Comunicar mangiando

The article discusses the role of food as an instrument of identity and a channel of contact through cultures. This is argued drawing from the food practices of international migrants in the context of the global flows of people and commodities in present day Italy. In this regard, food plays an essential role in the rebuilding of a familiar context in which migrants can feel temporarily "at home". At the same time, food is an important form of communication and contact between different cultures and social contexts. In this process of exchange both migrants and hosts, food habits and diets are modified as they incorporate elements and ingredients from each other, making more porous the boundaries of difference.