YOU ARE WHO YOU EAT WITH.

Back in the 90's, I was reading a book on Spainish and Portuguese cooking. There was a chapter on why pork and seafood are so commonly combined in some of their most famous dishes. Food is history, especially in places with a longer history than ours. According to this book, this practice began about the time the Umayyad Caliphate invaded Europe across the Strait of Gibralter between the 7th and 8th century. A great, or not so, Turkish/Muslim invasion that did not end until it reached Belgium. A side note, when they abandoned Belgium they left behind these beans which most of us can't  go a day without. Ahh, coffee, which is probably spelled kave on the southern Mediterranean basin. So why the unnecessary 'F'? 

Back to my story. It was very important for the good people of the Iberian peninsula to know if their guest was from God's party or were from the dreaded INFIDEL, the Jewish or Muslim faith. They were no different than Republicans today, maybe more polite. Then again there was the very real  issue that Jews and Muslims were fordiden to eat pork, so if a guest was rummaging around in his Cataplana to see if pork was swimming in the rich seafood broth amid the  abundant fish and shellfish, one might get suspicious. Spanish and Portuguese Catholics of the 7th century were not unlike Christian nationalists of today, except the food was better. They might have been more heroic explorers, too, they both made it into the Pacific Ocean, we fetched up on Plymouth Rock. As an aside, I suppose that in the last 1200 or so years, the culturally suspicious haven't gotten around to that other way of telling infidels, which applies only to men; women meaning nothing to any of those groups, anyway. I guess that's some kind of blessing. Even today.Then again there's a lot of not infidels that could get snared in this display of power. To which Republicans 

 would ask, "so?".

They did it wrong then, they're doing it wrong today. People who prefer ruling to governing just don't get it. That cataplana of rich Portuguese stew was influenced by thecultures and food from the countries Spain and Portugal had visited. Well conquered, actually. It was then added to the local food, herbs and vegetables of the local Potuguese or Spanish community. It was a savory melange that people will remark upon many years gone. And what damage would be done if you might have to share it with an infidel, or a liberal, or some other community you don't understand but are told to fear?