Source: My own kitchen
Relation: Food is a creation of culture and food can be away to connect to a culture.
Description: I am of Korean decent and my roommate is of Chinese decent, and when i look at the food in my kitchen almost all of it is either Korean food, Chinese food, or basic Asian food. We have the basic food for college student: ramen and rice, but our ramen is not the typical 8 cent ramen it is the nice ramen that was made in Korea. I also have the staple item for any Korean meal, kimchi. My roommate has Chinese style cured ham and sausage as well as cans of some thing that i don't know what it is because it is written all in Chinese. We also have all kinds of drinks like Korean fruit punch and goji tea. We have very few food items that are not Asian like: bread, cereal, chicken breast, and fruit.
Commentary: Neither me or my roommate of grew up in our country of origin and yet we both really enjoy our native foods. Even though me and my roommate don't live or grew up in Korea or China we still have a connection to our culture through the food we eat. I know that for me given the choice between American food and Korean food i would take the Korean food every time. Kimchi and Korean barbeque are like my favorite foods.
Hey Jon. Did you develop such a taste for Korean food because that's what you ate growing up with your family? It seems like people always gravitate towards the foods of their nationality. I wonder if that's just because it's what is served at home when they're growing up. Say for example a Mexican person grows up eating American food. Because he was never exposed to it growing up will he ever develop a taste for Mexican food? Or will he sort of naturally start eating it when he gets a little older because he sees it as part of Mexican culture that he wants in his life?
ReplyDeleteAlso, where do you get your Korean food here?
I've never actually had Korean food; I've heard it's really good. I understand what you mean, though; my grandparents were German and Austrian, so while I've tried to keep an eclectic taste and open mind about food, I still have a soft spot for german-type foods, especially Austrian specifically. Nothing like a nice, crisp schnitzel, some fried potatoes, and a side of blaukraut (a sweet/sour/savory red cabbage dish, usually with apples and sometimes bacon, a bit like sweet sauerkraut; it's weird, but really good). Especially when you have a hunk of strudel to chase it down with!
ReplyDeleteMore directed at Andrew, but I swear some of our cultural tastes are ingrained. I was a picky kid, so I never ate a lot of traditional dishes, like blaukraut, or apple strudel when my grandmother was alive to make them. I didn't give these dishes an honest taste until years after she'd passed, but they resonated. It was like I was back in her kitchen, tasting that food for the first time.