#asam150

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

Durian, Natto: Bizarre foods as Superfoods

Natto. Digital image. What Is Natto? N.p., 14 Apr. 2011. Web. <https://meguminatto.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/how-we-make-natto/>.

So called superfoods are all the rage. These are foods that apparently have very high nutritional value per serving. Typically these foods come from overseas and are then imported into the united states. A Vogue magazine article exclaims:  “ First Kombucha, Then Matcha, Now Bone Broth: What Will Be the Next East Asian Superfood?” (Kim) This article list several so called superfoods, and gives another analogous food that could possibly be the newest trend. In particular it lists natto

Natto is a Japanese dish of soybeans fermented with a particular type of bacteria to create tendrils of protein. It is considered very healthy, with high protein and low calories.  This food, like of the others discussed on this blog is considered strange and even disgusting. Like many of the other foods here, Americans have used this repulsion as a form of entertainment, with videos of people trying, and reacting, to the food. Yet it is tapped as a superfood, with it’s benefits being extolled even against it’s acceptance by the western palate.

Similarly, durian, a melon from South East Asia that is spiky and known for its pungent smell, is tapped as a superfood. It is said to contain vitamins, good fats, and high calories per unit. It’s usage as a health food is juxtaposed by the fact that for most Americans it is only a novelty to try and disgust other’s with. This use, as a novelty, works as Korsmeyer said, “Disgust is an affective response that can be mustered to patrol social boundaries and norms- for instance, to reinforce proscriptions on what should be eaten...”(Korsmeyer, 5).

While it may seem that foods like natto or durian are too outside of mainstream American tastes when it comes to food, there is the possibility that it can lead to a trend. This would have the benefits of expanding the palate of Americans, while also allowing those who enjoyed the food to do so without societal repercussions. Yet there are downsides to having an imported food become trendy in the US. A main one would be increasing costs, and scarcity in the  food’s native land. Similar to what has happened with quinoa in South America, the value of it’s importation outside of the country has meant that people who had used it in their traditional diets can no longer do so. This, of course, is speculative, but a distinct possibility for food that is trendy. 

Bibliography:

Kim, Monica. "First Kombucha, Then Matcha, Now Bone Broth: What Will Be the Next East Asian Superfood?" Vogue. N.p., 3 Mar. 2015. Web.

Korsmeyer, Carolyn. Savoring Disgust: The Foul and the Fair in Aesthetics. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

Entomophagy: Insect eating

Waterbugs from the restaurant Typhoon

Arriola, George. Waterbugs. Digital image. Atlas Obscura. Web.

Insect eating (also including arachnids despite not being insects) is a common practice in much of the world outside of the west. According to a 2015 report on insect eating and its future  by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,  "Insects are part of the diet of at least two billion people in the world and more than 1900 insect species are currently used as food."(Jansson and Berggren, 7). This a varied alley of cuisine that is often overlooked in the united states. Insects, unlike other invertebrates  such as crustaceans or other seafood, are viewed as being very unacceptable as food, and even frightening. Many entertainment outlets, from Buzzfeed articles to videos on Youtube, use the consumption of  insects to shock and disgust their audience. By marketing the disgust, these pieces of entertainment are complicit with the normative ideas that insects are not a natural thing to eat. This also works to create a sense that those who do take part in entomophagy are likewise unnatural or wrong. This leads to an interesting fork in the road, as bugs as food has been suggested as a more sustainable food source. With the ever growing global population, as well as increased greenhouse emissions from mammal farming, insects are tapped as being the better option.

While there is a distinct aversion to insects, food advernturism has led many Americans to consume them as a mark of bravery or while trying to find the so-called "authentic" cuisine of a culture. This contained encounter with the other works as a form of cultural slumming, that is a taking part in something deemed to be part of a “lesser” culture than the dominant one the participant is from. While this has led to more people in the west trying insects, it does still have unfortunate implications of eating to “...confront the usual functions of disgust...and defy it, triumphing in the sordid accomplishment (Korsmeyer 759). That by accomplishing something others do regularly, they are achieving a better realization of a worldly experience.

