Local food is very important to a country. So important, that countries sometimes fight over it. Their signature dishes are like their identity. Something to be strongly guarded. There are countries that fiercely guard the originality of their local delicacies.
Many of us know how important food is to us. Essentially, it sustains us and keeps us going (alive, in other words). Food connoisseurs see food as an enjoyment. Most of us do too: New creative delicacies or simple convetional or traditional ones do work up the taste buds in your tongue and give you satisfaction, don't they. All the more a reason for governments to protect their delicious heritage - and to them, signature dishes mean a lot more than mere pleasure and self-indulgence. It's their identity. Something uniquely theirs. It is what makes them stand apart from other nations. Some food for thought, ain't it.
Still can't figure out how important food serves as an identity to a nation? Watch 'Food Fight'. It depicts the many different wars that occured over the years. The countries are represented by their 'national foods'. See if you can identify them. Ask yourself: why are you able to?
And indeed, there is a lesson about international harmony to be learnt from this too.
