Food Stereotypes: Are you what you eat?

"It's bad luck to run out of rice"

 

 

In my very first blog post I mentioned Edward Said and his theory on Orientalism, the West's ongoing fascination with the East based upon romanticised images of it; in addition to the aforementioned Said identifies prejudices and maintains that the Western study of the East was for the purposes of imposing imperialist constraints, where the Westerner is supposed to know more about the Orient than the natives. This theory goes beyond literature and politics and effects the way we judge foreign foods; I have since then thought more about this and come to realise that there is a stereotypical nature that we have developed with a multitude of foods, not just from the East. For example, we associate meat with men and children with sweets. In regards to the East we mainly associate rice and spices with parts of Asia and the Middle East; in Eastern Vegetarian Cooking (1983) Madhur Jaffery begins her chapter 'Rice and Other Grains' by asserting this association:

 

Rice originated in Asia. Emotionally and nutritionally, Asians have depended upon it ever since for their sustenance. For many Asians, a meal without rice is quite inconceivable, and an invitation to dinner often translates as an invitation to 'eat rice'.

There is something about this soothing, ingratiating grain that is quite addictive. While it has character, fragrance, and texture, it does not obtrude. It seduces without ever having to exert itself.

But it has to be cooked well first. That is the reason I have devoted quite a few pages to basic methods of cooking long-grain rice, Japanese rice, glutinous rice, brown rice, and Persian-style rice. 134  

 

Jaffery's tone exudes the romanticised image that Said identifies in Western literature, and it is interesting that she should adopt this tone because, despite being a native Indian, she has since her late teens lived in Western society, thus she can (theoretically by Said's terms) be seen to be under the influence of Western influence. Having said this, she is not wrong - from personal experience rice is very important, even emotionally as she states. Although many modern Asian households vary their diet and don't eat it day in day out, there are traditions and even superstitions that arise from their ancestors dependance on it; for example my Mother has brought me up to believe that it is bad luck/ a bad sign when your rice supply runs low or completely out. Furthermore, the stereotype of Asian foods spans as far as the presentation of products, packaging and restaurants - customers expect all aspects of Asia to be colourful and fulfil their exotic fantasies by being overly ornate, to the extent that they become cheap imitations making 'authentic' culture a joke.

 

 

The assumption that Asians live off of rice is wrong and highlights an ignorance on behalf of those in the West that believe it, whilst some stereotypes are valid there is a blurring where it can now be percieved to be racist. As Said theorises in Orientalism (1978) Europe's dominance over Asia and it's rewriting of it's past from the assumption that they are collectively subaltern has instilled certain views of how it ought to be presented, earlier narratives of the East that remain unchanged and difficult to alter. Colonial literature and early literature on food has been unashamedly open about discrimination, depite heralding from a different time, we are now more acutely aware of the preoccupation of such branding.

 

Below I have included a list of links to articles based on sterotypes constructed through food:
Why is meat considered manly?

Do your food products have racist roots?

The Gendering of Food: You are what you eat!

 

Granny's 'Devil Chicken'

"You've got to find Granny's 'Devil Chicken'... Your Uncle Phillip would eat so much of it, he'd make himself sick!" - Craig William Beeley (my Father)

So far I have tempted you with stories about my heritage in relation to food, given you some insight in to the dishes that have withstood time and carried on being cooked throughout the generations, and introduced you to my late Granny Beeley; but of all the things worth mentioning to you about my Granny and eastern cooking, it is notably her 'Devil Chicken':

Granny's 'Devil Chicken' is one of those mysterious dishes that's bragged about, to the extent that you you can't help but be cynical and assume that the day you eventually do taste this amazing food, it will be an anticlimax from everything you had previously heard about it. Through out this assignment, whenever I've intermittently interviewed me Father about his memories of Granny's cooking he always raves about this dish; as far as he can tell me it concerns slowly cooking a chicken marinated in some sort of spiced mango glaze, and she'd serve it with mashed potato and green beans.
The recipe for this legendary dish has been something of a fickle obsession of mine, whilst I carelessly dismiss it whenever my Father brings it up in conversation, I secretly daydream about the ingredients and harbour a desire to try it, much like in Mapp and Lucia (1935) where Elizabeth Mapp is determined get Lucia's recipe for 'Lobster á la Riseholme’ but legitimately she can't. So, with Google at hand, I spent a good few hours searching this dish only to come across a recipe for 'Devil's Chutney', which is a simple condiment made of: onions, sugar, salt, sugar, and vinegar, this is commonly served as an accompaniment to coconut rice (so I've read). This research proved to be exactly what I had initially said to you about the anticlimax of some legendary dishes -
I told my Father about the 'Devil's Chutney' recipe and that I couldn't find a recipe for mango chicken, or a devil chicken, or chickens smothered in chutney, or any other description "...oh maybe that's it then..." He said. I have previously mentioned how my Father's memories of Granny's cooking are somewhat doubtful accounts, this possibly being the most disappointing one of all. I contacted my Uncle in an attempt to find out more, but alas all he could tell me was that "it was very good" and that he remembered the taste of "sweet chilli and mangoes".

