Food is one of
the most recognizable factors that differentiate cultures around the world.
Methods of cooking, ingredient choices, and table etiquette are a few ways
certain dishes are kept “traditional” to a culture. The United States has been
called the “melting pot of cultures” for its high ethnic diversity, and this is
also observed in the emergence of fusion cuisine. Fusion cuisine, also known as
fusion foods, are foods prepared by combining elements of two different
culinary traditions. With the growing popularity of fusion foods catching the
attention of millennials, food traditionalists argue that the line between the
two are beginning to blur. On the other hand, fusion food is also bringing
attention to otherwise globally unrecognized cuisines. Fusion foods are created
by breaking culinary traditions, but are not intended to disrespect its
originating countries. Fusion foods expose the value in different cultures
through combining them in complementary ways, and rather than disrespect them,
celebrate these cuisines while increasing their visibility.
There is value
in remembering cuisine from one generation to the next because history can be
preserved through food. For example, there was a growing need for portable and
sustainable foodstuffs while the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas were at war around
7000 BC. Since women at that time were historically taken to battle as army
cooks, they came up with the tamale to satisfy the needs of the warring members
of their tribe. The dish made from unprepared masa and corn husks has since
then been passed down for generations and is globally recognized as a
traditional Central American cuisine. As long as tamales are present in
restaurants across the world, Central America’s history will live along with
it.
There is more
than just history in passing on culinary traditions, there is also the
maintenance of flavor profiles. Jiro Ono, owner of three-Michelin star
restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro, has been making traditional nigiri sushi for over
50 years. Ono values tradition above all and has passed on his preparation and
cooking methods to his sons and apprentices. Ono’s commitment to consistency
and tradition has been described, “the difference between Jiro today and Jiro
40 years ago is only that he stopped smoking.” His dedication and mastery of
work earned his restaurant the highest culinary award a restaurant can achieve
in the world.
From the above,
it is clear that traditional foods are necessary to retain cultural history as
well as certain flavors and food quality; however, not all passed on dishes are
necessarily traditional. Even some of the most globally recognizable foods are
fusion foods. For example, the Vietnamese banh mi uses Vietnamese cooked meat, fresh
herbs, spices, and pickled vegetables, but is stuffed in a French baguette. This
dish combines traditional Vietnamese flavors and a French staple food. Another example
of a recognizable, passed on fusion food is the Filipino halo-halo, which is a
dessert containing an assortment of sweet beans and fruits, topped with shaved
ice and ice cream. Despite halo-halo being one of the most recognizable Filipino
dishes, its origins draw from the Japanese dessert, kakigori, which is shaved
ice sweetened with condensed milk and flavored syrup.
Even though banh
mi and halo-halo are both fusion foods, they also provide historical value just
as the traditional tamale and sushi do. Banh mi and halo-halo are just a couple
examples of dishes influenced by their countries’ colonizers. Vietnam was
colonized by the French in 1858 and the Philippines was occupied by the
Japanese during WWII, and this history remains alive as long as these dishes
are. Despite this history of colonization, countries like Vietnam and the
Philippines continue utilizing the ingredients and techniques introduced by
other cuisines because they find a way to use them to empower their own
cuisine. It is an opportunity to take their own cultural spin on the original,
and improve upon it to cater to their country’s flavor profile.
Jordan Andino,
owner of Filipino Taqueria, FlipSigi, has popularized a menu in New York
combining Japanese, Filipino, Mexican, Korean, Hawaiian, and American cuisine. Items
from his menu include Flip Ramen, which is a rendition of Japanese ramen with
adobo broth, and Sinigang Fries, which are fries seasoned with banana ketchup,
tamarind, garlic, sugar, and a few other ingredients used in the Filipino sour
soup, Sinigang. From the forefront, Andino does not claim his restaurant is traditionally
Filipino—he makes it clear that he is presenting fusion cuisine. Andino comments
his restaurant’s concept is an “introduction to Filipino food,” and created his
menu to make the food more accessible and “palatable” to people from all over
the world. Though “palatable” is a seemingly harsh word to use, Andino makes the
observation that certain cuisines are more appealing to a region than other cuisines.
This isn’t to say that certain cuisines are more acceptable to a region because
of taste alone, but also because of worldwide trends and food translation.