Still, some people are working to try and change the perception of entomophagy in the West. People like the Bug Chef, David George Gordon , try to use the shock to educate others. Similarly, a few restaurants, such as Santa Monica’s Typhoon (a pan-Asian, though recently closed restaurant) offer insects as part of their menu. Typhoon, the restaurant where the main photo came from, had a section of its menu dedicated to insects that did not highlight it as an oddity. This type of attitude could possibly be emulated as a way of introducing more westerners to the possibility of consumption of bugs as everyday food. 

Bibliography:

Jansson, A. and Berggren, A. 2015. Insects as Food – Something for the Future? A report from Future Agriculture. Uppsala, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).

Korsmeyer, Carolyn. "Disgust and Aesthetics." Philosophy Compass. Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2017. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2012.00522.x/abstract>.

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

Culinary adventurism

There has been an explosion of popular ethnographic and tourist television, writing, photographing, blogging, and even vlogging where individuals explore international and transnational culture through culinary experience. Popular food channels like Bizarre Foods, East Meets West, and Top Chef along with YouTube channels like Ochikeron and the endless “How To Make” videos are part of a ritual among white-American tourists – an effort to document, represent, and understand an experience. Through these various forms of food media, the American audiences are able to experience eating international bizarre and exotic foods vicariously without having to leave their homes or even learn how to make these strange yet intriguing dishes.

Throughout these forms of food media, disgust or exoticism transform these bizarre foods and cultures depicted. On Dinh’s blog The Spices of Life, she discusses a variety of Vietnamese dishes. There are dishes that the white-American society would consider to be relatively familiar, like pho. There are also dishes that the white-American society would consider to be relatively strange, like gio thu.

In Zimmerman’s Bizarre Foods, he represents many white-Americans as many can relate to him and ideas of other cultures come stem from his perceptions as well. Bizarre Foods marks the difference between clean and modern cuisine, and primitive and traditional ways of eating. While Zimmerman shows respect for the practices in eating while abroad, there are times when it is “too much” for him. When an open-armed individual has limitations to differences, it marks those differences between the “us” and the “other”. Through the various forms of food media, many Americans are able to experience and make judgements on a several different bizarre foods and cultures which they will choose to either accept positively or negatively.

Dinh, Annette Loan. “The Spices of Life…” Blog post. The Spices Of Life. N.p., 01 Jan 1970. Web. http://vietspices.blogspot.com/

Kelly, Casey R. "Bizarre Foods: White Privilege and the Neocolonial Palate." (2014): 1-26.

Kelly, Casey R. "Exoticizing Poverty in Bizarre Foods America." (2015): 3.

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

A look at Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern- Philippines

Bizarre Foods- Philippines. Prod. Shannonn Demers. Perf. Andrew Zimmern. DMAX, 2007. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY1OIx-YDbA>.

"Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" is a long running Travel Channel food tourism show. The gist of the show is that the host, Zimmern, travels the world trying the "strangest" food found in that culture. Typically, one episode spotlights one country and various delicacies found throughout. While being an agent of cultural learning, it does so through the lens of western superiority. To exemplify these issues, I will analyze the episode set in the Philippines. It starts with the host trying Balut (a dish previously discussed) for the first time (from 3:15-8:50). Zimmern, a white American male, speaks over the balut workers with a forced measure of authority about a food he had never had before. While he is the host of the show, it comes across as a person speaking on a subject he does not know about, despite there being people in the room that are experts on it. It gives the sense that the American has more authority on the subject purely by virtue of being an American. Throughout the episode, Zimmern expresses this cultural power in many ways, from grabbing at items from a food vendor's stall, to talking about how "weird" a food is directly to the person making it. Another scene that exemplifies this, is the ice cream bun scene (14:07-15:31). This short segment depicts him getting an purple yam and cheese flavored ice cream served onto a hamburger bun. He does not like it, and also buys one and gives it to a seemingly random man on the street. This man is put on the spot, and while saying he likes it, is juxtaposed to Zimmern, who thought it was odd. This creates the sense that the ice cream, and further the people who like it, are wrong, as it conflicts with western standards of ice cream.