Why is this story relevant I hear you say, if not at least mildly entertaining? This story serves as an example of the connection we make between food and memory; over time we cling to the thought of food as opposed to the reality of what it is and without a reciept of ingredients we can only ponder what we taste  - in this case, because 'Devil's Chicken' has never been cooked by anyone but Granny and no one can find the elusive recipe, my Father and Uncle have clung to their initial memories of it and made it out to be the Holy Grail of chicken dishes instead of seeing it for some simple chicken, in a marinade of something involving ketchup. Quite ironically, if you type "memory and food" in to Google search engine a number of links and scholarly articles are listed promoting foods that are supposed to improve your memory, which can be seen if you click on the link below. (Maybe my Father and Uncle should try a few of them!)

https://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=memory+and+food&oq=memory+and+food&gs_l=hp.3..0j0i22i30l3.44459.47461.5.47627.15.12.0.3.3.0.233.1749.0j9j2.11.0...0.0...1c.1.8.psy-ab.S5SUk7vLqKE&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,bs.1,d.d2k&fp=4224c9abb9e60957&biw=1366&bih=643

Homely Anglo-Indian food: Pish-Pash

 

Pish-Pash is a simple traditional Anglo-Indian dish that gets its name from the overcooked consistency of the rice, as though it were a rice porridge or a rice stew, this is normally given to children or those who are unwell because it is easy to digest and very nutritious. When I was very young, we used to be looked after by Granny for a few hours each week and, depending on the time of day, we would be given this to eat for lunch or dinner because it wasn't something that required much effort and it was something which my Father and Uncle would be given when they were young and living in India.
Some contemporary recipes for this dish include dhal, which is made from lentils, but the way it Granny always made it using: rice, milk, chicken or lamb, potatoes, cauliflower and maybe some carrot. There are mixed reviews about this dish within my family, whilst my Father and brothers love it for its place as a comfort food, my eldest sister, Miranda, hates it for its likeness to baby food (apparently), I recall liking it very much when I was young but as I have grown up this dish has barely been made and lost its place as a family favourite.
Despite this, my Father does mention it from time to time in a bid to get it made, but I feel it has been replaced by an alternate dish, very similar in terms of ingredients. My comfort food is a clear chicken soup that my Mother makes and serves with rice - for a number of winters my Mother cuts up a whole chicken (or cooks several drumsticks) in a pot filled with chicken stock and whole, peeled carrots and potatoes. She lets this simmer for several hours without stirring, but checking on the heat in regular intervals to make sure that it isn't sticking to the pan or boiling over. After about 3 or 4 hours you have a rich, clarified soup with the most tender pieces of chicken falling off the bone, and soft vegetables that you can cut with a spoon! This is served over separately boiled rice with a ladleful of the clear soup. I'd like to think of this as my mother's take on a more bearable version of pish-pash!

Madhur Jaffery

The Indian actress and food writer hailed as the instigator of introducing the Western world to Indian cuisine:

May I begin by telling you my initial memories of this woman: like the majority of food written about in literature Madhur Jaffery's first appearance in my life was as a softly spoken TV personality who my father insisted I watch, saying "Granny used to cook that" in regular intervals; so when I came across her cookbook Eastern Vegetarian Cooking (1983) amongst various other Asian cookbooks that belonged to my Granny, I knew at once that this was the book with which to centre my assignment on. Like Jaffery, my Granny was born in India and, despite doing little cooking herself as a young girl, grew up practising and valuing the culinary skills and knowledge in  being able to cook rich and aromatic dishes, and pass them on to other generations like my mother and myself.
The acknowledgments and introduction to several of her books draw on her experiences of food, and although they differ in their uses of ingredients, the tone and format of her writing remains consistant throughout. Jaffery reiterates the link between food, literature and memory as she goes on to tell you how she accumulated the recipes within the book and reveal the secrets of producing a multitude of different dishes from mere potatoes and aubergines.

Now regarded by many food writers as the number one authority on Indian food, it is rather ironic that her career did not start out as such - growing up as a child in India Jaffery barely knew anything about cooking and it wasn't until she moved to London that she learnt to cook some dishes reminiscent of her mother's cooking in her late teens. Following her award-winning performance in Shakespeare Wallah (1965) she became known as "the actress who could cook" and was snapped up by the BBC to present a show on Indian cooking; the 1960s was where her career really took off. Not long after flattering reviews about her and her cooking started to emerge had she been recognised by the New York Times and recieved her first book contract which produced An Invitation to Indian Cooking (1973).
Jaffery's prestige spans across all forms of media as well as literature: she is the notable author of over fifteen books on Indian, Asian and vegetarian cuisine, she has appeared in over twenty films, opened restaurants in New York, and has developed a line of of commercial cooking sauces to name just a few.
Below are a selection of some of her popular cookbooks and a link to her current website as well as Eastern Vegetarian Cooking:

Madhur Jaffery's Curry Nation