Much of the burgeoning literature on food in anthropology and related fields implicitly engages with issues of memory. Although only a relatively small but growing number of food-centered studies frame themselves as directly concerned with memory-for instance, in regard to embodied forms of memory-many more engage with its varying forms and manifestations, such as in a diverse range of studies in which food becomes a significant site implicated in social change, the now-voluminous body relating food to ethnic or other forms of identity, and invented food traditions in nationalism and consumer capitalism. Such studies are of interest not only because of what they may tell us about food, but moreover because particular facets of food and food-centered memory offer more general insights into the phenomenon of memory and approaches to its study in anthropology and related fields.

Male‐centred aspects of political behaviour have generally remained the explanatory and interpretive focuses in analyses of the social organization of African pastoralists. While recent work on African pastoralists has shed increasing light on the lives of women, I argue that key assumptions underlying anthropological models of male dominance in these societies have been insufficiently challenged. Drawing on recent approaches in gender and social organization that highlight the mutual constitution of domestic and political domains, I examine comparative material from two well‐known pastoralist societies: the Samburu of northern Kenya and the Nuer of southern Sudan. In doing so, I suggest strong linkages between male‐dominated ‘political spheres’ and areas of domestic life in which the role of women is more significant – particularly processes of domestic food distribution. In re‐examining central facets of Samburu politics – which are best known through Paul Spencer’s seminal analysis of the gerontocratic aspects of Samburu political life – I suggest that the status and identities of Samburu men are in fundamental ways defined through their relationship to women as providers of food within Samburu households. Comparative material from the Nuer suggests, additionally, the strategic use of food by women in influencing male ‘political spheres’. In comparing these cases, I suggest a more general model through which domestic processes of food allocation as realms of female‐centred social action may be seen to play a central role in the forms and processes of pastoral ‘political’ life.

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1Much of our dietary behaviour is learned. In particular, one suggestion is that 'flavour-2 nutrient learning' (F-NL) influences both choice and intake of food. F-NL occurs when an 3 association forms between the orosensory properties of a food and its postingestive effects. 4Unfortunately, this process has been difficult to evaluate because F-NL is rarely observed 5 in controlled studies of adult humans. One possibility is that we are disposed to F-NL. 6However, learning is compromised by exposure to a complex Western diet that includes a 7 wide range of energy-dense foods. To test this idea we explored evidence for F-NL in a 8 sample of semi-nomadic pastoralists who eat a very limited diet, and who are lean and food 9 stressed. Our Samburu participants (N= 68) consumed a sensory-matched portion (400g) 10 of either a novel low (0.72 kcal/g) or higher (1.57 kcal/g) energy-dense semi-solid food on 11 two training days, and an intermediate version on day 3. Before and after each meal we 12 measured appetite and assessed expected satiation and liking for the test food. We found 13 no evidence of F-NL. Nevertheless, self-reported measures were very consistent and, as 14 anticipated, expected satiation increased as the test food became familiar (expected-15 satiation drift). Surprisingly, we observed insensitivity to the effects of test-meal energy 16 density on measures of post-meal appetite. To explore this further we repeated a single 17 training day using participants (N= 52) from the UK. Unlike in the Samburu, the higher 18 energy-dense meal caused greater suppression of appetite. These observations expose 19 interesting cross-cultural differences in sensitivity to the energy content of food. More 20 generally, our work illustrates how measures can be translated to assess different 21 populations, highlighting the potential for further comparisons of this kind.

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