Abstract
Have you ever heard of the domino effect? President Eisenhower put it in his well-known 1954 statement: “You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what happens to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly.” Eisenhower introduced the term as a Cold War strategy, but who could deny that it also applies to societies or our lives? So indeed, a single decision or minor change in our lives can sometimes rapidly and drastically alter the trajectory of our lives. For example, Turkish society has had two major breaking moments that have had a huge impact on its destiny: embracing a new lifestyle and a new religion. The Turks, who were a nomadic Asian nation that adopted the religions of Tengrism and Shamanism, both settled down and adopted Islam, a monotheistic religion, around 800 AD. In parallel with changes in their lifestyle and religion, they experienced fundamental changes in their dietary preferences as well as other aspects of their lives. In this context, Turkish cuisine and dietary preferences were heavily influenced by the society’s historical background, cultural values, and religious transformations. The purpose of this paper, in the case of Turkey, is to examine the dietary preferences of Turkish society, with a focus on the religious and socio- cultural factors that have influenced Turkish cuisine, the relationships between gender and dietary habits, and the role of food culture in maintaining societal solidarity.
Presenters
Fadime ApaydinStudent, Ph.D., University of California, Riverside, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Key Terms: Dietary, Family, Food, Gender, Religion, Solidarity, Turkish Cuisine
