The role of food in different religions

Food is important in all five of the world religions. Each religion has its own traditions, and there are strict rules around what is allowed or not. For many families, it is important to pass on these traditions and rules to their children. Food plays an important role both in everyday life and celebrations, but particularly during religious holidays. What food traditions does the religion you belong to have?

Accessibility icon The role of food in different religions

Religion and food

It is important to know a bit about food cultures in different countries. Religious consideration is important here as well. 

Food cultures vary from country to country but can also differ within a country.

Tradisjonsmat
Tradisjonsmat

Hindu food traditions

There are different sects within Hinduism, so there are different rules on what you can eat. Many Hindus are vegetarian, but in general Hindus can also eat meat. For those who eat meat, they want the animal to be killed quickly (jhatka). They believe that it causes less pain. 

One of the most important things in a Hindu family is the meal. It brings the family together. 

Some Hindus fast, which means not eating food for a longer period of time, or on special days of the week. All in all, food plays an important role for Hindus all over the world.

Nearly 80% of the population is Hindu. Indian food plays an important role in traditions.

Indisk måltid
Indisk måltid

Vegetarians

About a third of Hindus in the world are vegetarians. They believe that you should not kill someone to get food for yourself. There are many fruits and vegetables you can eat instead. 

You can find vegetarian food in India by looking for a green circle inside of a green square. Vegetarians can eat milk products, but if you are vegan, they are not acceptable. 

In restaurants, it is common to have the menu split in two, one part for vegetarians and one part for non-vegetarians. 

Holy cows

Amongst Hindus, cows are holy, so they do not eat beef. Milk is allowed both to drink and eat in milk products. 

One exception is poor people. They can eat beef if they find a dead cow in the wild. 

Hindus can eat chicken and lamb.

A warm lunch

It is common to eat hot meals several times a day. At lunch, many people bring food from home that can be heated. It is common to share food and they can end up with a large buffet.

You can also get your food delivered from home or from a restaurant. This is called dabbawala.

Tea and sweet treats

Tea is very common in India. Most people start the day with a cup of chai. This is tea with milk and spices. Chai tea is sold everywhere, often with snacks or sweets.

It is common to get a cup of chai when you are shopping for clothes. 

Indians celebrate several festivals and holidays during the year, and sweet treats are often at the top of the menu.

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Indisk hellig ku
Indisk hellig ku

Islamic food traditions

Islam is a large religion and covers huge areas in different parts of the world. So not everyone follows the same rules when it comes to food. 

But there are some shared rules. Eating blood is forbidden and eating pork or any animal that died naturally. The forbidden food is called Haram, and Halal means food that you can eat. Meats that you can eat are lamb, beef and chicken.

Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting. This means that there is no eating from sunrise until sunset. When Ramadan is over, there is a celebration which is called Eid al-Fitr.

Islamsk mat
Islamsk mat

Pork

In the Quran, the holy book of Islam, it is only the pig that is totally forbidden. Here is an example from the Quran: 

 

“You are forbidden carrion, blood and pork; and any flesh over which the name of any other than God is invoked; and any creature which has been strangled, or killed by a blow or in a fall, or has been gored to death or half-eaten by a wild animal, saving that which you make lawful [by slaughtering properly while it was still alive] and what has been slaughtered at an altar.” (Quran, surah 5.3)

 “Say [O Prophet], ‘In all that has been revealed to me, I do not find a ban on anything to eat, except for carrion, flowing blood and pork, all these being unclean or profane.” (Quran, surah 6.145)

The ban includes everything that has pork in it. The pig is seen as dirty and bad for your health. 

Ramadan

All Muslims fast during Ramadan for a whole month. It is written down in the Quran. 

 

It is not allowed to eat or drink from dawn to sunset. The word Ramadan means “great heat.” Ramadan is in memory of when the Quran was first shown to the Prophet Muhammad. It is written in the Quran: 

 

“The month of Ramadan is the month when the Quran was sent down as guidance for mankind with clear proofs of guidance and the criterion by which to distinguish right from wrong.” (Quran, surah 2. 185)

 

When Ramadan is finished, people celebrate with a huge party called Eid al-Fitr. They eat a lot of food and sweets. 

Id al-Fitr

Different kinds of food are eaten during the celebration. After 30 days, it tastes good. Some of the dishes that are eaten are:

Biryani

This is a rice dish that many people have. Biryani is rice with spices and meat or vegetables.
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chicken-biryani

Dolma

Dolma is made of vine leaves that are filled with meat, rice and spices, rolled up and cooked. Have a look at the recipe:
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-make-stuffed-grape-leaves

Samosa

These are triangular, deep-fried pies that are often filled with sweet potato, cod and peas. See recipe:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/samosa-recipes

Halal

The word Halal means “permitted”. Muslims are only allowed to eat meat that is halal. You can eat lamb, ox, beef, fish and chicken.  All types of vegetables, fruit and herbs are also allowed.

There are rules on how the animals must be butchered. The animal must be killed quickly and emptied of blood. Muslims can not eat blood. 

There are also some more rules:

  • The animal must not have died naturally
  • The animal must be emptied of blood
  • The animal must be butchered in the name of Allah by a Muslim
  • The animal must not experience any unnecessary pain
  • The animal must not be butchered in front of other animals
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Halal
Halal

Jewish food traditions

People that follow the Judaism faith follow kosher guidelines. Kosher is Hebrew and means ‘appropriate’. It tells the people what they can eat to follow traditional Jewish law. 

The rules on what a Jewish person can eat come from the Torah – the five books of Moses in the Bible. Kosher is what is allowed to eat and treif is what is not allowed to eat.

In the Bible, God says that people should be vegetarians. But in another place in the Bible, God says that Jews can eat certain animals, but not all. 