Coverage in the
media and familiarity of ingredients and flavor are factors that estimate why certain
cuisines are more recognized than others. Chinese, Mexican, Italian, Greek, and
Japanese, are the top five recognized ethnic cuisines in America as of 2018.
Dishes from these cuisines are seen in movies from The Avengers to Rush
Hour, and normalize these types of cuisine in mainstream America. In contrast,
there are certain cuisines that are featured in shows such as Bizzare Foods with
Andrew Zimmern, which features an American man going around the world trying
foods commonly unheard of in the United States. His comments range from praise
to disbelief, and this may increase the popularity of some cultures’ cuisines, but
for others this may create a larger gap between their food and what is
considered regionally acceptable.
Fusion cuisine chefs
like Jordan Andino aren’t trying to disrespect the originating cultures of his dishes,
but rather prepare them in a way that appeals to what people around him are
comfortable with. For example, Andino’s Sinigang fries goes on the assumption
that the American population is generally comfortable with the concept of loaded
fries, as seen in Mexican cuisine, and uses it as an opportunity to introduce the
sweet and sour profile from the banana ketchup and tamarind seasoning base from
common Filipino cuisine. There are differing opinions on how fusion foods
affect the way society views certain cuisines, but ultimately traditional and
fusion cuisine are not mutually exclusive. Traditional and fusion cuisine may
not carry the same weight of cultural pride, but are both valuable ways culture
and history are preserved and seen.
Works Cited
Hamilton, Gordon. “What Is Fusion Cooking and Cuisine? An Explanation and Recipe Examples.” Delishably, 17 Mar. 2016, delishably.com/food-industry/what-is-fusion-cooking.
Mitchell, Christopher. “Why We Love Some Asian Cuisines and Not Others.” Peril Magazine, 12 Feb. 2013, peril.com.au/topics/culture/why-we-love-some-asian-cuisines-and-not-others/.
“The History and Origins of Banh Mi.” Lion Brand Rice: Jasmine Rice Australia, 23 Feb. 2018, www.lionbrand.com.au/blog/the-history-and-origins-of-banh-mi.
“The Surprising Origin of Philippines' Beloved Dessert.” FilipiKnow, 18 Jan. 2019, filipiknow.net/halo-halo-filipino-dessert/.
Tuder, Stefanie. “Filipino Taqueria Joins the Upper East Side.” Eater NY, 14 Sept. 2017, ny.eater.com/2017/9/14/16308328/flip-sigi-open-photos-menu-upper-east-side-nyc.
ReplyDeleteYes, food is an important factor in defining culture, and fusion cuisine bridges the gap between multiple cultures. While it can be delicious, it holds no weight to specific cultures, therefore it is not a participant in culture itself. Mastery of fusion foods does not exist. Fusion food is an example of homogenization of cultures, so it cannot bear cultural value.
Jerica, I really appreciate your sharing of this blog post. Fusion food is something I often enjoy consuming, so you have offered a really interesting analysis on the significance of this type of food preparation. I wonder if critics might argue, though, at what point does food fusion become a form of palatable appropriation? Using your example of Jordan Andino’s Filipino Taqueria, it seems as though his approach of blending the most popular dishes of Mexican cuisine with the unique flavors of Filipino dishes can be viewed as problematic or culturally insensitive to the virtues of traditional Filipino meals. Yes, he is offering an entrée into the world of these dishes, giving people the opportunity to try Filipino food without fully committing to all of its unique flavors. But, it seems that his rendition of Filipino food can imply that his consumers would not have otherwise been open to trying traditional Filipino delicacies without having been drawn in first by the appeal of mixing it with the more familiar flavors of Mexican food they are used to consuming. Moreover, in adapting traditional dishes and fusing them with more popular and known flavors, it is almost as if he is picking and choosing certain characteristics to make his food more popular, capitalizing off his appropriation rather than attempting to expose his eaters to the virtues of eating authentic Filipino cuisine.
ReplyDeleteSome may argue that another danger of fusion food is that if it gains more notoriety over the more traditional dishes themselves, threatening to undermine the culture from which it was inspired. As a result, the history and the culture transferred through various recipes becomes almost immediately lost, and a new kind of food story begins being told. We know now of the Tamales the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas created from the foods they had access to, but was this not a form of food fusion itself? If so, their stories are preserved, but what of the foods that came before that? It is a complicated issue, but I think you do an excellent job of presenting your argument!