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The Gourmet Religion is an unnamed religion in the Human World that is the main spiritual teaching of the world, with over 9,000,000,000 adherents. It teaches that Food is sacred and that one must have gratitude and respect for all living things and ingredients on the planet.
Gourmet God
Acacia, the founder of this faith is viewed as a holy figure by the people due to all of his great and miraculous achievements in life which, not only brought peace and prosperity to the world, but also began the glorious Gourmet Age. Because of this, he is viewed as having transcended to godhood upon his death and is referred to as the Gourmet God. The ingredients of Acacia's Full Course Menu are also viewed in a holy light, but none more so than the fabled and phantasmal ingredient known as GOD, the greatest ingredient in the world which ended the horrifying Gourmet War 500 years ago.
Gourmet Temple
- Main article: Gourmet Temple
The Gourmet Temple is dedicated to the Gourmet Religion and is considered the holiest place in the Human World with over 9,000,000,000 adherents visiting the temple every day to offer their prayers and respects. The temple grounds are a massive 8,000,000 hectares in size with temples dedicated to each of the ingredients in Acacia's Full Course Menu with the exception of his Hors D'oeuvre.
Food Honor
- Main article: Food Honor
Food Honor is a customary and philosophical practice that's considered the basis for the Gourmet Religion; it teaches to be respectful and grateful to all the ingredients and creatures of the world, this is usually upheld by giving thanks by saying "Itadakimasu" (いただきます) before a meal and "Gochisousama Deshita" (ごちそうさまでした) after a meal. There are some sects that follow Food Honor in different and far more difficult and stricter ways such as the Gourmet Knights and the people of the Lost Forest. Although it is unclear if these sects also follow and worship Acacia, it's clear they still view him and his ingredients in a respected light.
Food Luck
- Main article: Food Luck
Food Luck is the belief of the fortune one can have with ingredients and their daily lives, such as the chances of finding rare ingredients, surviving against nature, or the luck one can have succeeding at a food related event.
Trivia
- The Gourmet Religion draws inspiration and many elements from Shintoism, Buddhism and Monotheism. The Gourmet Temple is also based heavily on the architecture of Japanese Shinto temples.
- A statue resembling a monk or Buddha wearing a rice ball-shaped headwear and belt appears in the Gourmet Temple, suggesting a belief of enlightenment through taste.
- The people of Area 8 revere the mighty 'Horse King' Heracles, however they still have the same principles as Acacia's followers which is to respect and give thanks to food.
- During the PAIR Arc, Coco mentions gods rather than just the Gourmet God, suggesting that there may be a pantheon within the Gourmet Religion or he was simply referring to any deity that may or may not be affiliated with the Gourmet Religion.
- There is a belief in reincarnation and it is implied that even humans can be reborn as beasts.
- A Heaven-like afterlife is mentioned but not elaborated upon. The narcotic ingredient, Electric Banana, can simulate the feeling of having entered the holy plain, however, it numbs the eater's physical senses, causing them to carelessly wander about to the extent of going into dangerous situations. It has been therefore banned from public distribution. Another ingredient, Flavor Snow, is viewed as a gift from the heavens and appears to only rain down rarely once every several decades during Christmas.
- Hell is often mentioned in the series but only by villainous characters who damn their enemies to it.
- The Sanzu River (三途の川, Sanzu no Kawa) or Three-Branched River is also often mentioned within the series which in Japanese Buddhism is the river crossed by the dead to enter the afterlife, like the Styx or Acheron rivers in classic mythology and religions.
- The Back Channel, which is also referred to as the World of Spirits is the border between life and death and can actually be seen and interacted with by the living if one is able to obtain the legendary ingredient PAIR which even allows the living to briefly interact with departed or soon to be departed souls.
- Food Spirits are another unique spiritual phenomena which are the souls of the deceased who linger on in the living world through ingredients and are the source of the unique "Voice of ingredients", as they share their newfound spiritual understanding of food to certain unique individuals so that they may be able to prepare and eat the foods they could not in life. The souls of the people of Area 7 (many of whom are Food Spirits) have also displayed the ability to taste and eat PAIR, although whether this is due to PAIR's unique nature or if Food Spirits can still freely taste food if they wish remains uncertain.