'Ethnic' Food(s) & 'Authenticity': A case for

Dedicated to A & M ('bout time right?).



Do you see anything wrong with this picture here? Well...considering most people who visit my blog are from North America (of which most are not 'desi'), you might not actually see anything wrong with this. For the few desi readers visiting my blog - you might notice the 'fine print' on the label that says "Memories of Kashmir". The obvious issue being that this highly stereotypical portrait of India has got it's stereotypes backassed. I.e. Stock-photo camel portrait of the desert-state of "Rajasthan" instead of the mountainous regions of "Cashmere...". Come on President's Choice (Canada's 'upper-class' no-name brand - no joke), can't you get your stereotypes right?

Why am I bringing this up? Well, because damn it, I'm about to make a few of my 'foodie' friends damn happy - I've come to see the 'pro-side' of the 'food authenticity' debate and it only took one damn post and discussion by a bunch of mainly gora people at Pandagon to get me thinking.

So, in this post I'm going to go out on a limb to make a case "for" valuing the 'authenticity' of 'ethnic cuisine' and hopefully get you to 'racialize the everyday'. In my search for a meaningful debate about the 'authenticity' of food - I have yet to come across an entry that isn't about 'cultural abstractism', so I am getting my structural-materialist thoughts together to move away from that 'abstract' realm.

In this post Amanda dissects an article of an interview with Glassner (of the blasé "Culture of Fear" fame). I'm going to gloss over the whole Glassner bit (as it is kinda meh) and head on straight to some of the key points made by Amanda and the Pandagonians.

The central thesis of Amanda's post (and it's consequent discussion) is based on this one idea (Quote Amanda):

I wanted to see what Glassner would say about the search of authenticity in food, because I think in a lot of ways such a search is both doomed and can be intimidating to people who are learning to cook. It instills in people a fear of experimenting or tweaking recipes because they are afraid to get it “wrong”, and naturally, that could and can lead to stifling creativity. Food, like art or music or literature, shouldn’t be categorized into strict ethnic categories that don’t bleed into each other for fear of contamination.

I have to admit, just before I read this statement I would have agreed with it - but you know when someone else says it or when you read something - it just doesn't sit well with you? Well, this is precisely what happened.

The main question I have to ask is: "Who are these people that are afraid of 'experimenting'? Are they men, women, white, majority? In which case, is their fear of 'experimenting' of any consequence? And if not, at what expense?" And this is how it starts and this is where even I think my 'leftist looneyism' is taking a leap and running with it. So these are just my ideas - I do encourage debate, so please feel free to share your ideas about this if you want.

So why is this problematic in my opinion?

1) On culture in a bottle (cultural commodification): Considering that there are more than 100s of 'ethnic' shops in the majority of larger North American cities, why does something like President's Choice "memories of" sauces do so well? It's because it's a 'memory of'. The name itself conjures up visions of the uncontaminated glorious pasts of third world countries. Old world means 'authentic', and in this case 'authentic' plays directly upon orientalist notions. The logic being "You are our past, we are your future".

In a globalized world 'other countries' are what "WE" were like in the PAST. I.e. a society NOT based on order, rationality, meritocracy, technocracy and logic - but rather this thing called "CULTURE". Culture in this case becomes this 'abstract thing in the corner isolated from other socio-political phenomenon.' It's not based on any level of 'sanity' it is based on loyal and unquestioned dogma a 'primitive and collectivist' way of thinking. Whereas, our world as we know it - depends on our 'rationality' and 'individuality'. Imperative to our individuality is our ability to 'consume', i.e. we buy our 'identitites' essentially. I'm reminded of a friend I had a long time ago - who was a hard-core punk-rocker. She wouldn't wear certain clothes only because they weren't 'punk', she once admitted to liking Radiohead - but wouldn't buy a CD by them to my disappointment. Likewise, I now have friends who would 'pay up - to dress down' (picking clothes off the rack with the holes already built in).

So, how open you are to trying new foods is somewhat related to your 'class, education' & thereby social network, i.e. not that we only eat certain things in order to 'look a certain way for others'. Obviously, this is not exclusive. But having said that - food is also related to your 'intelligence, wealth and social status'. I.e. if you look good to your friends when you eat Thai food, imagine how good you look 'making it'. If people a few years ago were all into the 'arts' by visiting such and such art gallery to drop names about dead, white, male artists, IMO food has now taken it's place. Case in point, there are more Thai restaurants in Toronto than there probably is a Thai population (most of these restaurants are owned by Chinese owners).

This is all well and good - and as Amanda rightfully notes, there is 'yuppy element' in food selection - BUT might I add this has nothing to do with yuppization of 'authenticity'.

