It is inevitable; food is part of our culture. Our home country dishes, ingredients and traditions represent who we are. Gastronomy is one of the elements that make us different from other countries. It will be hard to find Kaeng (Thailand curry chicken) in America, or Peruvian ceviche (sea food cold soup) in Philippines or Coqueille Sainte Jacques (a type of shellfish) in Mongolia. However, when we travel around the world, one of the best experiences is to try unknown food. I think it help us appreciate differences and open our minds.
Bich Minh Nguyen in her memoir “Stealing Buddha’s Dinner” tells us the transition she lived when she migrated from Vietnam to Grand Rapids, Michigan. The cultural shock she experimented is principally explained from food perspective. For me was extremely interesting to evidence the process how Bich was introduced to American food like Burger King, ice cream, chocolate cookies, pork chops, etc. The funniest thing is that she didn’t only crave American food, she dreamed on it. She was ashamed of telling her friends the Asiatic food type her grandmother cooked for dinner. This was because she thought she will be accepted among her classmates only if she eats United States food. Hence, junk food became a fantasy to her. This reality can be applicable to current society. A lot of times we create people stereotypes depending on what they eat. For example if a person usually eats sushi, we think that person is really fancy. By the contrary, if someone eats every single day tacos, we think that person doesn’t have much money. My personal experience in the States has been hard. I am not used to eat cooked vegetables, mix sweet with salty things and eat a lot of potatoes. However, I’m learning about this food culture, as Minh Nguyen!
Bich became an American Vietnamese, not only because she came to live in Michigan, but because she suffered a cultural blending in all aspects. She likes cha gio or green sticky rice cakes and at the same time she loves fried chicken. She speaks English and Vietnamese. She has black hair and yellow skin, but she wears American fashion. That’s why she says “I worried that the girls were calling us – yellow on the outside, white in the inside. Was that what I had longed to achieve, after all?” (Bich 105). Even though, she didn’t figure out, I think what she was experiencing was great because she was able to combine different food traditions and flavors in only one day.
Now at days, globalization has allowed food franchises to place all around the world. You can find Starbucks, McDonalds or T.G. I. Fridays in many countries. I think this is good because you don’t have to travel to try American junk food. Nevertheless, some people have replaced their traditional food into this one because it is cheaper and faster. We can talk about glocalization when some food enterprises adjust their menu options to a particular country taste. For example, in Ecuador, Kentucky Fried Chicken has added rice with beans to their combos because this is essential in Ecuadorians daily diet. Personally, I think this food exchange makes gastronomy richest and more diverse. What do you think about combining different countries’ recipes and ingredients?
You are clearly a well-versed blogger, Maria. You understand that writing for a blog means engaging with a reader in a way that elicits their response, i.e. you finish each post with an open-ended question.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a wonderful discussion about globalization and glocalization (is this your own word?). It strikes me that what you're referring to is a form of hybridization, a term that evolves from postcolonialism. So, for me, this begs the question of power: who's food is seen as more desirable and why? Clearly, for Bich, it was the trashy, commercialized "American" food rather than the fresher, healthier, not-bland Vietnamese food Noi lovingly prepared. And that had everything to do with race and class, as we discussed in class.
So, not to be too much of a hater, but what if these multi-national fast-food corporations are incorporating local foods into their menus in various countries simply to get their money and influence their taste buds to eat their "American" brand of junk?
Sincerly, I don't know if glocalization is my own word or if I read somewhere else, but while I was writting this Reading Response it came to my mind :) I think that American Fast Food Corporations are competing among them, so its particular brand be consider the most desirable food. That's why they are trying, as a marketing and economic strategy, to implemented local tastes to their food. Personally, I believe for them everything is based in money and bussiness.
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