles, the first containing rice, the second bearing vegetables and the last holding soup. As the monks consume these food items, it should be on a reflective note in a bid to rid evil and substitute the same with good.

Greed and extravagant practices are condemned within the monks feeding practices. The populaces are charged by the Buddhist doctrine to accord food gifts towards the monks as this is projected to the famished phantoms of demised relatives or for individuals banished to hell. Rice helpings during normal meals should therefore be totally cleared to overcome the aspect of wastage while the serving items should be left with little food to reflect lack of greed. In Hindu religion, an individual bears the right of selection for three traditional food diet combinations, both under religious and cultural practices. The Sattva comprises of honey, milk and milk products, assorted nuts, fruits, vegetables, legumes, water, herbs and cereals amongst others (Schmidt and Paul 79). Used to denote poise within an individual’s life with regard to the mind status and therefore, the intensity of purity within the food items as dictated by the freshness and lack of manufacturing stabilizers or additional elements are considered as significant elements. The handling of the diet as concerned with cooking has to be maintained as at a very superior level to overcome the problem of infectivity.

Organic foodstuff is therefore proposed towards the preparation of the given diet. Additives like spices are excluded in this form of eating for purity purposes. The servings accorded to an individual are also restricted and hurried eating is condemned. Just like Buddhism, one is expected to consume the food items on a meditation aspect. Rajas on the other hand maintains the same food items but with high seasoning during the preparations to signify a zealous situation (Insel, Don, Kimberley and Melissa 9). Tamas is highly rejected by most Hindus and it has similar food products that are consumed in large levels that reflect a greedy lifestyle. Other food items like alcohol are also categorized in this diet. Food has also to be consumed in a clean environment as it is shared between individuals and deities. Before any food consumption, prayers have to be accorded with the water poured round the food utensils for cleansing. Additionally, some of the water is swallowed to sanitize the digestive system before consumption.

Fasting is observed in Hindu practices, and comprise of lack of food and water consumption for a specific period unlike in Buddhism where the observance involves dining. Within the Islamic religion, accords guidelines into feeding patterns as from then Koran. Permitted food items are referred to as the halal category that uses the measure of taste and goodness to accord food items as healthy for utilization (Schmidt and Paul 147). The haram category on the other hand denoted the prohibited food items that include blood, flesh acquired form a cadaver, flesh from an animal that has been killed by a wild animal, pork, and flesh that has been accorded for devotional purposes to foreign deities. Halal slaying practices have to observe the use of knives to kill an animal and bleed drying the animal before consumption. Consumption within the Islamic religion has to be performed with the right hand and this parallels Buddhist observances. This is because the left hand is categorized as impure within both sects. However, Muslims have to consume all their food items with hands while Buddhists only mandate it to food items like sticky rice, while the rest of the food items employ cutlery.

Fasting in Islam parallels Hindu practices, and the concepts of the halal and the haram rubric are infused in both religious and cultural instances. Within the Christian religion, all food items are considered as fit for feeding purposes, with the only limitation being the eating of blood (Schmidt and Paul 35). Fasting may be categorically placed by the observer as involving complete or partial self-denial with regard to one’s inclinations. In Judaism however, eating practices follow the Islamic pattern with the prohibited group termed as treifa and the permitted being the kosher. The kosher comprises of split-hoofed animals that must be ruminants, birds that do not feed on dead bodies and marine life that has fins and scales (Schmidt and Paul 189). The meat has to be cooked in separate rooms with dairy foodstuffs and the serving should be accorded the same treatment. Fasting regulations are congruent to Islamic observances.

Works Cited

Cummings, Pamela, Francis Kwansa and Marvin Sussman. The role of the hospitality industry in the lives of individuals and families. New York, NY: Routledge, 1998. Print.

Insel, Paul, Don Ross, Kimberley McMahon and Melissa Bernstein. Nutrition. Sudbury: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2010. Print.

Schmidt, Arno and Paul Fieldhouse. The World Religions Cookbook. Boston: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Print.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Completed Projects

Are you looking for a similar paper or any other quality academic essay? Then look no further. Our research paper writing service is what you require. Our team of experienced writers is on standby to deliver to you an original paper as per your specified instructions with zero plagiarism guaranteed. This is the perfect way you can prepare your own unique academic paper and score the grades you deserve.

Use the order calculator below and get started! Contact our live support team for any assistance or inquiry.

[order_calculator]