The Cosmopolitan Indian Family, Authentic Food And The Construction Of Cultural Utopia

In certain cultures, such as that of India, food is an essential element of life. This is illustrated in the story “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”, in which Mr. Pirzada shares many meals with Lilia’s family. Upon meeting Mr. Pirzada, Lilia assumes he is Indian, because he “ate pickled mangoes with [his] meals,” and “ate rice every night for supper with [his] hands” (Lahiri 25), which are both

In “Why everyone should stop calling immigrant food ‘ethnic’” the writer, Lavanya Ramanathan writes that referring to these foods as “ethnic” makes them appear to be more foreign than they are. Ramanathan states that describing the cuisine from foreign countries as “ethnic” seems to only apply to those “countries whose people have the brownest skin.” She goes on to say that she has observed that true “ethnic” cuisine is often looked down upon and considered low while “fusion cuisine”, combinations of American and an “ethnic” country’s food is seen as haute cuisine. Ramanathan tells that a NYU professor has discovered than people won’t pay more than $30 for ethnic cuisine. She also says that using “ethnic” signifies an air of inferiority when used and that while Asian and African countries get referred to as ethnic, European cuisine gets a pass from the Americans.

I find that food defines me, and my family by its humble upbringings that remind us all to remember where we come from. My parents came from Romania to escape Communism in 1989 by moving to the United States to give me and my siblings a better life. One food in particular that represents my family's heritage, is the plate called "Ciorba" which translates to bean soup. Not only does it taste amazing but it's always a dish that resembles how grateful I am to have parents that sacrificed a lot of their life to give me a better upbringing. Every time I eat Ciorba I always feel that a part of my parent's history was surviving on what they could in Communist Romania and realizing the freedom I have each bite I take of this cherished meal.

"Malgudi Days" is a gathering of short stories composed by R.K.Narayan and likely the most renowned title connected with R.K.Narayan with the special case of "Swami and Friends."

Food is fundamentally important in life of human beings, but it’s not only to satisfy hunger, food has a lot of significance in the search for identity since it has power promote ones identity, preserve cultural values and even religious. One might argue the significance of food towards search for identity but the truth remains that food has had a tremendous power in promoting self-independence and liberations to cultural practises and beliefs, Express emotional experiences and lastly promote social values that are associated with certain types of foods.

I decided to read Geeta Kothari’s story “If You Are What You Eat, Then What Am I?”. The title itself caught my attention because there are a lot of speculations regarding what we are based on the foods we consume. The story was interesting to read, Kothari brought a lot of details about the different Indian foods her family eats and how different it is from American food. Throughout the story she describes the daily cultural struggles she lives. Kothari is trying to reveal the struggle between the Indian and American culture, and the differences are huge. In one culture, meat can’t even be bared to be smelled and in the other, meat is basically all is eaten daily. Kothari explains that she has antipathy toward Indian food and neither cannot

From the time of Adam and eve, food is always a very essential need of human life. Due to good or bad eating habits and the difference in human body sizes is always noted. Eating a lot does not guarantee good health as eating balanced diet. Many individual eat certain groups of foods mostly due to their cultures, backgrounds, geographic locations and also the economic status of their families and their ethnic groups. Unlike other human essentials, food preserves cultures as different cultures are associated with various foods. For instance, in a gathering that has people from various locations of the world and containing different types of foods where and the mode of eating is self-service, it is observed that individual from the same region tend to consume similar types of foods the main reason being tradition and culture (Esquivel, 15). The reason various foods taste different is that they are always prepared in different styles, methods and also ingredients. It is known for centuries that any alteration on a food recipe brings a different taste which results to a different food style altogether. Laura Esquivel, an author, wrote a book by the title "Like Water for Chocolate." The book talks about the role and the importance of food. In her book, she introduces a Mexican traditional culture where the female gender is attached to the art of cooking, serving, monitoring and protecting this good

