Certain nations consume certain foods with particular enjoyment. These foods are usually not eaten merely for their caloric value (if there is any at all), but are consumed with pride (and of course there are many who analyze and/or caricature that pride). With these foods symbolic consumption is often more important than the physical (although we often cannot neglect their physical consumption, the paper will not dwell on this point). One paradigmatic example of such a food is the space Carniolan sausage, which has been physically consumed (if at all) only by an astronaut with Slovene roots. All other Slovenes can only enjoy it through language. When they consume the (space) Carniolan sausage through language, they are most likely consuming that which it signifies. Carniolan sausage is probably the most common, most dominant, most satisfying (»culinary«) signifier of Sloveneness; it is a sort of Slovene culinary flag. But, following Michael Billig, in the case of the consumption of the space Carniolan sausage, what kind of culinary flag are we dealing with: one that is being waved or not?
