Culture and Ethnocentrism

Ethnocentrism is the tendency to assume that ones own culture and way of life represents the norm or is superior to others. Americans in particular tend to be very ethnocentric in part because the United States has been perceived as a superpower for most of its existence, and in part because of the global influence of American media. Patriotism and love for ones country is also instilled in Americans from an early age to a greater extent then in other countries. For example, American children recite to the pledge of allegiance to begin each new school day and the national anthem is played at most sporting events.

In this 4-part miniseries Cook written by Michael Pollan, directed by Caroline Suh. Based on his book, Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation. First aired on Netflix, Feb 19, 2016. It consists of 4 episodes that he breaks down into the main 4 elements, Fire, Air, Earth, and, Water. Pollan takes the viewers on a scenic journey through the most diverse cultures of Western Australia all the way to the most humbleness of Southern Carolina. In these journeys not only does he show 1st hand experience by inviting the viewer inside his home in Berkeley, California for him to demonstrates what he has learned throughout his search for a healthier way to eat but, he also shares the views of multiple cultures and their processes in cooking and in

The series consistently brings up our primal need to cook, while trying to entice us back into the kitchen with beautiful cinematography, personal stories about people, and the cultural impact of the things we take for granted. There 's no doubt that Cooked is a passion project, with a strong message, however, there are many inconsistencies with the argument they present. These inconsistencies mostly revolve around a failure to negate questions of how to achieve their idealist viewpoints, cherry picking scientific evidence, and simultaneously trying to dismantle food industry fuckery while supporting a fallacy.

Alton Brown is commonly known for being the host of the food network shows “Good Eats” and “cutthroat kitchen”. Born July 30th, 1962 in Los Angeles, California, Alton Brown has inspired a generation of young cooks, both professionally and household. As a young adult Brown spent most of his time working in cinematography but found that he spent a majority of his time between shoots watching cooking showed that he found boring and uninformed. Convinced he could do better, he graduates from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vermont, and creates the show “Good Eats” and entertaining and informative cooking show for everyone from children helping mom and dad in the kitchen to individuals well into their 40s with absolutely no cooking

Which is the practice or art of choosing, cooking, and eating good food. In this food centric episode, Bourdain and Boulud travel back to Boulud's hometown of Lyon, France for a once in a lifetime experience of French cuisine's rich food culture and legendary chefs, with a focus on Nouvelle Cuisine innovator Paul Bocuse. Paul Bocuse is a French chef based in Lyon who is famous for the high quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. A student of Eugénie Brazier, he is one of the most prominent chefs associated with the nouvelle cuisine, which is less opulent and calorific than the traditional cuisine classique, and stresses the importance of fresh ingredients of the highest quality. Which is a similar trait to Copenhagen. Bocuse has made many contributions to French gastronomy both directly and indirectly, because he has had numerous students, many of whom have become famous chefs themselves. Like Mexico City chef Eduardo Garcia, chefs like Boulud, Bocuse, Mathew, Joseph, Alain, and many more chefs. Had to work their way up the restaurant chain to get to the top, hard work always pays

There was an automatic click when food appeared on TV. There is no way to watch television without seeing a food that can make a person’s mouth water. The idea sparked to carry cooking on to television, starting as a simple way to share recipes, tips, and tricks with home-making mothers over the radio; the food and cooking industry has developed into a full-fledged entertainment basis for many Americans today. The evolution of cooking is positively influenced by the introduction of television and technology on American culture.

