Please discuss your “favorite” of the 3 readings, and talk about why – highlight some of the specific ideas & perspectives presented in the article(s) so that we can talk about them. (Try to refer to exact references, so we can follow along, take notes, and use your references for our own work).
Once you have opened your post with your overview of your favorite reading for this week – answer the following and give examples from both the reading and your research…
How do we begin to consider women’s self-definition through her relation to ethnic cuisine (Patron, 177)? Thinking about this question, how do you see your own immigrant food narratives being one of the tools that might help to provide an answer and/or rationale?
In what ways does the immigrant culinary narrative, or any food narrative offer a perspective of food’s presentation in a family both oppressive and liberating? What kinds of social dynamics would you say are at play?
What does it mean to “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” (Williams-Forson, 437).
How can we use the study of food in NYC to come to various understandings and findings about race and culture? – What have you been finding in your research so far?! – Discuss your areas / research & findings and share.
March 10, 2017 at 11:38 am
My favorite reading for this week was “Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression: Louise Desalvo’s Memoirs and the Female Italian American Experience.” I believe this reading was my favorite because I can personally relate to it on a family level. My grandparents on both sides of my family are Italian immigrants and my family still maintains traditions from “The Homeland”. I can compare Libera’s desire to maintain cultural Italian traditions to my own grandmother’s desire to do so. It seems like Libera’s family had more of a desire to assimilate to American culture than my family did so my grandmother didn’t turn out as bitter as she did. My grandmother always wanted us to hold up family traditions, like going to church and then having family dinner early in the afternoon every Sunday, usually a nice big pot of my mom’s marinara sauce and some pasta. My favorite meal as a child was my mom’s sauce and raviolis, and it still is a favorite of mine. Libera and her family weren’t allowed to stay in the very italian Hoboken (pg 178), and that upset Libera. My grandmother on the other hand grew up in Red Hook, which was very Italian at the time, and then later moved to Bay Ridge. I feel like my family being on the same page when it came to the amount of assimilation that they wanted to undergo helped avoid the conflict depicted in the narrative between Libera and Desalvo’s mother.
We can look at my family again when discussing a woman’s self defined relationship with ethnic cuisine. My mom loves to cook and she has been doing it her whole life. She cooks almost all of our meals at home, and works as an assistant manager at a group home as well. Her favorite thing to cook is her sauce because it is also the food that she cooks best. It has taken a lifetime to hone in on the perfect recipe and it is time well spent. My grandmother didn’t cook as much, but she definitely loved eating Italian food. The person i’m interviewing for the food narrative is also a mother that works and cooks meals for her family. I feel like once I interview her I will have another perspective on her relationship with her ethnic cuisine, and I can compare it back to my own family as well as Desalvo’s.
Food presentation in the family can be both oppressive and liberating, depending on the situation that someone may be in. If someone is cooking food for their family because they enjoy cooking than it can be one of the more liberating experiences out there. When the passion is there for doing something you love it becomes fulfilling on a whole new level. On the other hand, if someone is cooking only because it is what the rest of the family is telling them is their “role”, then it can be oppressive on the mind. If you don’t enjoy cooking then it just becomes another tedious job. Cooking an entire meal can become very tiresome if you dont have the passion for it.
To me looking at the home as a “culinary landscape for race, gender, and ethnic negotiation, compromise, and accomodation”, relates to the freedom we have in a kitchen. In a kitchen we can cook whatever food our bodies desire, as long as we have the ingredients and the recipe. It doesn’t matter what food the culture comes from, as long as our taste buds enjoy what they’yre tasting. I can walk down the street and have a plethora of different ethnic foods, and I have the freedom to try all of them. When we try the food of another culture, we open a door to their experiences, and that is something that makes the kitchen special.
Studying these cultures, as we’re doing in the food narrative, helps us paint a more wholesome picture of the NYC experience as a whole, and I think that is beautiful.
March 10, 2017 at 12:15 pm
My favorite of the three readings was “Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression: Louise DeSalvo’s Memoirs and the Female Italian American Experience” by Theodora Patrona. Food is central in any Italian household, and it was interesting to compare my family to DeSalvo’s.
Patrona comments how authentic Italian food “acquires mythic dimensions through the lenses of distance and nostalgia” (p. 179). This provides another opinion on the authenticity of a dish, as previously discussed. The distance here literally refers to being away from her homeland. However, I believe that it also represents a figurative distance between two cultures. True, DeSalvo remains an Italian no matter her geographical location. Cooking Italian cuisine in America serves as a “connecting link” to her Italian roots (p. 179). Similarly, the nostalgia is invoked “with every concoction, every flavor” (p. 179). Personally, when my mom is making a pot of sauce, the aroma permeates the entire house. Just smelling immediately causes me to think of my childhood and the warm feelings surrounding it.
Another issue that Patrona presents is the Americanization of foreign cultures. Americans often tried to “replace the immigrants’ colorful ethnic dishes with ‘American’ ones” (p. 180). But what is American food? America was founded by immigrants from different cultures, so how can there be a single, collective American culture? The differences between multiple immigrant groups always leads to conflict and animosity, with one group believing themselves to be superior. The earliest settlers ravaged the Native Americans, seizing their lands and lives. They then founded this new America at the expense of the only true natives. Later waves of immigrations were met with hostility by the new “Americans.” Immigrants were forced to assimilate – and Americanize – because of fear of the unknown. Because cultures different then their own were unfamiliar, they were deemed to be too ethnic. It is through food, however, that immigrants were able to resist. Food in the household truly represents home.
The self-definition of women can be seen through her relation to ethnic cuisine (Patrona, 177). Most cultures traditionally had women being the primary meal preparers. Now, however, with many women having joined the workforce, cooking has become almost another chore. Personally, my mother makes dinner for my family every night after a full day of work. But there exists a difference when she cooks on the weekdays and when she cooks on the weekends. It is almost a chore for her to cook after work, as she is exhausted and no one is home yet to help her. (And I am truly very grateful that she always makes great meals for us). On the weekends, however, it is a different story. My extended family often comes over, and we all spend time in the kitchen aiding in preparation. It is a much more fulfilling experience, and it certainly does not feel like work. Rather, everyone is happy to help. As a result, food in our family is both oppressive and liberating. It is oppressive because my mother still cooks every night, yet it is liberating when the entire family comes together to make a joint meal.
Psyche Williams-Forson writes how she looks at the home “as a culinary landscape of gender, race, and ethnic negotiation, compromise, and accommodation” (p. 437). Gender, race, and ethnicity all become evident in the preparation of food in the home. “[P]rocuring, preparing, eating, and cleaning up food are mundane, usually one-sided gendered tasks” (p. 437). In my family, as mentioned above, my mother does most of the work surrounding cooking. My sister and I both help with the cleanup, but the preparation and cooking are all performed by my mother. Historically, the daughter in many families are often made to take over this role from the mother. My sixteen-year-old sister, however, does not cook in my family and is not made to.