2) Socio-economic class divisions: This leads to my second point, why is 'authenticity' not about 'yuppization'? Well, simply because yuppies aren't going to Chinatown on Saturday to buy their herbs, spices and other 'exotic' food products. They in fact rely on President's choice brand, Patak's, Thai Kitchen or other Western based food producers to get pre-blended red curry mix, chicken tikka masala, 'curry flavour' or ramen noodles at their local convenience store. This is the near-equivalent of buying a twinkie to replace a homemade angel food cake.

And this very factor gets to the heart of the 'politics of consumption'. You don't go to the ghettoized neighbourhoods to interact with the 'locals'. You get your upper-middle class sanitized western based producer to BRING IT TO YOU. You get to take a little piece of the 'exotic' home with you. You could go to Chinatown and probably buy a pre-made mixture that is similar to this premade goo in a bottle... but...

3) Geopolitics: There is something to be said about going to Chinatown, or little India, little Thailand, or whatever - to buy the actual ingredients for your 'pad thai'. See in a city like Toronto - I do often go to Chinatown to buy produce - but there is a 'fear factor' when it comes to buying anything else. Most of the products have labels I can't read - when there is an English equivalent I don't even know what it is that I'm buying simply because - I'm so used to knowing things by their Western name! Being vegetarian doesn't help because I'm always concerned about what's actually 'in' my food (this point will be revisited later). Only recently, in a conversation with a friend, did i embarassedly discover that despite eating 3 different kinds of 'chinese dumplings' every Chinese New Year - I don't even know what they are freakin called! Shame on me, really.

I too, end up buying whatever I can find at my local loblaws if I plan to make a vegetable & tofu stir-fry.

There is also something to be said about 'urban geopolitics'. Historically, POC across North America and I'm guessing Europe (countries with histories of white surpremacy) certain districts and neighbourhoods were reserved for certain people - and not everyone had the opportunity to move into 'white neighbourhoods'. This obviously continues with indigenous populations to even today. There is definitely a certain element of 'self-segregation' among immigrant populations, but I don't know how it would be if 'racism' didn't exist.

4) Ghettoization: The benefits of this 'segregation' foster the phenomenon of 'urban sprawl' - i.e. as a fairly non-politicized MOC friend of mine noted the other day "A, you know if we (us south asians) all moved to Richmond Hill (suburb of Toronto) these guys (white ppl) would all move to Ajax - and you know that's exactly what's happening. The more we get into their neighbourhoods - the more North they move."

I couldn't help but admit that was one of the most brilliant observations I've ever heard to describe the phenonmenon of urban sprawl. You know kids the city is full of dangerous people... Another friend of mine (also non-politicized) white woman noted, "I don't think I want to go there alone, you know those neighbourhoods are quite dangerous. It's mainly because it's all these new immigrants..." And I cut her off right there. She apologized for the implication afterwards when I told her Richmond Hill was full of immigrants - who were wealthier than either of us - of course these groups are all 'model minority' Chinese and South Asian.

This brings us back to a point that I can never comment on enough - POC are good for their labour (unseen of course) but not as neighbours... 'eat the curry - don't live with the curry-maker'.

5) Capitalism and Ease: Another thing about this 'yuppiness' factor is that real yuppies anyways, aren't going to the hole in the wall the local cabbies go to on their break, no, they usually 'dial-a-delivery' or eat at a chichi place. So the psycho-social benefits a yuppy gets out of eating 'exotic' cuisine - is also dependent on which 5-star restaurant s/he gets it from. Again it becomes about how culture can cater to you as a consumer.

It's very similar to the travel industry. Speaking of which - you have to check out this lovely interactive 'tour of Sri Lanka' by the artist Sakun Samarkoon. Tour takes about 7 minutes, wait for a few seconds before changing the days (something interesting happens to each photo).

6)Orientalism/Exotification: Hole in the wall vs. 5-star. It's not necessarily true that a hole in the wall is going to be more 'authentic'. It will for sure be a lot cheaper. But a 5-star restaurant - depending on it's location and it's predominant clientele WILL often 'self-exotify' itself. I've noticed in smaller cities like Ottawa (where dining out really sucks - sorry), most 'ethnic' restaurants are intricately decorated with the things you'd never see in a restaurant from the originating country. I remember going to this one Thai restaurant in Ottawa and it was full of 'tourism' posters. You'd never see that in Bangkok. The few really big restaurants do have nice silks etc... But never quite like the restaurants you see that have a primarily 'white clientele'. Okay, if you don't get this point - check out this lovely restaurant "The East India Company" infamously named after the EAST INDIA TRADING COMPANY - only the one time OWNERS of the entire indo-pak region... And I don't think the name of this restaurant is simply some pomo gone badly awry. I do have to admit they do make a lovely daal makhani. It would be quite interesting how the name would play out in a place as heavily populated with south asians as toronto (notice none of their locations are in cities with a huge south asian pop?). Check out this very insightful review by a food critic who notes the colonialized elements of another restaurant in Ottawa. From the article:

Is all this leaving a bit of a bad taste in your mouth? Maybe like me you think colonial pasts aren't something to be taken lightly? (This is particularly true of Portugal's role in Mozambique.) Yet Nando's marketing shtick (www.nandos.com) seems to be all about irreverently celebrating the Portuguese "explorers and settlers" as adventurous souls who knew how to live, love, eat and drink.