She loves listening to the jukebox before the dinner rush. Once the dinner rush starts, she loves to experiment with the food. Too much salt? She’ll just add in more ingredients to balance out the flavor. To Chef Sallier, imperfection is a virtue, no one has to be perfect. Though she might be a bit too laid back, the food and energy she creates is amazing. With so many chefs in the industry, she is the one that stands out the most. Chef Gleeson on the other hand is a very strict man when it comes to measuring the ingredients but he styles the food like they are pieces of art. He can make a simple dish of peach cobbler look like pieces of art. He wants to create a special dining experience that no other restaurant can compare. Quiet, peaceful and private. While he may be too strict on the amounts of ingredients, the wonderful food he creates is known throughout the entire city. Andrew Gleeson is like no other chef in the business. Unique, quiet and

Chefs and restaurant owners goal during the revolutionary war of French cooking was to make new and personalized dishes that were made with combinations that never existed before. Chefs and cooks while getting their professional training were instructed and forced to learn how to cook dishes that were considered standards of cooking and are now called classical cuisine. Chefs began to grow tired of making the same dishes and using the same recipe, these chefs than began to rebel against the establishment of cooking. These chefs started to experiment and tamper with dishes to see what new creations that they can

But Victor sees it as one of the most natural forms of eating, possibly referring to how in the early stages of human life when after killing an animal they all huddled around a fire and watch as their food becomes ready to eat. “The protagonist of the meal should be the product and not the cook.” (Virbila, Los Angeles Times) But everyone ends being blown away by how the flavor of his dishes impacts them. Primarily, the steak. A steak grilled classically with smoked butter, thick coins of house-made chorizo, and two giant shrimps from the coast. Visually, it looks uncanny compared with a simple American grilled one, but the tastes between the two makes the American one taste like

People who are ethnocentric are judging other on the basis of their own culture, especially for language, behavior, customs, and religion.

Several factors affect the formation of one’s culture, Palispis, E. (2007) quoted Sir Edward Tylor, “Culture… refers to that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as member of society.” (Palispis, E., 2007) In this context culture is something we acquire from the people we have lived with since we were born, it is not something a person can learn overnight nor can be disposed effortlessly.

Jamie Oliver’s ’15 Minute Meals’ and Delia Smiths ‘How to Cook’ are two shows that have completely different approaches to cooking. Jamie was raised in a country in England called Essex where his parents ran their own highly respected pub which is where his love of cooking grew. Jamie has a hand on approach when it comes to cooking which reflects his informal style. Delia was also born in England in the county of Surrey. At twenty-one she got a job as a washer-upper and eventually moved up being a chef. She learnt most of her knowledge from reading books which along with her personality has shaped her no-nonsense style.

Culture is described as the symbols that individuals, groups and societies use to make decision of daily life and to assure their values. Culture is a model of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given organization as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal combination, which has worked well enough to think correctly and, so to instruct to new comers as the valid way to observe, consider and feel in relation to these problems. Culture consists of manner, mind-set, values, rituals, religious belief, law (written and unwritten), arts, ideas, custom, belief, ceremonies, social institutions, myths and legends, individual identity and behavior. Cultural pattern classifies are used to describe the dominant beliefs and values. Culture has been called the way of life for an entire society. It is a group or community living together and sharing a set of norms. Culture and society are coexistent. One does not or cannot exist without the other. Culture and society may have some common elements but the two are not the same; they are not identical.

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism are two contrasting terms that are displayed by different people all over the world. Simply put, ethnocentrism is defined as “judging other groups from the perspective of one’s own cultural point of view.” Cultural relativism, on the other hand, is defined as “the view that all beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the situation, environment, and individual.” Each of these ideas has found its way into the minds of people worldwide. The difficult part is attempting to understand why an individual portrays one or the other. It is a question that anthropologists have been asking themselves for years.

Although different scholars have given different definitions of culture, the basic argument is that culture is a collective heritage learned by individuals and usually passed on from one generation to another. Culture can be explained by various characteristics but there are five main characteristics that are common (Johnston 2013). Firstly, culture is usually a learned behavior. Although not all behaviors are learned majority are learnt either consciously or unconsciously (O’Neil 2012). For example, children learn most of their behavior from their parents which means that they adopt cultures from the older people in the society. Secondly culture can be described as abstract in that it exists in the minds or habits of people in a particular society. In other words, in most cultures there is no explanations as to why people do various activities most of the reasons are