My personal investigation into the history of spaghetti and meatballs in New York City has led me to discover a relationship between immigration and food. True, spaghetti and meatballs is an Italian dish and can be found at any Italian restaurant across the globe. However, meatballs were not first created in Italy – they were made right her in New York City. Meat became a staple in meals, not a luxury. Ground beef is a lower grade meat than say filet mignon, and it is relatively cheaper. Immigrant women began incorporating them in their meals, making them into small balls that were easier to cook. And, as they say, the rest is history.
March 10, 2017 at 12:19 pm
My favorite reading was Sydney Mintz’s discussion on the travel of food and authenticity of foreign food. I liked it because it made the most sense to me out of the reading and I understand and agree with most of the major points brought up.
How women are defined through their ethnic cuisine seems to be an interesting question, because it already contains the implication that cuisine is an indicator linked to women. it almost takes advantage of the fact that women are usually one ones preparing food while the man works. For my own food narrative, i will have to learn more about the women who prepare the food i am researching and figure out what constraint or culture or other factors lead to the popularization of these dishes in Russian culture.
Food can give a decent insight into cultural narratives because meal times are in many cultures a communal or at least a family event and in some cases are even the only time of day the whole family is gathered at one time. what come up during meal time conversations, the level of value and appreciation for a cook meal, how much time and effort are put into gathering everyone for a single meal, and many other factors are all important to analyze with respect to the food for the look it gives into foreign cultures. other important things to note is pre meal traditions, from the absense or presence of saying a prayer to thanking the cook and all in between that happens before people ‘dig in’.
“look[ing] at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” (Williams-Forson, 437). means to not simply take food at face value and to look into the culture importance of the food, the meal, the meal time, the cook, and all other aspect about the food. it is to extrapolate from what is apparent in order to gain insight into a foreign nation’s customs that have been brought here by immigrants.
March 10, 2017 at 12:52 pm
My favorite article would have to be Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression: Louise DeSalvo’s Memoirs and the Female Italian American Experience. This piece realted to my life because my grandma too was one of the most important cooks in my life. After coming to America from Russia and not being allowed to take her Medical Degree with her, my grandma stayed home and took care of myself and my cousins and cooked us amazing meals everyday. This story is very well written and does a great job of explaining how ethnicity ties in with food and makes each meal have its own special meaning.
When discussing a woman’s self-defined relationship with ethnic cuisine we can look at our interviews to shed light on the general idea. My interview for example shows that a woman’s relationship with food starts from a young age. She is brought up in a certain food culture and is affected by it for the rest of her life no matter where she moves to in the future. In Russia it was customary for the woman to prepare all the meals and specific ones at that. Even going to toady that custom still stands when she prepares family dinners at home or for guests.
Food presentation in the family is a tricky subject because depending on the why, it can drastically affect the woman’s happiness in presenting. For example, if the woman wants to be creative and create an outstanding presentation for her family because she is passionate about cooking that is good and it makes her happy. On the other hand, if a woman is being forced to present for a group of guests or for her family but only because they say it is her role, that can be degrading and upsetting. The social dynamics at play are the typical ones in this situation, that a woman’s sole purpose is to be a type of house keeper that must cook and clean and provide for her family and this is the wrong dynamic to be at play.
Understanding Forson’s quote “I look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race, and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” takes a heavy amount of unpacking. First we as the reader must understand that the landscape of the “kitchen” while ever changing over the last few centuries has not changed one main component..women. Women are still tasked in most instances to be in charge of the culinary situation at home, and while Forson says there is a landscape, I believe she means all the different stories and upbringing of women have created a diverse and important landscape when it comes to cooking. In addition, I believe her quote to describe a certain type of freedom that allows us to expand our pallets and try a large variety of cuisines and meals. This is another important understanding of the quote.
By studying the food culture in NYC we are able to come to the understand that people have come together from all around the world to shape New York’s food scene and make It amazing. When it comes to my project about Pho I have tried, with several language barriers, to find out more about the Vietnamese culture as well as the preparation of the dish. It is important to understand the back story behind the cook and the meal itself.
March 10, 2017 at 1:35 pm
Like many of my classmates, my favorite reading too was “Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression: Louise Desalvo’s Memoirs and the Female Italian Experience”. Although I am not Italian, I am Greek and I feel that though the whole Mediterranean area could relate. When I think of Greek culture and food, I think of my grandmother. My grandmother grew up in a village and Greece and left the country to go to Paris at a very young age to work. After coming leaving her country, my grandma never changed. She maintained all of the Greek culture and traditional dishes she learned from her mother in Greece. A lot of the meals that my great grandmother taught my grandma, my grandma has taught my mom. Because I love this food so much and love Greek culture, I feel the desire for the dishes to be passed down to me from my mother. My grandma used to be very traditional with her recipes; however, now because of perhaps American influence, she changes up her recipes once in a while to see if she can get a different taste from them. More often than less, my grandmother cooks meals that she used to eat at the village and “every concoction, every flavor” comes back to her and she tells us stories (p.179). All of my family still remains in Greece, except for my grandma and grandpa; however, they are moving back to Greece this year. After doing the reading, I reflected on my favorite meals from my childhood and the way I felt eating them, and I really want to learn how to cook so I could always preserve that feeling.
I think women’s self-definition through her relation to ethnic cuisine is very important and depends on how women feel about food. I think that my immigrant food narratives definitely have proved that. The women I have spoken to seem like strong caring women and define themselves as so. The fact that they cook their ethnic cuisine for their husbands and families doesn’t make them a slave. Instead, these women view this action as caring for their families and preserving culture. They don’t look at food or cooking as an object or a chore. This reminds me of when I was watching my grandma cooking in Greece when I was younger. She was blowing kisses into the soup while she was preparing it and told me that it was for love and luck. This stuck with me because I realized how delicate and valuable cooking and the food was to her. I never knew food could mean so much to someone.
Different immigrant culinary narratives offer different perspectives; however, the women that I have spoken with all say that the food’s presentation in their family is liberating. I could use my mom as an example for how cooking can be oppressive. I am one of four kids, so our family is six in total. When she cooks meals, she has to cook in very large portions, and this can be taxing for her. The traditional meals that she cooks for us sometimes take all day to prepare, so although she loves to cook, the task can be very oppressive and it becomes difficult for her to cook everyday for us.
I believe that to “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” means to look at the family as a whole (Williams-Forson, 437). There are different families from all over the world with different race and ethnic backgrounds. In addition, different traditions have different races cooking the food. In some cultures it is only socially acceptable that women cook whereas in others, the men take initiative to cook. I think NYC is a great example to study this because everyone is so diverse. In addition to being diverse, everyone has brought their cultures food to America which allows for American infusion into other cultures foods which results in new dishes and foods.
March 10, 2017 at 1:42 pm
My favorite reading for this week was Gabeba Baderoon’s “Everybody’s Mother Was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking.” In her writing, Baderoon considers Muslim food, noting differences between the idea of Islamic food and Muslim food, introducing Malay food, and exploring Muslim food as a whole through the eyes of Muslims. The interviews with Muslims from South Africa revealed that Muslim food was not just a matter of Halaal (lawful) versus Haraam (unlawful) food, but a matter of flavors and traditions. Baderoon cited specific differences in attitude towards the cooking of men and women across the different genders.