Throughout this episode, Zimmern speaks about finding the authentic cuisine of the Philippines. He mentions, in passing, that many of the dishes that are considered traditional are due to the history of colonization that the country faced. These changes he ascribes as being inherently part of the “true” Filipino food, though they work to contribute to otherness of the cuisine. As Casey Kelly writes in his article, Bizarre Foods: White Privilege and the Neocolonial Palate, “ because the Other must be rendered exotic enough to be considered authentically cultural, especially when contrasted with the blank slate of whiteness, Bizarre Foods ultimately reinforces the difference between self and Other”(Kelly, 45). The quest of looking for authentic, “strange” food as a novelty, only furthers the distinction of another culture as other. It reinforces the idea that the western way of life is the superior one, and that it’s food culture should be standard. 

Bibliogrpahy:

Bizarre Foods- Philippines. Prod. Shannonn Demers. Perf. Andrew Zimmern. DMAX, 2007. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY1OIx-YDbA>.

Kelly, Casey R. "Bizarre Foods: White Privilege and the Neocolonial Palate." Race and Hegemonic Struggle in the United States: Pop Culture, Politics, and Protest. Ed. Michael G. Lacy and Mary E. Triece. N.p.: n.p., 2014. 43-68. Print.

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

Balut

Simon, Ed. Balut. Digital image. Watch Appetite. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://watchappetite.ph/balut/>.

Balut is a food from South East Asia, particularly the Philippines. It consists of a fertilized duck egg that has been allowed to develop for about 18 days, and then boiled. It is typically eaten as a street food. It also tops many lists of strange foodstuffs, as it brings the true nature of a food's origin-namely, that an egg is an animal fetus- to the forefront of the person consuming it. In the West, particularly in America, the linkage of food and the original living animal state is greatly separated. Thus, by consuming a food that is distinctly an animal, such as Balut, it can invoke a disgust reaction from sight alone.

Americans Try Balut (Duck Embryo). YouTube. Buzzfeed, 25 Dec. 2015. Web. <https://youtu.be/b5WTw3D5B74>.

Furthermore, this type of disgust reaction has lead to the creation of videos of people trying so called strange foods as a form of entertainment. One such video is the included Buzzfeed video, "Americans Try Balut (Duck Embryo)". The title card of the video has an attractive white woman making a shocked face, along with a close up of egg. This is indicative of the othering nature of video, as it works to let the viewer immediately know that what they are about to eat is bizarre and maybe even frightening. This video does contain various different people (in pairs) trying it, with varying reactions. Yet, in spite of allowing for many differing experiences to be shown, the camera lingers on the more negative reactions. This coupled with the anecdote in the beginning (of a dead baby bird) and the suspenseful refrain that accompanies the title frame, exemplify the idea that balut is not an acceptable food. A quote from Keridiana Chez's critique of culinary tourism works very well to describe the underlying issues with this video "... expresses muted amazement to the strangeness of the Other’s food choices, which contrasts starkly with his otherwise apparently open embrace of difference."(Chez 242) This video, and the many like it are performances of the normalization and othering of food.  It is also a performance of power of the dominant western culture showing what is and is not considered normal to consume.

Bibliography:

Americans Try Balut (Duck Embryo). YouTube. Buzzfeed, 25 Dec. 2015. Web. <https://youtu.be/b5WTw3D5B74>.

Chez, Keridiana. "Popular Ethnic Food Guides as Auto/Ethnographic Project: The Multicultural and Gender Politics of Urban Culinary Tourism." The Journal of American Culture 34.3 (2011): 234-46. Web.

