{"id":350,"date":"2026-03-11T12:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T12:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/?p=350"},"modified":"2026-04-03T11:03:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T10:03:31","slug":"the-power-of-circles-on-your-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mccs-journalism.gold.ac.uk\/wp\/schima\/2026\/03\/11\/the-power-of-circles-on-your-plate\/","title":{"rendered":"A Serving of Circles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Featured image: blinis,<\/em> image courtesy of Pixabay<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From <\/strong>g<\/strong>alette de rois<\/em> to tang yuan<\/em>, we explore the cultural significance of circular food served up around the world<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever noticed how many foods are round? Why do so many cultures serve circular foods? Across cultures, with French galette des rois<\/em>, Chinese tang yuan<\/em>, or Eastern European blinis<\/em>, circular foods appear repeatedly. Perhaps it’s just how they are made, the tins or pans they are cooked in, or maybe there’s another reason for these circles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Food anthropologist and founder and director of Ethos Food Research<\/a>, Florencia Alvarado<\/a>, explains that this pattern is not accidental. In many societies, she says, \u201clife and time are represented in circles\u201d. Alvarado points to a classic anthropological idea: \u201cThere is an obligation to receive, the obligation to give, and the obligation to repay, which is a circular logic that sustains social life.\u201d Food, she adds, is therefore never only practical: \u201cFood is a total social fact.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most visible ways this symbolism appears is through sharing. Circular foods are designed to be shared. Heather Sharkey<\/a>, a professor in the department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of Pennsylvania, notes that the shape itself makes this possible: \u201cRoundness makes something divisible for sharing.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daryna Korostii<\/a>, 22, the president of Goldsmiths University\u2019s Ukrainian Society<\/a>, describes how communal eating remains central to many traditional dishes. Speaking about borscht<\/em> (a sour soup traditionally made with beetroot, vegetables and meat stock), she explains, \u201cYou can eat it alone, but it\u2019s not that nice \u2013 it\u2019s nicer with someone.\u201d With borscht, people often eat pampushky<\/em>, which are small, round garlic bread rolls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Borscht<\/em>, image courtesy of Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The same is true for circular, small pancakes \u2013 blinis<\/em> \u2013 eaten during Maslenitsa<\/em>, a spring festival. Fedor Mikhailov, 19, the UCL Russian society<\/a> welfare officer, says \u201cpeople eat blinis<\/em> for many occasions,\u201d but mostly during this week of Maslenitsa<\/em>, where a straw statue is burned at the end, symbolising the transition from winter into spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Egypt, circular biscuits called kahk<\/em> (made with flour and sugar) serve a social and religious purpose. They are eaten during Eid Al-Fitr, the Eid after Ramadan. Shahd Soltan<\/a>, 21, an Egyptian university student living in London, describes how baking them becomes a community ritual. \u201cAll the neighbours start knocking on people\u2019s doors and cook in each other\u2019s kitchens\u2026 they put their trays in the oven together and start talking. It\u2019s a bonding moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kahk<\/em>, image courtesy of Yasmin Soltan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beyond sharing, circular foods are also associated with deeper historical and spiritual meanings. Alvarado notes that many cultures historically understood existence itself as cyclical: \u201cIn many ancient cultures, life and time are represented in circles. Everything repeats.\u201d For Sharkey, circular foods can also \u201cbe a sign of perfection, recalling divinity\u2026 symbolising the world in its wholeness and holiness\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In France, circular foods carry layers of historical and religious meaning. Agathe Grandval, a long-time collector of 341 f\u00e8ves<\/em> (small porcelain figurines hidden inside the traditional galette des rois<\/em> cake, made with almond cream) based in Paris, explains that the dessert comes from two distinct traditions that later merged. \u201cOn one side, there was the Christian celebration of Epiphany,\u201d she says, \u201cbut in Roman times there was also a festival called Saturnalia, when people shared a cake with a bean hidden inside.