1. In South African Muslim culture, cooking, like in many cultures worldwide, is traditionally a woman’s job. One of the interviewed man informed Baderoon that though he considers his mother to be a good cook, he never thought his mother saw herself that way, as traditionally a woman’s cooking ability was not a talent on its own, but a direct correlation to her success as a woman. That said, we can consider women’s self-definition as a matter of culture and food within a culture. Who cooks in that culture? How is food a part of that culture? My immigrant narrative involves a possible tradition of Mexican grandmother’s sending mole paste to family in the US to preserve culture. Upon further investigation, it’s possible I may find a family that has a grandfather who sends this paste instead.
2. A food narrative introduces the influence of genes roles within food’s presentation. In South African Muslim culture, women did the mundane cooking, the regular family cooking, while men cooked for public or group events such as weddings. It is also noteworthy that Muslim women would prepare the food to be cooked by men at an event (such as chopping vegetables, etc). In this way, food can be seen as oppressive, as women were able to cook regularly and be involved in the cooking for an event, but were not to openly be given credit for their contribution, while men would use the public creation of a meal as an act of slender and masculinity. On the flip side, the woman (or rather, a mother) was the controller of food in a household and thus held the tools for what was considered to be a strong family binder. The mother would traditionally pass down this powerful artistry to her daughters and, in some cases, also her son. The act could be seen as a way of bonding or an act of stress depending on the person.
3. The food of a culture is influenced by time, trade and tradition. The culinary landscape of a culture can reveal gender roles, patterns of cultural diffusion/ exchange, and change. For example, Muslim food in South Africa has influences from Africa, Asia, and Europe, based on a rich history of the travel of Islam and people.
My area of study, Central America/ Mexico, has sprouted cultural questions, as well as insight into cultural dynamics. During my interview, my friend spoke well of her mother, aunts, and grandmother in relation to their roles in the creation of molé. Upon reflecting on the readings, I noticed that she didn’t mention any versions of mole created by the men in her family. This implies that traditionally in Mexican culture, women have control over not just the creation of food, but the preservation of tradition.
In addition, because molé comes in several variations depending on the region and people preparing it, my own personal tastings of molé in New York have varied. The molé I ate in the summer last year was by far the best, made in Freeport. I recently had molé from Merrick and noted a significant change in flavor (lack, thereof). This may be a reflection of Mexican culture, but I am pressed to consider that it more likely stems from the travel of food. The cultural dynamic of Merrick is extensively different from the cultural dynamic of Freeport.
March 10, 2017 at 2:05 pm
My favorite reading was “Everybody’s Mother was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking”, by Gabeba Baderoon. The article presented many different interesting ideas. First off, the author does research on what food symbolizes to different groups ages, genders and marital statuses. She studied Muslim cuisine specifically. In doing so I find her research very sufficient and relatable. She goes face to face to answer these questions. I find her research more relatable than other articles I’ve read because she acts with a more modern approach.
Another topic she focuses on are the prohibitions of Islamic food. She speaks about the perceived rigidness of their laws, something I can relate to. As a Jew, I am prohibited from eating a variety of foods including pig, shellfish, and mixing meat and dairy. Learning more about foods that are halaal and haram, are two concepts that aren’t unfamiliar to me. In Judaism as well “interpretations and thus practices vary.”
One of my favorite parts of the article was the author’s inclusion of real life responses to the question “What is Muslim food?” She received a varied degree of responses ranging from the description of their unique tastes to a list of classic Muslim foods. Their responses symbolize the ways food can have different meanings to everyone. It shows that food can be “highly specific and highly fluid.” It shows how variety of ways food can be vital to a community.
Food Is also highly symbolic of gender roles in a community. Food gave women power. It developed the structures through which families are tied together, and women were in control of making and preserving it. Now, in younger women, a change in attitude towards food has been observed. Younger girls have less of an affinity towards being in the kitchen and many prefer eating in a restaurant. To older woman this was un-relatable. Their role in the kitchen was vital to the preservation of family tradition. As a young woman, these ideas are relatable to me. Many times I prefer to eat out rather than make myself something or having a home cooked meal. I find going out a better experience because of the fun atmosphere and variety in tastes. It’s definitely a more modern concept, and something my grandmother and I disagree on. However, I do largely appreciate my grandmother’s foreign foods from the Middle East. I find them both delicious and a crucial way of remembering my heritage and roots. I do believe that experiences with new foods can be very satisfying as well.
A woman’s self-definition through her relation to ethnic cuisine is very important. Many women feel their roles in their household and even society are bound to their roles in making foods that are a part of their family tradition. This of course is a more old-fashioned idea, an idea that many young women today do not take upon themselves. In my family, my grandmothers have been defined by their roles in making food, feeding their families and passing down recipes through generations. To many young women this idea may sound “sexist” and “unfair”, however to my grandmothers it is not. Their food is something they are proud to call their own and a part of their heritage. It is not about “feeding their husbands” or being
“bound to the kitchen”, it is a practice they believe they excel at. Their ability to cook the foods they ate growing up in the Middle East here in America and pass on these foods to their Americanized families is crucial. It is a symbol of success and preserving their own roots. It is easiest to do so through eating food, because food is what brings people together. And in this way, an immigrant culinary narrative is liberating and vital to a family’s heritage.
“To look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race, and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” is important to any relationship. Two people come together in a relationship with many differences that they need to compromise on. This includes their traditions, histories and foods. When two people build a home together, and come from different backgrounds they need to create a negotiation and new life together. They must forge what they already hold to themselves.
In my research so far, I have realized that studying one’s food history is a reflection of their face and culture. It shows what where they have come from, what values they have, what they hold dear, and always brings them back to their home and family. Food is one of the easiest things to pass down through the generations as a symbol of culture and heritage. Food also shows aspects of a person’s immigration story. This is because through immigration, one can examine which foods they lost, kept and modified to eat in their new homes.
March 10, 2017 at 2:23 pm
My favorite of the three readings assigned for this week is Theodora Patrona’s “Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression: Louise DeSalvo’s Memoirs and the Female Italian American Experience.” I found this article particularly intriguing because like my classmates have stated, Louise DeSalvo’s story and her relationship to food is very relatable to anyone who has immigrated to another part of the world. There are many sacrifices that immigrants make: abandoning their norms, sometimes even their values, assimilating to a foreign culture, and essentially replacing one’s conditioned existence with something unfamiliar, perhaps even alien. These sacrifices are burdensome and any immigrant can attest to their struggle to some degree. Patrona articulates that immigrants’ attempt to cook their authentic cuisine is often the “connecting link to the distant home” (179).
When considering women’s self-definition through her relation with ethnic cuisine I can relate to the woman I had interviewed as part of my Food History Project. The owner of “Café at Your Mother-in-Law” is a Korean immigrant born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Ms. Kim has been cooking since a very young age and she brought her talents with her to the United States when she immigrated. As Patrona suggests, cooking is the “connecting link,” and so I believe that Ms. Kim’s restaurant is far more than a business to her. It is her childhood, her nostalgia, and her craft that she has refused to abandon.
