It is in the tradition of
orality that fathers whispered to their sons the secret of
places where truffles could be found. Practical experiences
involving writing, and later literacy, raised the degree of
expectancy associated with their consumption. They affected the
shift regarding the eating of truffles from the sphere of the
natural (the pigs that used to find them, and liked them
probably as much as the gourmets, had to be replaced by
specially trained dogs) to the realm of the cultural, where the
interests of human beings prevail over anything else. Through
language processes paralleled by the semiosis of high
gastronomy, truffles enter the market as sign-of a
discriminating palate, of snobbery, or of actually knowing why
truffles are good.
Language and food interact. This interaction involves other sign
systems, too: images, sounds, movements, texture, odor, taste.
Through the influence of language and these other sign systems,
the preparation of food and the appropriate drinks becomes an
art. In the age of illiteracy, the languages of genetics,
biology, and medicine make us aware of what it takes to avoid
malnutrition, what it takes to maintain health and prolong one's
life. Literacy was reinforced in the convention of how people
eat, what, when, and how satisfaction or disappointment was
expressed. In our new nutritional behavior and in our new
values, literacy plays a marginal role (including interaction at
the dining table).
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