\u201d During Saturnalia, she explains, the person who found the bean (often a slave) could become \u201cking for a day\u201d and ask for whatever they wanted. In the Middle Ages, another custom emerged: the winner had to buy drinks for everyone, which led to people swallowing the bean to avoid paying. \u201cThat\u2019s why it was replaced with a porcelain figurine, so no one could cheat,\u201d she says. Today, the tradition is secular but still centred on sharing. \u201cIt has become more about conviviality,\u201d Agathe explains. \u201cPeople don\u2019t always know the meaning anymore, but the idea of sharing remains.\u201d  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The circular shape itself also carries symbols: \u201cThe galette is round like a crown,\u201d she says, adding that whoever receives the piece of galette<\/em> with the f\u00e8ve<\/em> must wear a cardboard crown and \u201cpick their king or queen\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Galette des rois<\/em>, image courtesy of Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In some religious traditions, however, circular foods still hold explicit theological symbolism. In Orthodox Christianity, the link between circular food and religion is clear. Serafim Williams, 22, a committee member of the Liverpool Orthodox Christian Society<\/a>, describes the prosphora, which is a small circular loaf used in the Eucharist (a central Christian sacrament and act of worship commemorating the Last Supper). It is stamped with the phrase \u201cICXC NIKA\u201d, meaning \u201cJesus Christ conquers\u201d, and is offered during the Divine Liturgy, the central act of worship. For Orthodox believers, the circular shape carries deep theological meaning. \u201cThe circle represents the eternal nature of God. He who is without beginning, the Alpha and Omega,\u201d Williams explains. During the preparation of the Eucharist, particles are removed from the same round loaf to represent Christ, the Mother of God, the saints, and the living and the departed. \u201cAll come from one bread, showing that heaven and earth are united in and around Christ.\u201d For Williams, the symbolism is deeply personal. He recalls his first time serving in church after being ordained as a reader: \u201cI thought I had done everything wrong. But at the end, the bishop placed the largest, most ornate prosphora I\u2019d ever seen in my hands and congratulated me on my perseverance.\u201d He ends by saying that without this circular bread, \u201cwe couldn\u2019t have Christ living in us\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Circular foods can also symbolise unity and reunion in everyday cultural traditions. In Chinese culture, circular foods can represent social harmony. Rena Wang, 21, a student originally from Ningbo in China, explains the meaning behind tang yuan<\/em>, sweet glutinous rice balls eaten during the Lunar New Year: \u201cFrom September to February, people are separated by work or school, and the Chinese New Year is a symbol of reunion for families.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tang yuan<\/em>, image courtesy of Olie Ma<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, Wang mentioned the similarity of this word, which sounds like \u2018tuan yuan<\/em>\u2019, which means gathering as a family. In Ningbo, tang yuan is usually made with red beans or osmanthus and eggs. Living abroad, she says, the dessert makes her homesick, because people might not have these ingredients in their local culture, and therefore relate. Additionally, she recalls many memories linked to this food, which she grew up eating in Ningbo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Daryna also explains that she now feels a stronger desire to cook traditional dishes to stay connected to home. Through the Ukrainian Society, she helped organise a bake sale in which students made approximately 90 mlyntsi <\/em>(pancakes typically filled with jam, cherries, or cottage cheese).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blinis<\/em> or Mlyntsi<\/em>, photo by Urfa Sahi via Unsplash <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Food also often reminds one of personal memories. For Shahd, kahk<\/em> is inseparable from a childhood moment with her grandmother: \u201cShe gave me a small gift of money, while I was eating kahk, and it just felt special.\u201d Similarly, Fedor associates blini with his great-grandmother, saying, \u201cShe used to make them almost every time we visited her.\u201d This is what anthropologists call food\u2019s emotional function. As Alvarado explains, \u201cFood represents love and care.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite recurring symbolic themes, Alvarado warns that one should not oversimplify the meaning of circles. In general, \u201cWe create food to represent our social rules and cultural meanings.\u201d In other words, circular foods are not inherently meaningful, but they become meaningful through the ways people use them to share, to celebrate and to remember. As Sharkey puts it simply, \u201cRoundness in food often makes good sense.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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