As for food presentation in a family being both oppressive and liberating, there are some social-dynamics at play. For example, what role do women have in the society? Are they expected to cook regularly whether they want to or not? I believe that the question of cooking being an act of oppression or liberation relies on the individual woman’s attitude and experiences.
Williams-Forson states that, “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation.” I believe that this quote suggests when living together in a home as a family, there will be differences among individuals; however, they must be overcome by compromising so coexistence, balance, and mutual support for one another can flourish.
March 10, 2017 at 2:30 pm
My favorite read must be Ethnic Identification, Food and Depression Louis Desalvo’s Memoirs and The Female Italian American Experience. And though I am not Italian, I felt a deeply rooted connection between my family’s story in America and Desalvo’s portrayal of her family’s relationship to food in America as immigrants. In the first couple of pages Desalvo brilliantly breaks down and characterizes the three different personalities of the three different generations. Something, I have always noticed but never put into words. Libera, the grandmother, after moving to the suburbs feels “community less” and “country less” (178). And her only comforts in her last age are the “reserved tenderness” she has for her grandchildren and for cooking her home country’s food. Libera can be best characterized as my late great-grandmother, who upon her arrival in America, has always found more comfort in her kitchen with the ingredients that most reminded her of her home country. And then Desalvo goes on to speak of her mother, who refuses to be held down by her roots and virtually has no connection to her food. “Desalvo’s mother is consumed with the desire to assimilate,” like my father who, though he is first generation, acts very much as a second generation American, rejecting most of his past in Ukraine. Though these stories are not the same, the comparisons are endless. Another part that immediately reminded me of my own family is the reverence in which they treat their food. My great-grandmother and grandmother, I remember watching them in the kitchen together, and before every family event, or really anytime I happen to be by them, they cherished the process and everything about the process. From “the production and pur-chase of its ingredients” to “its ritualistic preparation,” this mindset, this connection to their immigrant life was imbedded in their DNA.
Regarding women’s self-definition through ethnic cuisine, in my own family I can see how prominent the ethnic food plays in the creation of identity in a new country. For my grandmother and great-grandmother, and most of their friends and cousins, the kitchen and cooking became their only physical connection to their origin countries. Like in Desalvo’s story about her step-grandmother Libera, my grandmother uses the kitchen as her place of comfort, where she gets to create the foods of her pass and share them with her kids and grandkids. My grandmother has a connection with food that I will never be able to understand. For her, food is an outlet, something she uses to escape from the realities of her situation. But it isn’t simply the creating the food that is so precious for her, rather it is the process of feeding her family which she really derives the most pleasure from. Food, for an immigrant woman, as seen with Desalvo and people in my own life, becomes the ultimate mode of self-definition: food, and especially traditional recipes, encompasses such a big part of their lives.
When I was a kid, and sometimes I still do feel this way (especially in regard to my interviews with woman working in Ukrainian restaurants, I always assumed these women because of their “old world” responsibilities they were forced to be in the kitchen by their oppressive husbands, but now, after reading many of these stories like Desalvo, and also after noticing within my own family and asking questions, food for immigrant women can also be looked at as the most liberating exercise. Coming to a new country is tough, and the acclamation can be even tougher, so finding an outlet like cooking, especially the foods you enjoyed so much in the old country, can be the most liberating of actions. And it is not only about making the foods, its about the process of passing them down to your offspring and having them enjoy their heritage through food. But there is something to be said for women being “forced” to be in the kitchen, or socially expected to, which is not an ideal situation, and I have felt that in certain respects, but that view cannot overshadow the actual liberating reality for many immigrant women.
To “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” is in my eyes, a nice way of putting, the unfortunate reality that follows in the next paragraph regarding the “one-sided gendered tasks” of cooking. I think the landscape is not so much of a landscape and rather cultural expectations, at least in my family, for the wife (my mother) to do everything for my family in terms of cooking. And though this does get tough at times because she works two jobs, she still will always make sure there is food on the table because that is what her mother did as well as her mother’s mother and so on. I can imagine these one-sided gender expectations are diminishing over the generations, I don’t see so much the “negotiation, compromise and accommodation.” But also, when talking about racial negotiation and comprise in the kitchen, I cannot comment, having never seen an interracial family split up the roles in the kitchen, regarding my own life and family and friends, I cannot attest to this statement.
What is interesting about my research is that in regard to Eastern European restaurants in New York City that I have been going to and observing, finding women immigrants working there is pretty common, but what is interesting is the young men I have been finding to work in these restaurants or meat markets. There seems to be a lack of immigrant elder men, but rather younger generations of immigrants coming and working in these restaurants. In terms of race, I have not been finding too many insights with my research, but culture definitely places an interesting role. For the perigoi, even the name and the way you refer to it, though the people I have been meeting all at least speak Russian, they come from different cultures and different countries, so their interpretation of the perigoi or whatever they call it are vastly different (at least that is what they say).
March 10, 2017 at 2:31 pm
My favorite reading must be Ethnic Identification, Food and Depression Louis Desalvo’s Memoirs and The Female Italian American Experience. And though I am not Italian, I felt a deeply rooted connection between my family’s story in America and Desalvo’s portrayal of her family’s relationship to food in America as immigrants. In the first couple of pages Desalvo brilliantly breaks down and characterizes the three different personalities of the three different generations. Something, I have always noticed but never put into words. Libera, the grandmother, after moving to the suburbs feels “community less” and “country less” (178). And her only comforts in her last age are the “reserved tenderness” she has for her grandchildren and for cooking her home country’s food. Libera can be best characterized as my late great-grandmother, who upon her arrival in America, has always found more comfort in her kitchen with the ingredients that most reminded her of her home country. And then Desalvo goes on to speak of her mother, who refuses to be held down by her roots and virtually has no connection to her food. “Desalvo’s mother is consumed with the desire to assimilate,” like my father who, though he is first generation, acts very much as a second generation American, rejecting most of his past in Ukraine. Though these stories are not the same, the comparisons are endless. Another part that immediately reminded me of my own family is the reverence in which they treat their food. My great-grandmother and grandmother, I remember watching them in the kitchen together, and before every family event, or really anytime I happen to be by them, they cherished the process and everything about the process. From “the production and pur-chase of its ingredients” to “its ritualistic preparation,” this mindset, this connection to their immigrant life was imbedded in their DNA.
Regarding women’s self-definition through ethnic cuisine, in my own family I can see how prominent the ethnic food plays in the creation of identity in a new country. For my grandmother and great-grandmother, and most of their friends and cousins, the kitchen and cooking became their only physical connection to their origin countries. Like in Desalvo’s story about her step-grandmother Libera, my grandmother uses the kitchen as her place of comfort, where she gets to create the foods of her pass and share them with her kids and grandkids. My grandmother has a connection with food that I will never be able to understand. For her, food is an outlet, something she uses to escape from the realities of her situation. But it isn’t simply the creating the food that is so precious for her, rather it is the process of feeding her family which she really derives the most pleasure from. Food, for an immigrant woman, as seen with Desalvo and people in my own life, becomes the ultimate mode of self-definition: food, and especially traditional recipes, encompasses such a big part of their lives.
