Transcript Food English - otherenglishes

Food English
Overview
History of people, language, and food
(focus on cookbooks)
 Situations and mediums for Food English
 Issues related to food, language, and
culture
 Examples of food words

SINCE THE DAWN OF
TIME…
there was FOOD
History / Prevalence

Food + Language = Cookbooks
◦ Written in almost every literate society
◦ Deipnosophistai (Banquet of the Sophists)
 2nd Century BC by Athenaieus, Greek gourmet
 In the form of dialogue between two banqueters
 Mentions more than 20 preceding authors
◦ BUT THAT’S NOT ENGLISH!
History / Prevalence

American Cookbooks
◦ Amelia Simmons published the first real American
Cookbook in Connecticut in 1796
◦ Until the 18th century, cookbooks were written for
the wealthy, but American cookbooks were written
for the masses
◦ No description of:




Size of baking dish
Number of portions
Cooking temperature
Even how much flour to add!
Situations

Food Words?
◦ Cooking is both a literary and a verbal endeavor,
much like storytelling
 Cookbooks and cooking shows often have a theme or
emotion connected with the recipes.
◦ Restaurants often use foreign languages in their
menus
◦ Shared vocabulary/vernacular
within a family.
◦ Ex: A ‘spludge’ of butter.
Food as a Medium of Culture

Connections between food and language (beyond
cookbooks)
◦ Cooking as first science (Ethnobotony)
 Passing on cooking techniques and different terms was important
for retaining wisdom gained through food experimentation.
◦ Ethnic and regional differences
 Similar to how different ethnic or regional groups may have
different fashions or what have you, different groups also have
different ways of cooking food.
◦ Published recipes vs Digital recipes
 Mainstream cook books are always on the market, but now the
Internet has websites devoted to recipes and a community of
cooks.You can even create your own family recipe book online.
The Science of Ethnobotany
Myths express the way people understand the
universe and serve to explain a people's place
in the universe. There are often kernels of
scientific truth underlying these myths.
Ethnobotanists study the interconnectedness
of plants, people, and culture because the
botanical wisdom accumulated by indigenous
people throughout the world has led to
discoveries of new pharmaceuticals, chemical
compounds, and myriad other products.1
 1 Balick, Michael J. and Cox, Paul Alan. Plants,
People, and Culture: The Science of
Ethnobotany. New York: Scientific American
Library/ W.H. Freeman & Co., 1997.

Aesthetic / Cultural Connections

Modern Cooking
◦ Fusion Cuisine
 Combines elements of various culinary traditions,
but doesn’t fit into one itself
 Bi- or Multilingual food
 Examples:
 Taco Pizza
 Sake Cocktails
Instances of Food Racism

Class distinctions
◦ One can refer to a group of people based on the
food they eat and make prejudiced judgments
against them without any real evidence

Bizarre foods
◦ One can make prejudiced judgments about a
different culture based on one’s lack of familiarity
with that culture’s food
Political Issues

Freedom Fries!
◦ French Fries were referred to as ‘Freedom
Fries’ in 2003
 Stemmed from the anti-French sentiment in the US
following France’s opposition of the invasion of Iraq
 Similar name change for French Toast
Symbolism of Food
But no matter where humans travel, there is always a
yearning for a specific food. The memory, the taste,
the smell of certain foods will invariably "evoke a
pang of loving nostalgia. …Food is much more than a
tool of survival. Food is a source of pleasure, comfort,
and security. Food is also a symbol of hospitality,
social status, and religious significance. …Cultural
heritage offers to everyday life not only a sense of
collective identity, but pride and dignity, purpose and
stability. …Eventually, in the pauses of daily life, we
each, in our differing ways, come to the realization
that life is not complete without the enrichment of
our cultural heritage."4
 4 Barer-Stein, Thelma.You Eat What You Are: People,
Culture and Food Traditions. Ontario: Firefly Books,
1999.

Examples of Food Words

Foreign words in food English
◦ Sauté - fry quickly in a little fat
 From the French verb meaning ‘to leap’
◦ Teriyaki – fish or meat has been sliced and
broiled (or grilled) in a marinade
 From the Japanese words teri (gloss) and yaki (roast)
◦ Shish kebab – seasoned meat or vegetables
roasted on skewers
 From Turkish sis (skewer) and kebap (roast meat)
Common Foods from Different Cultures

Not surprisingly, the culture of American foods is widely varied. In fact, many of the most popular dishes from other countries have become commonplace at the
American table. How many of these common foods have you tried? (This list is based on information found in You Eat What You Are by Thelma Barer-Stein.5)

