The Food-Mediated Identity of Maghrebi Muslim Migrants in Italy - Interviews with Cultural Mediators

The migration flows from northwestern Africa have brought many Muslims to Italian cities, where they have settled. Their cultural and affective sense of loss is partially caused by and largely reflected in the food issues they have to deal with, in terms of both compliance with Islamic food rules – and thus “national” religious identity – and nostalgia for the foodways of their country of origin – i.e. social identity. Adaptation mechanisms have led to some unexpected outcomes.