When I was a kid, and sometimes I still do feel this way (especially in regard to my interviews with woman working in Ukrainian restaurants, I always assumed these women because of their “old world” responsibilities they were forced to be in the kitchen by their oppressive husbands, but now, after reading many of these stories like Desalvo, and also after noticing within my own family and asking questions, food for immigrant women can also be looked at as the most liberating exercise. Coming to a new country is tough, and the acclamation can be even tougher, so finding an outlet like cooking, especially the foods you enjoyed so much in the old country, can be the most liberating of actions. And it is not only about making the foods, its about the process of passing them down to your offspring and having them enjoy their heritage through food. But there is something to be said for women being “forced” to be in the kitchen, or socially expected to, which is not an ideal situation, and I have felt that in certain respects, but that view cannot overshadow the actual liberating reality for many immigrant women.
To “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” is in my eyes, a nice way of putting, the unfortunate reality that follows in the next paragraph regarding the “one-sided gendered tasks” of cooking. I think the landscape is not so much of a landscape and rather cultural expectations, at least in my family, for the wife (my mother) to do everything for my family in terms of cooking. And though this does get tough at times because she works two jobs, she still will always make sure there is food on the table because that is what her mother did as well as her mother’s mother and so on. I can imagine these one-sided gender expectations are diminishing over the generations, I don’t see so much the “negotiation, compromise and accommodation.” But also, when talking about racial negotiation and comprise in the kitchen, I cannot comment, having never seen an interracial family split up the roles in the kitchen, regarding my own life and family and friends, I cannot attest to this statement.
What is interesting about my research is that in regard to Eastern European restaurants in New York City that I have been going to and observing, finding women immigrants working there is pretty common, but what is interesting is the young men I have been finding to work in these restaurants or meat markets. There seems to be a lack of immigrant elder men, but rather younger generations of immigrants coming and working in these restaurants. In terms of race, I have not been finding too many insights with my research, but culture definitely places an interesting role. For the perigoi, even the name and the way you refer to it, though the people I have been meeting all at least speak Russian, they come from different cultures and different countries, so their interpretation of the perigoi or whatever they call it are vastly different (at least that is what they say).
March 10, 2017 at 2:32 pm
My favorite reading for this week must be Ethnic Identification, Food and Depression Louis Desalvo’s Memoirs and The Female Italian American Experience. And though I am not Italian, I felt a deeply rooted connection between my family’s story in America and Desalvo’s portrayal of her family’s relationship to food in America as immigrants. In the first couple of pages Desalvo brilliantly breaks down and characterizes the three different personalities of the three different generations. Something, I have always noticed but never put into words. Libera, the grandmother, after moving to the suburbs feels “community less” and “country less” (178). And her only comforts in her last age are the “reserved tenderness” she has for her grandchildren and for cooking her home country’s food. Libera can be best characterized as my late great-grandmother, who upon her arrival in America, has always found more comfort in her kitchen with the ingredients that most reminded her of her home country. And then Desalvo goes on to speak of her mother, who refuses to be held down by her roots and virtually has no connection to her food. “Desalvo’s mother is consumed with the desire to assimilate,” like my father who, though he is first generation, acts very much as a second generation American, rejecting most of his past in Ukraine. Though these stories are not the same, the comparisons are endless. Another part that immediately reminded me of my own family is the reverence in which they treat their food. My great-grandmother and grandmother, I remember watching them in the kitchen together, and before every family event, or really anytime I happen to be by them, they cherished the process and everything about the process. From “the production and pur-chase of its ingredients” to “its ritualistic preparation,” this mindset, this connection to their immigrant life was imbedded in their DNA.
Regarding women’s self-definition through ethnic cuisine, in my own family I can see how prominent the ethnic food plays in the creation of identity in a new country. For my grandmother and great-grandmother, and most of their friends and cousins, the kitchen and cooking became their only physical connection to their origin countries. Like in Desalvo’s story about her step-grandmother Libera, my grandmother uses the kitchen as her place of comfort, where she gets to create the foods of her pass and share them with her kids and grandkids. My grandmother has a connection with food that I will never be able to understand. For her, food is an outlet, something she uses to escape from the realities of her situation. But it isn’t simply the creating the food that is so precious for her, rather it is the process of feeding her family which she really derives the most pleasure from. Food, for an immigrant woman, as seen with Desalvo and people in my own life, becomes the ultimate mode of self-definition: food, and especially traditional recipes, encompasses such a big part of their lives.
When I was a kid, and sometimes I still do feel this way (especially in regard to my interviews with woman working in Ukrainian restaurants, I always assumed these women because of their “old world” responsibilities they were forced to be in the kitchen by their oppressive husbands, but now, after reading many of these stories like Desalvo, and also after noticing within my own family and asking questions, food for immigrant women can also be looked at as the most liberating exercise. Coming to a new country is tough, and the acclamation can be even tougher, so finding an outlet like cooking, especially the foods you enjoyed so much in the old country, can be the most liberating of actions. And it is not only about making the foods, its about the process of passing them down to your offspring and having them enjoy their heritage through food. But there is something to be said for women being “forced” to be in the kitchen, or socially expected to, which is not an ideal situation, and I have felt that in certain respects, but that view cannot overshadow the actual liberating reality for many immigrant women.
To “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” is in my eyes, a nice way of putting, the unfortunate reality that follows in the next paragraph regarding the “one-sided gendered tasks” of cooking. I think the landscape is not so much of a landscape and rather cultural expectations, at least in my family, for the wife (my mother) to do everything for my family in terms of cooking. And though this does get tough at times because she works two jobs, she still will always make sure there is food on the table because that is what her mother did as well as her mother’s mother and so on. I can imagine these one-sided gender expectations are diminishing over the generations, I don’t see so much the “negotiation, compromise and accommodation.” But also, when talking about racial negotiation and comprise in the kitchen, I cannot comment, having never seen an interracial family split up the roles in the kitchen, regarding my own life and family and friends, I cannot attest to this statement.
What is interesting about my research is that in regard to Eastern European restaurants in New York City that I have been going to and observing, finding women immigrants working there is pretty common, but what is interesting is the young men I have been finding to work in these restaurants or meat markets. There seems to be a lack of immigrant elder men, but rather younger generations of immigrants coming and working in these restaurants. In terms of race, I have not been finding too many insights with my research, but culture definitely places an interesting role. For the perigoi, even the name and the way you refer to it, though the people I have been meeting all at least speak Russian, they come from different cultures so their interpretation of the perigoi or whatever they call it are vastly different (at least that is what they say).