7) Random thoughts on health, nutrition and 'balancing': So, when we assume we are eating 'ethnic food' for the taste there are two things to consider healthwise:

a) you are probably only eating the ethnic foods that are the most popular items that have been preselected for a "western palate".

I can speak for Indian restaurants - the food there is equivalent to what we would eat at a damn wedding. That's why oddly enough you'll usually find pasta salad or pad thai at indian weddings. We're all so tired of eating the same shit everytime we go out to eat at an indian restaurant that we've run out of ideas of what to have at our own weddings in diaspora-land.

As Mandos notes here: "I find that a good Ethiopian restaurant is more like eating homestyle Indian food than Indian restaurants with the exception of southern Indian restaurants. Yes, there isn’t all that much relation between what you get at Indian restaurant and what gets eaten at home on a daily basis.".

So, essentially - you're eating a hell of a lot & not getting much of a nutritional benefit from it (as is for most restaurants in general, too).

b) As the world gets more 'globalized' our knowledge of food preparation (likewise with other indigenous and local forms of knowledge) is slowly diminishing. We are becoming far more reliant on companies who's main incentives are 'profit' over health. In fact the most 'fittest' people I know - are also the ones who spend time cooking their own food. As our diet is changing and we keep working longer hours - we end up eating a lot of 'pre-processed crap'. Cooking isn't just about 'taste' but rather 'nutrition' and ideas of how the body works.

When they say chicken soup is good for you when you have a cold, I don't think they were just 'making it up'. Similarly the bulk of Indian and Chinese medicinal systems were dependent on FOOD and NUTRITION of all things. The principles of hot and cold/balancing/herbs for cures and ailments.

Since as long back as I remember my mom has used 'turmeric' for treating many cuts and bruises. We even drink Kadhi in winter to ward off flus (it's got a lot of turmeric in it). My dad couldn't help but burst out laughing when western medical science recently "discovered" how turmeric was a 'cancer-fighter'.... Um, okay.... well then.. Thanks for the insight. Slowly such 'naturally available TASTES' are being replaced by laboratory created flavours (probably used in the pre-packaged goo we eat). Link to very interesting and scary article.

If anything - this could be one of the key 'arguments' for authenticity IMO.

8) Food of the weird other.... ooohhh somebody put a link to one of those 'what freaks eat type articles' on the pandagon thread. Fer goodness sakes, to vegetarians whether you eat maggots, rats, cats or SAUSAGES it's all the same. This element always makes me laugh real hard, because as much as the food yuppies eat is 'exotic' it's also 'weird' and 'different' and therefore a curiosity to be bought/owned.

9) Did I already mention the politics of labour division? Oh what the hell... I'll repeat myself using this lovely example from my FAVORITE show of all time - "Goodness, Gracious Me!". In this episode (only watch the first 3:55 mins) the troop does a take-on the British tradition of going out for an "Indian" on a regular Friday night:



This example comes complete with 'sexualized, other waiter' (because MOC bodies are sexually objectified as well).

I'm not saying that 'playing with your food' is 'racist' (that's a long stretch even for me - afterall I always add ketchup to ALL my 'curries' and HP sauce acts as a wonderful substitution to sugar-laden tamarind sauce) but rather that the debate about 'food and authenticity' expands beyond "authenticity" and ends up illustrating another example of negligent 'cultural appropriation' and furthers the capitalist 'cultural' commodification machine.

Okay, not buying what I've said? Then consider this, interesting is it not that President's Choice "PC Memories of Dad's Grill" is made of all things Canadiana: Maple, Apple & Beer Sauce. My dad only knows how to grill papad in the microwave no less...

Recommended reading: Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste by Pierre Bourdieu (skip over all the statistics - yawn and get to the real 'meat' of it - great, great read for sure).

I am not a 'food studies' anything (but I am a pretty good cook!) - and have only recently gotten into reading a bit about it. If you have any recommendations, comments or ideas - please do share, I would love to learn more - feel free to debate this (that is if anyone manages to even read this) in the comments.

TY