As far back as I can remember, my mother's linguine salad has been a part of every holiday, birthday, or special party she's been a part of. It's her staple dish, one that people have come to know her for and request whenever there's talk of a gathering. For me, it's a food that carries real emotional attachment. I can immediately smell the salad supreme she uses to top it, and picture the exact bowl that she makes it in. It's a food that I associate with happiness, good times, being in good company, and with my mother directly.
I had linguine salad on the mind while reading through Kniazeva & Venkates, and the three levels of symbolic meaning made a ton of sense when relating it back to the dish. At their first level, collectively shared meaning and knowledge, linguine salad draws on good times. An Italian dish traditionally served in the summer, with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden, linguine salad symbolizes good times. The second level of meaning described by Kniazeva & Venkates relates directly to that assigned meaning. The fresh vegetables straight from the garden calls on the idea of "homemade" or "homegrown", talked about by Kniazeva & Venkates as a conveyance of authenticity, simplicity, and domestic. The third level of meaning, a linking of "food properties, eating patterns, and food values", goes back to my first description of my connection with the food: eating at home, during celebratory times, sharing it with good company.
When looking at our favorite food memories through the perspective granted by Kniazeva and Venkates, we can see just where our fondness of dishes come from, and gain a more complete understanding of why food (and the way we eat it) is so important to us on an almost spiritual level. I know that I've walked away from the reading with a greater appreciation of the work that went into making this food so special for me (and craving it a lot more too).
Food and its social and cultural dimensions
ReplyDeleteOne idea that impacted me the most from the assigned reading was the change in viewing food as simply a product and now at its consumption. The value has shifted most definitely for researchers, but I think for the general population, too. In particular, I think there has been a great focused placed on both experiential consumption and ritual consumption; the basic idea that there is a strong relationship between a consumer and a (food) product. The shift in focus has been from general product value to what is now perceived as ‘linking value’, which involves the experiences and relationships between people and products.
I bring this idea to light because it resonates so much with me. My family comes from Colombia, South America; most of my every day diet is made up of some type of Colombian food. In particular, my café con leche in the morning alongside an arepa. Although these are foods that I eat almost daily, they are not foods that hold the deepest emotional attachment. There is a very well known Colombian dish called Ajiaco. This native dish is basically a soup made up of different ingredients such as: broth, chicken, potatoes, and crema de leche. It is a simple dish, but its meaning reaches far beyond the products used to make it. When I eat ajiaco, especially homemade, it transcends from an experience with a food to an experience with my family—delving into my Colombian heritage. There is a sense of honor in eating ajiaco alongside family members, mostly because it is a food native to our country, and it is a food that is used to celebrate our traditions and holidays. Linking this to the article that we read and to what we’ve discussed in class, I have truly noticed that the value of food products have lessened or even become unnoticeable and replaced by relationships and experiences that I have created while eating the product. When I think of ajiaco, I don’t think of the soup as a whole, or of potatoes, or of chicken, or even of the taste. Rather, I feel emotional and proud to know what this dish is, what it means to Colombian people, and to my family. The linking value of this food has most definitely taken over the product value for me.