Race and Eating Ethnically: Decoding the Secrets

Hello all,

I came across and article I wanted to pass along to everyone.  Decoding the Secrets of Middle Eastern Cuisine.

Later in the semester we are going to talk about the relationship between race and the consumption of ethnic food.  If you have a moment, think about the power relationship when Americans, especially white Americans, seek out and pursue ethnic food. How is this often done in a way that often helps to reinforce their cultural privilege? You see this happening all the time in "foodie" subcultures where foodies seek out the most authentic, most exotic and "bizzare" foods.  As a class, we will take time to think about how the ideas of "exotic" and "authentic" are in and of themselves racialized terms and how they are being employed when people eat ethnically.

Here is an example of what I am talking about from right here in Buffalo.  Decoding the Secrets of Middle Eastern Cuisine.  The author of this piece creates an image of the Middle East as a orientalist land that is filled with mystery and exoticism, an exotic mystery that food will help the author undercover.  The opening lines themselves speak to this very phenomena at work.

"I have a long, checkered history of ingredient stalking. My cupboard holds the sad detritus of a dozen hopeful moments, standing in the aisle of an ethnic grocery, imagining how the foreign foodstuff might be fashioned int a dish of transporting deliciousness."

If you have time take a look at this article and think about exactly how food and race are at work here.  We will talk about a lot of these issues in the second half of the semester.  

see everyone later,

John