The importance of food to identity formation is certainly not unique to the immigrant experience. Whether a part of “invisible” majority culture or “deviant” minority culture, food environments influence our constructions of credos and categories. Generally speaking, eating preferences and behaviors are part of familial and societal legacies. We may prepare the signature dishes of deceased relatives to mark holidays or guard the secret ingredients of a family recipe. In other instances, particular spices may evoke strong emotions or memories in us. Even in disordered eating behaviors, we tend to reflect social values and constraints.145

The video <<客家釀涼瓜>> (Hakka Stuffed Bitter Melon) uses a traditional Hakka meal, Hakka Stuffed Bitter Melon, as an example to elaborate some of the concepts about food covered in Anthropology. The symbolism of food, inheritance of food among the community, correlation between food and identity, and the gender stereotypes in food preparation are to be included in the video and would be discussed in this commentary.

Until a person fully develops and solidifies their taste buds and their eating habits, it involves many different process’ and factors. Foods are not usually not paid attention to. Many of us are not aware of what we eat everyday. We most likely do not pay attention to what ingredients are used, or how it is made, unless it is necessary. We choose to eat what we have been eating since we were born, or what we like to eat – which is the norm. The food habit that people develop to, is a method to illustrate one’s identity, like one’s cultural background. There are many reasons to why food habits are important; therefore, there is a necessity to look at the factors which influence people’s habits and culture.

Like Appadurai Arjun said in ''Gastro-Politics in Hindu South Asia'', Indians are sharing food with others. The importance of being a perfect host for their guests in order to honour them is seen in the namesake. « as usual his mother cooks for days beforehand, cramming the refrigerator with stacks of foil-covered trays. »1

India is a country divided by its people, cultures and norms. Every state in the country hold its own different values and beliefs. Being the 7th largest country in the world, it is home to over a billion people. The country has said to have a total of 1652 languages spoken, where only 31 of them are official. Let’s not even get started on the number of casts and cultures that exist in the country, because the state I’m from, alone has over at least 10. Lack of respect for each other, the failure of the education system, and lack of empathy are what’s keeping India fractured. How can we expect so many people, who speak different languages, believe in different gods, eat different food, wear different clothes, and who believe in different rituals, to ever be united as one whole nation?

One’s culture is highly influenced by the past. It creates and explains their tradition while ultimately determining what the future holds. For instance, food plays a crucial role in culture especially for the people of Bombay/Mumbai; which is where the film Lunchbox takes placed. The film focuses on a delivering system that acts as an infrastructure. This system is made up of people delivering home-cooked meals and meals from restaurants at the consumer's job for their lunch. One major reason why the people of Mumbai utilizes this system is to maintain their tradition of having warm home-cooked meals despite them being at work. This displays the importance of family to them. The food symbolizes the feeling of being connected and together despite the distance. These lunchboxes are able to keep the tradition of having a hot home-cooked meal alive. Because of the old tradition, this new concept of delivering lunch boxes

From its beginning as a science of observation, anthropology has showed great interest in the subject of food and eating habits; hardly any other behavior attracts the attention of human beings as much as the way one eats. What, where, how, how often we eat, and how we feel about food ends up binding us directly to our sense of selves and our social identity. As human beings, we are fostered in very specific environments, surrounded by very specific people with specific beliefs and social habits. Although Boyd-Eaton & Konner (1985) attempted to discover what humans are hard-wired to consume by analyzing the daily nutrition of Paleolithic human beings, the truth is that the way human beings eat is socially, culturally and environmentally inscribed — there is no ideal way to eat, because these socio-cultural dynamics keep changing throughout history. What we learn about food is encompassed in a body of materials that are culturally and historically derived from others, and thus, food and eating habits assume, in this manner, a central position in our social learning.

Learning specific knowledge and understanding of other cultures was my major problem because it is very difficult to learn and understand a new language. So in order for me to overcome these challenges, I changed my perspective of that challenges itself. I started to encourage myself that I am capable to learn more about other cultures. So I googled online search and watched different video clips of the cultures of interest. Also, I spent more time with different people from different cultures. I have realized that whenever I ask questions I was learning more.