Food - the mystery of giving

According to the myths and legends of various peoples, mankind stems from a gift—the fire that Prometheus stole from the gods, the leavening that the Virgin Mary took from the Sybil. In all cases the acquisition is vital for civilization, it is a nourishment coming from the outside. Food and exchange are intertwined since the onset of Indo-European civilization, and reciprocity regulates the flow of social relations just as a floodgate would regulate the water flow. Between the two extremes of hospitality and hostility, the sharing of bread is what distinguishes companion (Latin cum-pane) from adversary, the Latin hostis in the sense of host from hostis in the sense of enemy. Even in our age, many forms of belonging revolve around food: food can symbolize identity as well as opposition, in a constant alternation of contact and contagion, gift and poison, measuring society’s health.