The Importance of Feasting

The Importance of Feasting

By: Chef Axel Brave

For centuries people have gathered around food to cultivate community. 

From ceremonial occasion to welcoming newcomers, gathering around a table has been a magnificent method to bring people closer.

A recent trip to Stonehenge, Salisbury, England has opened my eyes more. Touring through the museum, a part of it is sectioned off and dedicated to Food At Stonehenge. Guided by appetite, my eyes skimmed through the pictures of grains, fruits, and bones that were found on site centuries ago. 

On the wall read:

“Across the world people hold feasts to celebrate religious and social occasions, to demonstrate power or to strengthen community ties. New scientific research is revealing the crucial role that feasts played in life at Stonehenge…This is a story of long-distance travel, spectacular ceremonies and vast quantities of food. When set in the wider story of what we know about diet and other feasting sites from later in prehistory, this new research shows how important food was in creating a sense of identity and community for the people who build and used Stonehenge.”

This has now become engraved in our mind, or rather, resurrected by cleaning off the stale crumbs from what we already know. 

Growing up at home was almost a managerial role. 

Chores had to be done, of course, but hosting guests was of great importance. At home, people came and went. Family, friends, acquaintances, monks, artists, musicians, writers, architects, developers, professors, over-served guests, exchange students, refugees, and the list goes on. Being taught at a young age how to take care of these people prepped me in a way that helps AXEL Provisions steer through a saturated consumer-packaged goods market. But more importantly, it gave me the privilege to meet so many different and foreign peoples. Naturally, when these people would arrive, we would feast. 

These feasts allowed everyone to gather around during a moment in time to discuss, debate, yell or praise whatever it was.

Details will not be revealed of the good, bad and ugly, because what is more important here is the fact that the Feast welcomed everyone. The “new scientific research” isn’t very new, because we already know, deep down, that gathering around a feast for any occasion is a great way to bring people closer.

Our products aren’t just delicious authentic-foods, but rather tools to help cultivate these feasts. As said at Stonehenge, these occasions will help create a sense of identity and community for those coming together to feast.