Simon, Ed. Balut. Digital image. Watch Appetite. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://watchappetite.ph/balut/>.

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

Supermarket space.

Supermarkets are a necessity for most people, especially families. There are many who choose where to settle down based on whether there is some sort of supermarket nearby. Fresh fruits and vegetables, cooking ingredients, fish and meat, drinks, snacks; a supermarket has all the food supplies that a household kitchen could need. With the diversity in the residents of Southern California, there are a variety of different types of supermarkets: Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Korean, Japanese, conventional American, etc.

Since the target consumers for supermarkets like 99 Ranch, H Mart, Saigon Supermarket, and Vons differ, I would like to find out if and how the products and spaces of these supermarkets are different.

Going to Little Saigon every weekend gives me the advantage of familiarizing myself with many Vietnamese supermarkets, and from my experience, they are generally the same in terms of the products they offer and the environment in which the supermarket experience takes place. Focusing on Saigon Supermarket, the first section that you come to as you walk in is the fresh produce. Fruits and vegetables are laid out for customers to dig through, pick and choose. Though there are some produce present that would not be found in a supermarket like Vons; when in season, these “bizarre” foods can be found. There is jackfruit, dragon fruit, Vietnamese guava, special herbs, and the like. Most Vietnamese supermarkets also cut meat and fish in preparation for cooking as well. Like Saigon Supermarket, some Vietnamese supermarkets also fry fish for a small extra fee.

Being next to Little Saigon allows me access to the Korean District in Garden Grove. My family enjoys going to Arirang as there is a small food court where mom and pop shops have been put up. Vietnamese supermarkets do not have food courts, but I have noticed that Korean supermarkets like H Mart and Arirang do have food courts; I believe that it is a nice touch as it allows for people to stop and have a meal, and for those new to Korean foods, they can have a taste.

There is also a question of authenticity as well. Many choose to go to these ethnic supermarkets in order to buy the proper, authentic foods and ingredients. It is difficult to come across certain ingredients – like the herbs for pho and ingredients for tofu soup – in a supermarket like Ralph’s, Vons, or Sprouts.

[bizarrefoods-blog1]

Disgust.

According to Disney Pixar's Inside Out (as well as some psychologists) Disgust is a core emotion. Merriam Webster defines it as "marked aversion aroused by something highly distasteful". Generally this is a highly visceral reaction. It is also a highly social reaction. What one considers distasteful is informed, among other biological responses, by the culture that that specific person grew up in. One of the main outlets of this emotion is through how one views foods, particularly foods that new and "strange" to them. This introduction to "strange" food is often through witnessing a person from a different cultural background consume it. School lunches, such as Eddie Huang's seaweed salad (Huang 31) and Padma Lakshmi's rice and curry (Lakshmi 114), then become foci for interactions with the culturally different, and thus disgust at the otherness.  According to Rozin and Fallon's article on the psychological aspects of food disgust, "The harm can be social, such as degradation of social status (as in public consumption of a "lower-class" food, acceptance of foods handled by a member of a lower caste in India,or ordering a very cheap wine at a fancy restaurant)" (Fallon and Rozin, 24). This social aspect of the disgust comes from the view that the immigrants, being racially different, are socially less valuable, and as such their food is considered distasteful to a person of the majority.

Bibliography:

Disgust. Digital image. Pixar Wikia. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://pixar.wikia.com/wiki/Disgust>. Huang, Eddie. "God Has Assholes For Children." Fresh off the Boat: A Memoir. New York: Spiegal & Grau, 2015. 30-31. Print. Lakshmi, Padma. Love, Loss, and What We Ate a Memoir. Ashland, OR: Blackstone, 2016. Print. Rozin, Paul, and April E. Fallon. "A Perspective on Disgust." Psychological Review 94.1 (1987): 23-41. Web.