"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."

Whilst researching tomorrow's dinner menu, I came upon this quote from Physiologie du Gout by Brillat-Savarin, 1822. My search through Australian, Serbian and German recipe websites, left me with one question: how much does what I eat, reflect where I am from?

The Australian cuisine takes its origins from the waves of European and Asian immigrants, such as the tradition of tea drinking (proximity to China) and roast lamb. Serbian cuisine is also a reflection of historical influences of the area, where Oriental and Slavic tastes are dominant. The Romans were the probably the first to make any significant comment on German food. Latin literature records that German cuisine was a simple affair, consisting of a lot of meat and a lot of mead (sausage and beer!). Both France and parts of Italy were later conquered by the Germans and with this came Charlemagne's rule, as did Switzerland and Austria.

I think these excerpts illustrate the connection between food and identity beautifully:

The Visit Serbia website welcomes, but warns: "The prices are low for western visitors, so go ahead, indulge yourself. Be aware though, if you are a vegetarian Serbia might not be the right place for you!"

The Australian Cooking website writes: "...more overseas tourists have probably eaten kangaroo than have Australian-born people."

The German website informs: "...until the Middle Ages, the German diet mainly consisted of meat and their by-products i.e. milk and cheese. Smoking, marinating and salting techniques were developed to store the abundance of meat, a practice which has survived and is evident with their myriad of sausages and preserved foods.".

And after all that, the tall bloke chose Algeria so he will be serving: couscous, Djedj b'L-Qasbour (chicken) and spiced potato cakes. Watch this space!