The basis of the gastronomic systems of world civilizations was grain. The basis of the diet of the barbarians - carriers of nomadic culture - was meat. The way of life determined the food, but the food, in turn, influenced the way of life. As agricultural and pastoral associations of ethnic groups developed, food became a marker and became the most important factor of identification and self-identification. The final demarcation was prevented by the nomads ' campaigns in the agricultural regions. The mixing of peoples led to the merger of agricultural and pastoral principles, and this predetermined the emergence of the richest gastronomic cultures of the Middle East and Near Asia. How this happened is described in the book by Anna Pavlovskaya.Anna Pavlovskaya-Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at Moscow State University. 'Passions around Meat, or The Food of Nomads' is the fourth book in a series devoted to the history of food. The first three - ' The Kitchen of Primitive Man '(2015), 'From the food of the gods to the food of people' (2018) and 'The Art of Food' (2018) - were also published by Lomonosov publishing house.