Plenty of things seem to spring up on the Web, like Japanese tradition of New Year is ritual of food (a newspaper story), and of course there's the ever-popular topic of The Tea Ceremony... but that's almost a cliché of "ritualization", and I'm hoping you'll be more adventurous.
This page on Osaka's food might be a springboard. And then there's that Iron Chef foolishness on the Food Network, ritualization of a high (and unstudied) order.
You should be having fun with this... but I haven't seen any signs just yet.