Armenian
Bulgar:
wholegrain wheat cereal that has been boiled, dried, and cracked

Belgian
Crème Fraiche:
slightly thick, flavorful cream used in cooking and for desserts

Belorussian
Sauerkraut:
fermented with apples and cranberries
cabbage dish that can be drained, blended, and combined with beets, potatoes, or browned onions, or

Canadian
Canadian bacon:
very lean, smoked back bacon

Chinese
Baak Choy:
Chinese cabbage
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Chinese
Chow Mein:
rice topped with soft-fried noodles
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Slovakian
Knedlicky:
dumplings; made from anything that will form a stiff dough and can be steamed or poached

Danish
Glogg:
hot spiced wine, popular at Christmas

Dutch
Apple Beignets:
deep-fried apple fritters dusted with sugar

Egyptian
Couscous:
water is dribbled over flour and rubbed to form small granules; granules are then dried and steamed

English
Fish & Chips:
batter-fried white-fleshed fish served with french-fried potatoes

French
Crepes:
thin batter of eggs and flour poured into a small skillet and cooked on both sides; can be filled, sauced,
flambeed, or gratineed; served as an appetizer, main dish, or dessert

German

Greek
Baklava:
crispy, sweet pastry made from layers of phyllo pastry sprinkled with nuts and sugar, secured with whole
cloves, and served with a topping of spiced hot syrup or honey

Hungarian
sour cream
Paprikas:
made from any meat, fish, or vegetable prepared with an onion and paprika base; finished with a stirring-in of

East Indian
Curry:
a blend of spices

Indonesian
Tofu:
high protein bean curd

Iranian
Shish Kebab:
cubes of meat, usually lamb, marinated in lemon juice, onion, and salt, then broiled on skewers
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Irish
end of the cooking time
Corned Beef & Cabbage:
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Israeli
minced onion, salt, and pepper
Gefilte Fish:
fish dumplings made with two types of fish blended with eggs, crumbs or matzoh meal, and seasoned with

Italian
Ravioli:
small squares of pasta dough filled like little pillows with a meat or vegetable mixture, then coated with a sauce

Jamaican
Cassava chips:
crispy snack chips made from thin slices of the starchy root vegetable cassava
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Japanese
Tempura:
batter-fried shrimp
Strudel:
log of thinly stretched dough folded around a juicy fruit or cheese filling
pickled beef brisket slowly simmered in water; wedges of cabbage are added near the
Continued

Latin American
Chorizo
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Lebanon
Bulgur:
wholegrain wheat that has been boiled, sun-dried, then cracked
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Mexican
Tortillas:
flat bread made from specially ground cornmeal
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Moroccan
Pita:
rounds of simple yeast dough, rolled thin, allowed to rise, then baked quickly in a hot oven; the bread puffs up
high while cooking and deflates slowly upon cooling, leaving the center hollow
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New Zealand
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Norwegian
Lutefisk:
a Christmas Eve specialty made from dried salt cod which is first soaked in water, then in a water-and-lye
solution, and finally, gently poached; the resulting fish is bland with a jelly-like consistency.

Polish
triangles until cooked
Pierogi:
dumplings made by cutting thinly rolled noodle dough into squares, filling the squares, then poaching the sealed
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Russian
Borsch:
hearty soup made from beets and/or cabbage
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Scottish
Scotch Barley Broth: soup made from lamb broth simmered with vegetables and barley

Spanish
Gazpacho:
cold soup made from water, bread, tomatoes, and cucumber, then lightly flavored with garlic

Swedish
Lingonberries:
berries are used in jellies, jams, and syrups

Swiss
Muesli:
breakfast cereal made of toasted uncooked oats, grated apples, and nuts; mixture is refrigerated overnight
with cold milk and eaten in the morning with a topping of fruit, wheat germ, or brown sugar
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Thai
Phat:
noodles made from wheat, rice flour, mung bean starch, or egg
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Tibetan
Tsampa:
bread made from roasted, ground barley and fermented yak butter; moistened with black tea
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Turkish
Yought:
yogurt
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Vietnamese
Nuoc Mam:
sauce prepared by layering fish and salt in barrels and allowing the mixture to ferment

Welsh
Leeks:
a vegetable related to the onion, but milder in taste
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5 Barer-Stein, Thelma. You Eat What You Are: People, Culture and Food Traditions. Ontario: Firefly Books, 1999.
Kiwi:
spicy grilled beef sausages
brownish-skinned fruit, about the size of a lemon, having a vivid green, soft pulp
Links for more info:

http://www.awwrdsmth.com/scuttlebutt/cooking_and_c
ulture.html
ENJOY!