Food and Identity What?

Ryan Lusk

Word count: 1858 

Food as we understand it, is a source of energy for us as humans to keep going throughout our day. Have we as humans ever thought food could bring out who we are as a person? This week we visited three grocery stores, read a chapter from Food: The Key Concept, and watched an episode of Chef’s Table featuring Alex Atala.

Each of these sources brought out new concepts of how food brings out our identity.   This theory couldn't be any clearer through the story of world renowned chef Alex Atala. This Brazilian chef started his journey as a young man growing up in a working-class family. He grew up going on hunting and fishing trips with his father and grandfather where he found an appreciation for nature and all of its resources. However, as a young man he felt different. He had a slender build with red hair and light skin while his family, parents and brothers, had dark skin and dark hair. In his young adult years, he was introduced to the punk rock culture. It would be this culture where he found others like him and this would eventually lead him to becoming a world-renowned chef. Alex began to immerse himself in the punk rock culture that lead him to drug use. During one of his drug induced “trips” he recalls being introduced to the “life circle”. This trip had him have an awareness that he relates this life circle to a seed. In the beginning, it's a seed then transforms into a fruit/flower and then the flower/fruit produces a seed in the end and starts a new beginning. It is through this theory that he related the fruit or flower as the most beautiful part of the circle and living in the now. This inspired him to seek out who he really was.

In the quest to find out who he was and explore the punk rock culture, he went to Europe to immerse himself in the European punk rock culture. He loved Europe; however, there were two problems. The first was money to live on and the second, getting a visa. He got a job as a wall painter to earn his money where he would meet a co-worker going to cooking school and found a way through going to cooking school to get a visa. Alex found a love for cooking. After being told he could never could French cuisine as good as a French chef because he wasn't French. Alex felt angry and discouraged because he was a proud Brazilian. While living in Milan, he had a baby and realize that he didn’t want to raise his child as European but as a Brazilian. He left Europe with his son and went back to Brazil where he then opened up his restaurant D.O.M.

In the film Alex make reference to “but if caviar is fancy, and tucupi is not fancy, it is just because someone told me.”  “There's a cultural interpretation of flavors.” This statement made me realize how food is presented to us is often how we value it.

We saw how true the above statement was through our visits to Pal-Do Asian Market, QFC, and Marvel the Russian Market.  All of these markets carried food but upon entry they varied widely.  

A shopper at Pal-Do World, the Asian Market, sees a big produce section upon entry. They are greeted with a wide variety of exotic fruits and vegetables not like your average grocery store. Walking around the store looking at the nearby sections, we primarily saw fresh seafood and produce. The store had big signs over the produce saying what the fruit or other produce is and how much it was in a different manner from the typical Americanized grocery store. Drawing you in to buy the fresh healthy nutrient rich foods instead of the boxed and packaged food. The meats and seafood section was definitely reflective of the Asian culture with a fish tank that had live fish ready to purchase for your future dining experience. Since fresh fish is much of the Asian culture it wasn't surprising to see a tank with live fish swimming in the store. We also saw pallets of rice which is a staple in the Asian cuisine.

Our second stop was to the local QFC (Quality Food Center). QFC is a recognized large national grocery store chain throughout the United States. This store had a definite appearance of being all American. Shoppers here were greeted with tall long aisles of food. There was a produce section with familiar everyday type fruits and vegetables much of which appeared to be locally grown. The fruits and vegetables were clean, perfectly shaped, photo ready looking and nothing to exotic for the American eye. Shoppers would also find a meat section with an abundance of domestic beef, pork, and chicken, but with limited fresh seafood. There were small sections of prepackaged ethnic foods. Prepared and ready to eat foods were found throughout the store. The products laid out in the store didn’t complement each other well. For example, they had the soda on one side of the aisle and on the other side of the aisle was organic healthy foods. Also, alcohol was located at many areas throughout the store. QFC like many Americanized grocery stores have sections dedicated to holiday celebrations. For example, QFC had candies and chocolate and flowers to celebrate the upcoming Valentine’s Day. This is a clear indication of how American holidays and traditions are celebrated through food. It also shows that much of the American diet contains high sugar, processed, and prepared ready to eat foods that often lack healthy high nutrient food.

