Paper short abstract:

Short Abstract Festive food is nowadays important part of ethnic and cultural identity. In contemporary Slovenia festive dishes are a substantial part of festivities, but also very important part of family life and cultural heritage.

Paper long abstract:

Long Abstract

Food is not only a component of the material world, but also plays an important role in culture and social life of a community. Preparation and consumption of food, especially festive dishes connect people, creates new relations, and strengthens the position of an individual within the community. Food and food practices also represent a means of establishing and maintaining their ethnic, social and cultural identity. Like some other elements, festive food shapes and impacts the life of family members, and in turn these members importantly participate in the creation of meaning of certain dishes, giving them new form and content. Nowadays, in time of economic crises and lack of time for preparing food, cooking is materialization of love and care. Festive dishes and gathering of families around the festive table became a confirmation of personal values and of life style philosophy. They remind individuals of the past, their childhood, and home, and keep alive Slovene traditions that are perpetuated by means of rituals and values. The utopian view of the former festive table and especially festive dishes and family life does not only symbolize social ties and social division but also actively participates in their creation and rebirth. Having become a symbol of cultural affiliation festive dishes serve to materialize individual's' social, ethnic and cultural identity.