March 10, 2017 at 2:37 pm
My favorite reading this week was Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression: Louise Desalvo’s Memoirs and the Female Italian Experience. First of all the article was not such a difficult read for me. Sometimes I find some particular articles we read to be a little complex (just my personal opinion, I was never such a comprehensive reader) and they take me a decent amount of time to go through because I have to reread some sentences more than once or twice, but this one wasn’t too bad. But that’s not the main reason i liked this article the most. In regards to the actual context of the article, the reason I liked it the most is because it really hit home as I was going through it because it reminded me of my grandmother who passed away last year. My grandmother was honestly such a caring person and she was ALWAYS looking to feed her grandchildren. I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something in her native Persian blood that makes her want to feed everyone. It’s not just her, I see the same thing with so many other elderly Persian people. They want to fatten up their grandkids! And the funny part is that even if I was ever 100% full, my grandmother would always still try to feed me and wouldn’t take no for an answer. And I, growing up in a Persian household my whole life, know that it’s an insult to say no when you’re offered food from a a relative because they may very easily take it as an insult that you don’t like their food. So often I end up leaving overstuffed.
When we analyze a woman’s relation to ethnic cuisine we can see her self-definition. When I analyze any of the Persian mothers in Great Neck, and my mother and aunts in particular, it’s so obvious that their meals are expressions of love. That’s what defines them. My mother and my aunts are all so caring and selfless that they love their cooking so much because they know that they’ll be able to sustain their children/family members through it. Every detail being precisely taken care of, they are so meticulous and do every step carefully because they want to make it the way their kids love it. Also as a side note, when analyzing them, you can see that they take their cooking as a form of art as well. When they lay the dish on the table you can see how amazing the set up is, and how there may often be an unnecessary food on the tray along with the main dish just for display.
Often times my brothers and I ask my mother jokingly (if we ever feel the need to butter up to her) why she doesn’t ever consider opening up a restaurant. “Mom your food is so good, just open up a restaurant and make millions!” She often responds by saying something along the lines of “No, cooking is too much work, I wouldn’t do that to myself”. Based off of what I know from my mother, seemingly she doesn’t like to cook. That might be a shocker if you know her because she is cooking 24/7, but she honestly doesn’t enjoy it. Often she feels its a huge burden and is so exhausting, especially when she is so busy with a thousand other things. “Oppression” may be a strong word, but still, the concept of leisure cooking doesn’t exist to her. However, my mother is just one person. I know that my grandmother used to love cooking and consequently had leftover food very often. Also, Elizabeth whom I interviewed for my Exploration Task, said that she loves cooking and told me that it was “the highlight of my day”. Both of them found it very liberating.
Seemingly, to “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” I believe is referring to balance in the kitchen. The use of the words “negotiation’ and “compromise” are key. You may very possibly have many different races, genders, and ethnic backgrounds in the same kitchen, but it is always important to know that compromise is needed. For example, at any restaurant, the cooking staff in the kitchen must work together, forgetting about who they are and where they came from. They have one common goal that they must accomplish together and that is making the most enjoyable food possible.
Studying food in NYC will obviously come to various understandings about culture. As I have been researching Humus, I learned about something called “The Humus Wars”. It’s basically the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians regarding where the origin of Humus comes from. They both claim to have created the dish, but apparently neither side is able to prove so because this food stems back to thousands of years ago. Then after researching “The Humus Wars”, you’ll start to understand many other aspects of Israeli and Palestinian conflicts that have been occurring for decades.
March 10, 2017 at 2:39 pm
I chose to write about Gabeba Baderoon’s piece, “Everybody’s Mother Was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking,” because before reading it I had zero knowledge of the food customs of Muslims. This might sound strange considering there are millions of Muslims worldwide, but as a Jew who keeps kosher, it is not that bizarre I have little knowledge about foods outside my culture. Also, the title immediately caught my attention because in my community, Jews eat meals together with family and friends every Friday night and Saturday, in addition to multiple meals on each festival, which allow members of the community to taste each other’s cooking. As one interviewee said: “Everybody’s mother was a good cook. That time the extended family was very important… You didn’t marry your husband; you married the whole family” (Baderoon 9). In a certain sense this is also true in the Jewish community, especially amongst established Orthodox families which tend to be very large. Like Jews keep kosher, I knew Muslims had a section of foods permissible to eat (halaal) and those that are forbidden (haraam). Learning that the Quran and the Hadith convey “…the sense that food is one of the bounties provided to them by God…” (Baderoon 6) was very interesting because I did not realize Muslims have a spiritual connection to the food they eat, beyond the simple rules defining what is and is not permitted. Reading this article, I learned about types of Muslim food: stews, curries, meatballs, kababs, yellow rice, bread pudding, custard and canned fruit, and also that it is less spicy than Indian food (Baderoon 7). Some of the interviewees’ comments resonated strongly with me. For example, I can relate to feeling anxious that the food I cook is not good enough, because I never really learned how to cook.
Theodora Patrona paints a vivid portrait of Louise DeSalvo’s step-grandmother, Libera, who came to America to marry a grieving alcoholic who never loved her and to care for his child who was openly hostile towards her (176-178). Later in life, she moved away from the Southern Italian Hoboken community, to a Waspy suburb, devoid of Italian culture. Patrona says that one of “Libera’s only comforts in her late age… [was] the cooking and eating of her home-country food” (178). I think (and Patrona goes on to explain) that Libera’s self-definition as a Southern Italian woman is maintained and reinforced by cooking and eating traditional Italian food.
I remember asking Tal Israel, the Israeli Baruch student I interviewed last week, what her favorite Israeli foods are. She said that if she goes back she is going to eat everything because she misses it so much. Although Tal is Westernized and speaks fluent English, her attachment to her homeland and desire to return one day, is reflected in the foods she longs for and the mostly Israeli crowd she associates with.
Baderoon describes a woman who lost the joy in cooking when her family got a TV because she had to cook while her show was playing (10). She felt oppressed because she was being forced to cook while she would rather be watching her show. Contrast this woman’s experience with my mom’s decision to watch Thursday Night Football on the NFL mobile app while she cooks for the Sabbath. The same TV technology which oppressed Baderoon’s interviewee, motivates my mother to prepare food, even though she is exhausted from working all week.
Psyche Williams-Forson sees the home as “a culinary landscape gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” (437). She writes that in most heterosexual households, the wife is responsible for cooking the food (436). Using her African husband as an example of someone who felt uncomfortable sharing information about what he was eating with the woman he was dating because he did not want to feel ridiculed for his ethnic food customs, explains why the home must be a safe place for both partners in mixed marriages (438). I know that my 8-year-old cousin Conrad, whose father is French Canadian and mother is Jewish, celebrates both Christmas and Chanuka, because his parents have compromised and made accommodations for each other because of their different ethnic backgrounds.
Yesterday, Rachel and I interviewed Drake, a Chinese sushi chef who works for the Promenade Bar and Grill, located on 3rd Avenue between 25th and 26th streets. We learned that although he is not Japanese and did not grow up eating sushi, he was an apprentice to a Japanese chef. Apparently, they ordered fish from a Japanese company to make sushi in that restaurant. In the Promenade (right near Baruch – check it out!) he is limited to yellowtail, salmon, and tuna because seafood is not kosher, and very much prefers the other types of fishes.