The Russian market called Marvel was our last stop. This place was the in-between of both QFC and Pal-Do World. Marvel had a layout that merged the layouts of the other two stores. This store had a very “old world” ambience where the bread was served off of wood shelves and sausage hanging in the meat case. Marvel’s meat department had many different types of sausages and fish. There was not a lot of domestic cuts beef or chicken. The bread was freshly made in the store unlike QFC where it mostly contained processed bread made outside of the store. Marvel had a hot food ready to eat counter similar to QFC but with Russian cuisine.

It was interesting how the food in each store really defined the identity of the ethnicity of the population the store served. So, this proves that food identifies people.  Each region of the world has a cuisine curtailed to its own accessibility to food, customs and traditions, and means of which to prepare food.

In the book Food: The Key Concept, we read about the five factors that comes within a culture's cuisine. The five factors are Basic foods, Preparation, Flavor principles, Social manners, and the food chain. These five factors of cuisine can be easily identified and demonstrated through the pacific island cuisine. This region has a basic food diet of fresh tropical fruit, pork and seafood which is reflection of their topography. A lot of their food preparation is done in an outdoor setting on BBQ’s or old traditions of roasting meats. Flavoring comes from the natural ingredients from the surrounding areas such as pineapples, sugar cane, and other tropical fruits and spices. The social manners of the pacific islanders may include a large family gatherings and/or Luaus. The food chain consists of animals, fruits and vegetables, and seafood easily sustainable with limited farmland.

While researching how food relates to identity, I discussed it with my family.  My mom recalled a memory while she was on a family vacation several years ago, she was touring a city in California.  She explains she was a young girl riding in the car and as her parents drove past a store there was a skinned cat hanging for sale.  She remembers vividly being taken back and her parents explaining to her that they were in what was known as “Chinatown” and that was an Asian Market and in Asian culture people eat different things.  My mom, who is half Hispanic, also recalled a time she was visiting a family friend’s home.  They owned a Mexican restaurant in Tukwila.  While over her and her friends went to the refrigerator to get a snack.  When they opened the door, they were greeted with a pig head.  The other children, who were Hispanic, took no notice to the pig head my mom says.  When she asked about it, she was told that they eat it. (Yuck!)  But these are clear indications of how food identifies cultures/people throughout the world.  Highly populated areas such as old China ate what was readily available.  In Mexico, because it is such a hot and mostly dry region pigs are easier to farm than cattle.

In Central and South America, you might find a diet with rice and beans, seasoned with peppers because that is what grows easier in that area. In Europe, you might find a rack of lamb and in Norway you might find Lutefisk (fish) because they are important to the local cuisine. Norwegian cuisine in its traditional form is based largely on the raw materials readily available in Norway and its mountains, wilderness, and coast. This proves that different areas can be identified through their local cuisine.

The Apple Pie is actually a perfect example of identity of America.  Although it did not originate in America it has become a pop culture icon.  It is the epitome of American because apples were not native to the United States but the settlers learned to grow and preserve apples in a way that they could be used year around and season to season which made them a key icon.  Nowhere else in the world the apple pie has the same link to American culture, tradition, or identity. Apple pie in America is one of those great traditions. Apple pie most often accompanies any American family feast. In the 1940’s, when soldiers were headed off to world war II they were as why they were willing to fight in the war and they typically response was “for mom and apple pie”. This shows what American soldiers craved from home, making this American.

Question: As our country still continues to be the great melting pot where cultures and traditions are merged. How has immigration changed the American cuisine?

America has opened its doors to new cuisines from around the world. In American history garlic used to be the spiciest ingredient a cook had access to, but in today's market with immigration and the introduction of peppers from around the world, spiciness has been taken to a whole new level with Ghost Peppers, Jalapenos, and Chile Peppers in America. From street tacos to sushi, immigrants have brought new flavor and flare to America’s dining choices.  As immigrants continue to enter our country they bring with them their customs, traditions, and culture. Their dietary preferences put a demand on local grocers to provide a wider variety of produce, meats, and other exotic foods.