Abstract
Anthropologists have long recognized that rules and practices concerning food and caste in India are closely intertwined. The ritually highest ranking Hindu castes are characterized as protecting their purity by accepting cooked (or kacca) food from no one of lower caste status and those at the bottom as accepting food from anyone (see, e.g., Mayer 1960;Marriott 1968;Dumont 1970;Béteille 1996: 56–60;Deliége 1999). Caste identity is also reflected in what people eat: castes within the Brahmin and Vaisya varnas are usually vegetarian; castes from the other two varnas might eat meat; and Dalits, Muslims and Christians — located outside the classic four varna model altogether — might also eat beef (Deliége 1999: 38; Staples 2008). Variations in preparation and tastes are also frequently attributed to caste as well as to strong regional affiliations. For example, some Brahmins, older women in particular, avoid garlic, onions and other ‘heating’ ingredients deemed inappropriate for their bodily substance (Lamb 2000: 193; Daniel 1987), while others claim to adopt a more complex or refined meal structure than their regional peers from other castes.
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Staples, J. (2014). Civilizing Tastes: From Caste to Class in South Indian Foodways. In: Klein, J.A., Murcott, A. (eds) Food Consumption in Global Perspective. Consumption and Public Life. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137326416_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137326416_4
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