The Jewish must show respect for the animals that they eat and kill them in a human way.

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Jødisk mat
Jødisk mat

Kosher

There are strict rules for food preparations in a kosher kitchen. Milk and meat must be separated and raw materials and kitchen supplies must be kept apart. For that reason, many people have two of everything. 

Many Jewish homes have two sinks, one for meat and one for milk. They label the forks and knives they eat meat with and have an extra set of baskets in the dishwasher. Some may even have two refrigerators!

The Purim celebration

The Purim festival is celebrated in the spring. People wear nice clothes and bring gifts for each other. An important part is reading the book of Esther from the Bible. History has it that Queen Esther saved the Jews from a massacre a long time ago.

After reading the book of Esther, people eat biscuits called Hamantaschen. They are filled with jam, seeds, or Nutella. 

There is also a tradition to give food to family, friends, the sick and the poor. They give several things in a decorated basket called Mishloach Manot.

Pesach

The most important Jewish holiday is Pesach. It is celebrated in spring. In old times, Pesach was celebrated by people who gathered in the temple in Jerusalem. Pesach has been called the “Jewish Easter” but it started long before Christianity. 

The Bible says that the Jews were slaves to the pharaohs in Egypt. Pesach is celebrated in memory of how Moses helped the Jews when they were held and captured. This story passes on to the next generation.

To make sure this happens, a ritual meal – seder – happens at home with the family. Food  to symbolise Jewish history is prepared. Some of the food is eaten while other dishes are there for decoration.

The Sabbath meal

In Judaism, the Sabbath is celebrated every week. The Sabbath lasts from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday. First, the Sabbath lights are blessed and lit, and then everyone starts eating. The oldest man in the house blesses the wine – kiddush, and cuts the Sabbath bread – challah.

The Sabbath ends when three stars show up in the sky. 

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Purim
Purim

Buddhist food traditions

Buddhism is about doing the least possible damage to people and nature. Many Buddhists are vegetarians, but you don’t have to be. Buddhists see life going through different stages as they learn more about life. There are different rules for different stages in life. 

We have to eat to stay alive. For Buddhists, it is important that we eat to survive, not for other selfish reasons. 

It is important for Buddhists to think of the damage they can cause to nature.  We shouldn’t leave a larger footprint than we have to.

In Buddhism, many live as monks. These monks have their own rules about life. The diet is very strict, and they can’t eat after 12 noon. 

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Buddhistisk munk
Buddhistisk munk

Vegetarians

Buddhists are often vegetarians. The rules get stricter as you get higher up in the stages. Buddha’s teaching is about finding a good path in life and showing kindness and love. When you get a deeper understanding, you can move on to the next stage. 

With each stage, you need to follow stricter rules about food. In the second stage, it is not allowed to kill to get food. But you can accept gifts. In the third stage, you must be a vegetarian.

Vesak

Vesak celebrates in memory of the birthday of Buddha, the day he got enlightenment, and the day he died. All of this happened on the same date.

It is a happy celebration. Homes are cleaned and decorated, and many people give food to the monks. 

Giving to others is one of the most important things in Buddhism. Nobody should have to live in hunger or poverty.

Buddha stir fry with eight vegetable

Here you can mix different kinds of vegetables that represent good luck, wealth, happiness, family, wholeness, and long life. 

The number eight represents the number of routes in Buddhism that lead to enlightenment and inner peace.

Stir fry is where the food is cooked with a lot of oils in a wok. Here is a link if you want to try it:
https://www.thekitchn.com/lucky-8-stir-fry-recipe-23125914

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Christian food traditions

All food is allowed in Christianity. But it varies from country to country. Many Orthodox Christians and Catholics fast, but Protestants do not. But it is really up to the individual. Some are vegetarians because of the animals and others eat whatever they want.

In the beginning, Christians were keen to be different from other religions and have a relaxed attitude to food and drink.  

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Barn spiser kalkun
Barn spiser kalkun

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has been celebrated since 1899. This is a church service where food is put out to show gratitude for all the good things we have to eat. 

Holy Communion

The Holy Communion is a symbolic meal that plays an important role in Christian church services. The meal is bread and wine. 

 

The Holy Communion is based on the story of when Jesus and the disciples ate their last meal together before Jesus was captured. You are forgiven for everything you have done wrong through the Holy Communion.

The first Christians

Paul the Apostle believed that Christians did not need to stick to old diet rules. He wanted people to have relaxed feelings about food and drink. 

He believed that the food rules were orders from men and not from God.

In his letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote, among other things: “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days” (The Bible, Col 2, 16)

Christmas food

Food is a big part of the Christmas celebrations for Christians. The celebration is quite similar all over the world. The biggest difference is that some fast and others do not. 

In Norway, the tradition is to eat cod, pork ribs, turkey or pork chops on Christmas Eve, as well as Christmas cakes, rice cream, cloudberry cream, clementines and marzipan. We don’t cut back on food when it comes to the biggest holiday of the year.

For those who can’t afford expensive party food, there are many organisations that offer food and gifts.

The Catholic faith is spread across many different countries, so Christmas traditions will vary quite a bit.

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Nattverd
Nattverd

Sources:

  • Kværne, Per; Jacobsen Knut A.: Hinduisme i Store norske leksikon på snl.no.
    Hentet 2021 M09 22 fra
    https://snl.no/hinduisme
  • Cohen, Katrine Jutrem; Groth, Bente: Sabbat i Store norske leksikon på snl.no
    Hentet 2021 M09 23 fra https://snl.no/sabbat
  • Thomassen, Merete; Rasmussen, Tarald: Nattverd i Store norske leksikon på snl.no.
    Hentet 2021 M09 24 fra
    https://snl.no/nattverd
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