March 10, 2017 at 2:41 pm
In general, maintaining traditions is an important part of any culture. Like in home land, my family takes family traditions super important. Every year we make sure to come together to celebrate Chinese New Year, like how the Italian cuisine wanted to be preserved. In general, with food there comes an issue in regards to race and gender. It is always assumed that women are supposed to be in the kitchen and provide for the family. However, in my home this concept is changing dramatically. Often, men are expected to cook like barbecue or make meat stew. This is a very eye opening experience and it is wonderful to see gender roles switching especially in regards to what is happening in the world right now. When I was a kid, I was expected to help out in the kitchen with my mother. In many ways, they believed it would teach me discipline and the role of being a wife in the future. While I no longer agreee that women are required to be domestic, it was definitely something positive that brought me and my family closer together. Now, I love helping out during family gatherings and it is a nostalgic bid to simpler times. I wish to do the same with my family, with the slight change to send the message that there are no distinct roles for a man and a woman in the household. Like how the ingredients of food come together to form a cohesive piece, each member of the family works together to make the unit work.
March 10, 2017 at 2:42 pm
My favorite reading Gabeba Baderoon’s “Everybody’s Mother Was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking.” In this article, Baderoon discusses the social dynamics associated with gender. In her interview with multiple Muslim women, she discovered that when many women married into their husband’s family, they essentially, “married the whole family” (Baderoon 9). Women in the household were expected to make and prepare the food for the entire family. This preparation was essentially their main job as being a housewife. The ability of cooking seems almost correlated to the success and authority in the household. This idea was really fascinating to me. In my household, my parents rarely cook, but when they do cook, my dad is the one that makes the food. He does the preparations, the assembly of the food and even cooks it. My mom on the other hand does not help. Even when I go to a relatives house, the men in the family cook. I would say in my family the men are the ones that are dominantly the cookers of the house. I would say that this is partially due to the fact since both the females and males work. Since my parents moved to America, they have been busy with work. My mom never learned how to cook traditionally Chinese food from my grandparents. Meanwhile, my dad just plays around with the flavors. He occasionally likes to test out new recipes or just be creative. When I do have authentic Chinese food, the taste sometimes scares me because it seems so foreign. The cooking I eat at home is not the same as the real authentic one.
For a majority of the ethnic cuisines around the world, women have almost always been the predominant person to make and cook the food. Many women associated the ability to cook as a form of dominance in the family. In the article, Baderron discusses how in a majority of the Muslim households, women were always the ones doing the cooking. It was very rare for a man to cook, but if they did cook it would usually be for weddings. However, as reflect on this idea, it seems that many women have often been reluctant to teach men how to cook. Women would often think that men were suitable enough to cook well enough. In a recent discussion with my friends, they have told me that their mother always cooks. It is rare to see their father in the kitchen. This was intriguing as it was the opposite in my family.
To “look at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation” means that the home is a place that is rightful for one person. Even though many people live in a home, the household is divided by many unwritten rules. There are times were the women is dominate and the male is not. It just depends on the situation. It gets me to think that a household is a place that is built on compromise where there is a chance for family members to discuss their feelings. Depending on the person, many people have different opinions about food. In the end, we all want the food to taste good, therefore we must experience a journey full of negations to reach that endpoint.
For my research project, I have discovered that Banh Mi was food made for the rich. During the time of the Vietnamese Liberation, many Vietnamese people were going through times of hardship and poverty. Banh Mi served as a means of survival food. It was cheap and tasty. All you had to do was throw in vegetables and meat and that as all. It was fairly easy to make and it served as a convenience. When I was a Banh Mi shop a couple of weeks ago, I overheard a conversation between a groups of friends. The guy was talking about how all the Vietnamese food in NYC was incomparable to the one in Vietnam. The taste, the feeling was all completely different. He mentioned how most of the Vietnamese cuisine had changed to cater the American taste buds. Through this conversation, it occurred to me that most of the Vietnamese Shops are not truly authentic and I wouldn’t be able to get an interesting interview full of depth. I started to wonder, if there were other possibilities that I could get a deeper and richer interview. I am still trying to ask around, but so far it has been a struggle.
March 10, 2017 at 2:54 pm
My favorite reading was “Everybody’s Mother Was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking
by Gabeba Baderoon” because like everybody else I personally connected with the story of “Muslim food”. Growing up in a Muslim household, I ate “Muslim food” and it think it was interesting and refreshing to read the author write about this issue around Muslim food and gender because it is an issue not frequently discussed among people. She describes Muslims food as a specific type of food called “halal food” that includes dietary restrictions such as no pork. The author gave examples of Muslim food from her interviewees such as Malay food, south African food, and even Indian food but she did not give a specific definition to Muslim food. And she shouldn’t because there is no such thing as “Muslim food” just like there is no such thing as “Christian food” or “Buddhist food”. Growing up the “Muslim food” that ate was halal versions of pasta, curry, rice, fired chicken, shrimp, fish and among. This food that was cooked by my mom in was more influenced by my culture and my environment than perhaps by my religion. In this piece, Baderoon opens up the important conversation about Muslim food and gender relations in the Muslim community instead of the irrelevant conversation of Muslim food and religion.
As Baderoon states in her interview with one of the women, “The older women said that once they were
married, it was expected they would enter their husbands’ family in a highly visible way. Control of food and cooking was often a way of negotiating power between the new wife and her mother-in-law” and I have seen in my culture, a woman’s identity in the house is closely tied to the food that she prepares. My family’s personal situation is unique, however, in the Muslim food experience since my mother did not know how to cook when she married my dad, nor did she have a mother-in-law to teach her how to cook. Instead the person who taught her how to cook was the most unlikely person: my dad. My dad taught my mom how to make the rice for the whole family, how to chop up vegetables, how to peel the onions correctly, and how to prepare elaborate dishes and to this day my parents share the cooking role in my family. Therefore, in my family the social dynamics, whatever they maybe, that dictate the roles of the two genders are not as strong as they are in other families However, in my experiences of seeing other Asian Muslim families, I have seen the relationship between a woman’s role in society and the food that she prepares.
By preparing the food for her family, a woman sees the food that she prepares as the symbolism of the “structures through which important family traditions are sustained.”(Page 11). A woman who knows how to cook well and quickly for the extended family under pressure is seen as a knowledgeable woman because she is shown to have respect for her family’s traditional roles. Although in recent years, this idea is becoming less popular due to the modern woman choosing work instead of cooking, this idea of a woman being good cook is extremely perverse in many Asian countries where the standards of living are not high and the traditional gender barriers have not been challenged like they have been here in America. But, whatever we might think of these woman as being confined to the kitchen, I think it is important to note that these women take pride in their work. They take pride in cooking good food for their families and taking a powerful role bringing their family together with food. Baderoon notes that “For women a generation ago, the weaving of cooking into marriage, motherhood and community meant that food was heavily imbued with responsibility and tradition. Within these parameters, food gave women power. The changing attitude of younger women towards cooking is seen as leading to changes in the family.” In my grandmother’s generation, making 5 dishes, dozens of pita breads, and dessert for the family everyday was considered a source of pride since dishes united the family together during meal time and make my mother a sense of pride as she was complemented for her hard work in brining such a feast together so quickly, Today, this attitude is becoming more and more rare as women are becoming more liberated and given more options of providing for their families and asserting their dominance in the family sphere.
