Food and identity

Other of the amazing qualities food has its making our imagination fly away. In the second part of Bich Minh book “Stealing Buddha’s Dinner” she tells how she envisaged food through books she read, commercials she saw or different games she played during her childhood. Her favorite parts in books were those related with food: “I lingered over my favorite parts – descriptions of Turkish Delight, fried chicken, hamburgers with onions, thick hot chocolate” (Minh 151). She was able to imagine food’s texture, flavor, smell, even its taste. All her fictional friend liked to eat. Bich preferred to imagine all these things when she was alone, in this way no one will interfere with her thoughts. She also played pretending being a waitress and she had her own menu and food’s description. This episode remind me that times when we are really hungry, or bored, or stress out and the only thing that can make us feel better is imaging homemade food, or our favorite dish or simply mom’s best dessert. During these moments, our imagination can recreate very well the food we desire so much!

One really interesting thing in this book is how the author talks about food commercials, advertisements and mass consumption. I identified myself with Bich in this aspect. When I was little, each time I saw Ronal McDonald, or Captain Crunch or Chetoo’s tiger, I thought the food they were eating was the best. They had such a big influence on me that I related this type food with coolness. When I went to the supermarket with my mom I cried because I wanted snacks and candy, even if I didn’t like them so much. However, I wanted to have what I watched in TV.  

I really enjoyed the part when Bich talks about food and religion. She prayed, so can Buddha give her a chocolate cake and Rosa buys her many sweets as she liked. The biggest miracle God can make her was giving her food. One of her big and most ironic memories is when Bich celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving, even they weren’t Christians. She can remember that mixed cultures celebration with tamales, tortillas, ham and turkey.

Personally, I think that one of the reasons why Bich craved so much junk food was because she didn’t have easily access to eat it. Her stepmother Rosa was always complaining about American food and never bought it. Actually, I believe she only like this food as a resentment feeling against Rosa, she refuses to be like her or the rest of her family. Years later, when she was an adult, she went back to the restaurant she loved –Ponderosa- and she felt unsatisfied. She lamented the false hope of all those “vats” of food (Minh 220).

This memoir shows us how food can be part of our identity. Bich fought all her childhood and adolescence to be accepted between two cultures. She was always surrounded with white literature, commercials and people; that were her dilemmas. Bich only wanted to make herself into the whitest girl possible, but “in wanting to belong everywhere I ended up belonging nowhere at all” (Minh176).

Food blending

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?  

Express yourself

 Food is unique. It makes us feel different smells, textures, tastes, flavors and sensations. It is always a new experience and adventure. That’s why it becomes an important part of our memory. Jane Kramer in her article The Reporter’s Kitchen talks about how food is related with her work as a journalist. She compares her cooking experiences with her ability to write. This article helped me realize the importance of food in our daily lifes, not only because it is essential for surviving, but because each time we eat something new is happening to us.

Kramer describes how different ingredients or dishes have kept in her memory and helped her narrate stories. According to her, food memories make words flow away. I think we don’t have to try food from all around the world in order to experience valuable memories. Simple meals sometimes turn into big moments. Food can take us to special episodes of our childhood, can make us remember forgotten incidents, can take us several years back, can make us fly to other places. That’s why the author of this article says “the lesson for me, as a writer, was that I had to burrow back into my own life before I even start thinking someone else’s” (Remnick 163). Each of us has his or her own memoirs. For me, hot bread smell reminds when my mom was coming back from work or the crème brulé cover texture reminds me those days when I lived in France. Jane Kramer says that when she writes about art, she likes to cook rabbit or when she is starting a politics piece she thinks in a chicken tagine: “dishes like these become invocations, little rituals you invent for yourself, in the hope that your life and your work will eventually taste the same” (Remnick 165). Food can also remind you bad moments. This journalist explains how her mind connects particular food with poverty or injustice. I remember clearly, what I was eating when I received a letter saying that I was no accepted in the university I wanted to go: tomato soup with parmesan cheese. I will always associate that soup’s taste with a bad feeling.

On the other hand, sometimes we attempt to reply certain dishes or recipes we once tried, but after all it results impossible. The ingredients, the environment, the place, even our mood are not the same. As Kramer says “some dishes just don’t travel”. Food can make us feel something we won’t ever feel again. That’s the incredible power it has!

Food can also help us to develop social relationships. Sometimes sharing recipes, preparing or eating a meal together, or describing a dish can be the beginning of a new friendship or conversation. It is always the principle element in marriages, community celebration and familiar meetings. It is a key connection between people. Jane Kreamer tells in her article how she got closer to many people thanks to food during her traveling experiences. Eating is something all human beings’ share.

This article shows us how food can be helpful in our life. Kramer uses her kitchen anecdotes as a hint to her writings. Her principle is to double the quantity of the best ingredients and then cut some adverbs while she writes (168). I think food is a way of living. Have you ever think how food can be comparable with your real life?