My research in terms of discovering the influence of la mian in China has been going good since I am finding a lot of information about the relevance of la mian in china. Unfortunately, this has not translated well into the presence of la mian in America. In china, one can find la mian stores at almost every street corner because of their low cost and high demand. However, the demand for la mian is not as popular here in America so I am having trouble finding authentic sources of la mian here in America. However, I have a friend who lives in China and I talked to her about this project and she was able to get be real footage of restaurant owners making la mian. This just shows how popular this dish in in china and I will include this discovery that I have made from my friend and the videos that she sent me of la mian in my project
March 10, 2017 at 3:18 pm
My favorite of the three readings would probably be Gabeba Baderoon’s “Everybody’s Mother Was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking.” Perhaps the main reason why I chose this piece was because of how it was structured, which allowed me to separate the ideas by parts. What stood out to me the most is found on pages 8-9. One of the interviewees, when asked about the gender divide in cooking, bluntly stated that “Men don’t cook… Because it’s a girl’s job, for God’s sake.” This statement reminded me of the way my grandmother raised her family. She was the caretaker, working, cooking, and cleaning while the husband was pampered. My mom followed in her footsteps, taking care of both me and my father while he did little to nothing. However, Baderoon also mentioned that “it is clear from the interviews, that even though implicated in patriarchal power structures, the ability to cook and to teach cooking is the locus of enormous power.” I found this somewhat surprising as it did not match my household’s narrative, in which cooking is seen as more of a chore. My mother views financial independence as being the main source of power, rather than cooking. On page 9, Baderoon discusses the changing attitudes toward food. As one interviewee states, “My granddaughter doesn’t even like the kitchen. The girls of today, they are very lazy to cook. I think they just want to be out. They rather go home have a meal at the restaurant.” I find this to be representative of myself, as I am motivated in some aspects yet extremely lazy when it comes to other things, especially cooking. I like to eat good food, but I don’t like to cook. When my mom is not home to cook, I either reheat leftovers or make pancakes, the latter of which is the only dish I can make from scratch.
A main theme in all three of the readings was the relationship between females, particularly mothers, and their respective ethnic cuisines. I think to begin to consider women’s self-definition through her relation to her ethnic cuisine, we have to first examine the cuisine itself and then look at her place in the household. The women in the readings appeared to extract a sense of power and belonging from cooking in the kitchen. As for my own household’s immigrant food narrative, however, I do not think ours is anywhere near as strong. My family immigrated here for the opportunities to work and lead decent lives. On the other hand, I believe Theodora Patrona’s piece, “Ethnic Identification, Food, and Depression,” which presents the memoir of Louise DeSalvo, provides an excellent example of women’s self-definition through food and the ways in which the immigrant culinary narrative offers both an oppressive and liberating perspective of food’s presentation in a family. DeSalvo’s relationship to her grandmother and her food “prove[d] to be essential for [her] self-definition,” which had both a positive and a negative effect on her. As her grandmother went crazy, she sensed “the absence of female role models for ethnic women of Italian origin to emulate,” and turned to reading and writing as a means of self-exploration. She eventually, however, “falls back on the physical sensation of food,” as she believes her relationship to food is primal. As for Williams-Forson’s statement about “look[ing] at the home as a culinary landscape of gender, race and ethnic negotiation, compromise and accommodation,” I believe she is referring to the power of food to shape the inner workings of households.
I wrote about Chinatown and my mother’s immigrant narrative in my Exploration Task, and for my history research I am planning to focus on Chinatown yet again, this time interviewing my father, an executive director and trustee. As I mentioned in my Exploration paper, Chinatown is a cultural hub, constantly bustling with activity and filled with immigrants from different Chinese regions. Studying food in this neighborhood can show the racial and cultural dynamics behind the workings of its inhabitants. I believe I will have much more information to share once I conduct my interview with my dad, who has a plethora of experience in history and culture.
March 10, 2017 at 4:09 pm
My favorite reading of the three articles was Gabeba Baderoon’s “Everybody’s Mother was a Good Cook: Meanings of Food in Muslim Cooking” because of its focus on the study of Muslim cuisine and how it is viewed. Baderoon conducted interviews with Muslims regarding their perspective on their culture and food. Through the interviews, Baderoon was able to understand that their food is not based on the simple distinction on whether the food is “Halaal” or “Haraam,” but also the quality, tradition, and history of the food. Baderoon learned that there are many other aspects other than religion to Muslim cuisine.
While it is not relatable for me because the only food restriction I ever had was due to allergies and not religion, I am really captivated by the different views provided by Muslims and non-Muslims on Muslim cuisine. As a New Yorker and Chinese, I have access to foods of different cultures and nationalities. In fact, a street block may contain over ten restaurants of unique style and food. Having the exposure to all of these cultures allowed me to relate to the Muslims that Baderoon interviewed. I understand how aspects such as quality and tradition matter when choosing a food. Without the restriction of religion, I only remember a food based on how well it’s made.
Ethnic cuisine can identify a person because it represents the childhood, the memories, the background, and the skills of a particular individual. It is very unique because the individual has different experiences and interpretation of these experiences. In terms of my interview, the woman I interviewed did not have a specific food that represented her, but it was her love of cooking because of the joy it brought her. Technically, Guangzhou cuisine represents her best because that is what she grew up with and what she first learned to make. However, it is also arguable to use Western cuisine to represent her because that is what she is currently studying and what she is exposed to the most now. I can learn through the cuisine she eats regarding her status and what she is interested in. While in Guangzhou, she would eat similar dishes every night because of her economic situation, but she was happy because of who she ate it with. Even though the cuisine was simple, it held a lot of meaning. On the hand, she has the time to explore and experiment with Western cuisine, she is just at a harmonious stage in her life, and is enjoying her little hobby. It was oppressive and liberating for both cuisines because in Guangzhou she felt more at ease, but was limited by her economic situation, and in America she has more freedom to explore, but she cannot fulfill her dream to the fullest.
In the culinary landscape, gender, race, and ethnicity does not matter at all. It does not matter who the chef is or where the chef is from. The most important aspects to a chef is his passion for cooking, his techniques/knowledge, and his personality. This only affects the quality of the dish that is being made. Food and the cooking process sees no different in terms of who is preparing them. They show no biases, only truth. Negotiation, compromise, and accommodation do not exist in this landscape because of how subjective the idea of great tasting food is.
In my research of the pizza dish, I am learning and appreciating the idea of traveling. People that travelled to other countries are the heroes that expand the scope of the world. They merge cultures together and allow foods to adapt to new cultures. They also bring the world together and allow the world to enjoy everything. This does not limit to the transfer of recipes but also other ideas.