Demographics and Culinary Identity 1

Running Head: Demographics and Culinary Identity

The Relationship between Demographics and Culinary Identity

Jenny Lim

Glen Allen High School

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Introduction

Food is irrefutably a vital part of human survival. It is the only source of energy for

humans to perform basic functions, such as breathing, keeping the body warm, and digesting.

Thus, it is ubiquitous to acknowledge food as a valuable means to survival; however, many

people are unaware of the underlying meaning of food as it reveals abundant information about a

person or a groups beliefs, backgrounds, cultural values, personalities, and knowledge. Founded

on the firm understanding of the importance of this underlying meaning of food, the emerging

interdisciplinary field of food studies attempts to emphasize the connection between food and

cultural and personal identities (Almerico, 2014). In addition to the physical nourishment it

provides, food has a more intricate value as the consumers psychological needs intertwine with

social factors to influence his or her food choices and eating habits. Therefore, the consumers

identity as well as the societys demographics have played a significant role in altering the

culinary culture of a country. This review aims to analyze the inseparable relationship between

unique characteristics of or significant changes to the demographics of a country and

transformations in its culinary culture.

Effect of Immigration on the Culinary Culture of the United States

Immigration has been identified as one of the most distinct aspects of and strong forces in

American history. Often referred to as the Melting Pot, the United States has owed its

foundation, political principles, and thriving economy to the massive number of immigrants who

have ceaselessly moved to different regions of America since the early seventeenth century.

Especially in major cities, such as New York City and Los Angeles, the transformation in the
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cultural values and dynamics is evident as a surplus of immigrants from diverse parts of the

world settles in these cities to seek more opportunities.

The alteration in the culinary culture due to the massive immigration is especially

conspicuous in the late twentieth century Los Angles. Tanachai Mark Padoongpatt has studied

the historical interplay between Thai food and Thai American identity in Los Angeles within the

context of the United States history in numerous areas. Examining subjects of immigration,

tourism, and multiculturalism, one of his works argues the pivotal role the unique American

history of immigration plays in the formation of American culinary culture present today

(Padoongpatt, 2011). Prior to the mass emergence of Thai immigrants in the United States, Thai

cuisine was not as common and popular as it is now. For example, homemaker Marie Wilson had

been enchanting her friends with Thai food since moving to Los Angeles from Thailand in

1960 before publishing Siamese Cookery, the first Thai cookbook in the United States (2011).

However, this unfamiliarity of new ethic food quickly terminated among white U.S. citizens in

post-1965 U.S. society with the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act, also known as the Immigration and

Nationality Act of 1965. Along with the amicable U.S. foreign policy with Thailand, Thai

immigration to the U.S. accelerated at a rate of increase larger than any other immigrant group

(2011). During this period, most Thai restaurants were small and temporary and served

exclusively Thai customers who craved the taste of their homeland. Although the presence of

Thai food in Los Angeles first began serving the Thai population only, Thai restaurateurs soon

discovered that their food also attracted a new group of customers whites. To illustrate the

culmination of the popularity of Thai food at the time, Surapol Mekpongsatorn, one of the first

restaurateurs to open a noodle shop during the early 1960s, was so successful that he made so

much cash he had to sleep on it under his bed (2011).

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The high demand for Thai food not only outlines the monetary success of Thai

immigrants but also the success in breaking racial barriers following the Hart-Cellar Act.

Especially in Los Angles, Thai immigrants faced white citizens absurd fear of the U.S.

becoming a third world country (2011). As a coping mechanism, the Thais used their cuisine to

negotiate race and ethnicity, lessening the racial tension. Many American culinary adventurers

indirectly assisted them by introducing Los Angelenos to the exotic flavors of Thai cuisine while

media, such as Los Angeles Times, covered the citys Thai restaurants extensively. In summary,

the rapid popularization of Thai food demonstrates how the unique American culinary culture

was defined by the history of immigration, as it influenced racial relationship positively as well.

Another example that epitomizes the diversification of food in the United States through

immigration is outlined by the popularity of chili queens in San Antonio, Texas, in the 1800s.

Although Mexicans lost political power after the revolt of 1836, they maintained their majority

population, which helped them to continue exerting Hispanic influence in the Southwestern

United States (Gabaccia & Pilcher, 2011). During this time, Mexicans highly sought chili queens,

which were street food vendors where rows of old Spanish women [sat] on their bancos and

baskets of tomales, carne con Chili, tortillas, etc., by their side (2011). Although they were only

favored by the Mexican population in the beginning, they later became a major tourist attraction

in the late 1880s to be described as bright, bewitching creatures [who] put themselves to much

trouble to please their too often rowdy customers (2011). However, although many journalists

praised the deliciousness of the food provided by the chili queens, progressive reformers

criticized them as a threat to urban hygiene. Thus, the battle between health officials and the

vendors ensued. At first, the vendors had an advantage as new waves of immigrants from Mexico

into the U.S. border in the early twentieth century, as well as their popularity among white
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tourists led to the resurgence of cheap chili queens. Nevertheless, these chili stands

disappeared from the streets of San Antonio during World War II due to Mexican womens shift

from street vending to garment industry and politicians persistent effort to eradicate the

unsanitary street merchants (2011). The scrutiny of the fluctuating trend of chili queens in San

Antonio in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries reveals a crucial alteration in its culinary

culture as well as a racial negotiation between Mexicans and whites. As the prevalence of street

vendors dwindled with the new emergence of political platforms that promised public health and

hygiene, the long-established aspect of culinary culture of San Antonio vanished despite the

Mexican immigrants attempt to revive it.

Lastly, the ubiquity of Chinese restaurants in the United States, even more than that of

fast food restaurants, proves the role of immigration in changing the food identity of a country.

The Hunt for General Tso, a TED Talk, offers fortune cookies as a primary example in portraying

the power of immigration in America (Lee, 2008). Like most of Chinese food in America, such

as beef with broccoli egg rolls, General Tsos Chicken, and chop suey, fortune cookies are not

even recognizable to Chinese. They originated from a small bakery in Japan, but ironically, it is

now the symbol of Chinese food in America. They arrived in the United States when the

Japanese immigrants introduced them to major cities, like Los Angeles and San Francisco.

However, during World War II when all the Japanese were sent to the internment camps, the

Chinese Americans took over the business to create what Americans now perceive as fortune

cookies. As Lee confirms, fortune cookies were invented by the Japanese, popularized by the

Chinese, but ultimately consumed by Americans. Historical occurrences in the United States,

including the booming Asian immigration and World War II, led to the addition of Chinese

cuisine to the American culinary culture. The creation of Chinese American dishes, which remain
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popular in the modern day America, would have been impossible without the amalgamation of

preexisting American and newly adapted Asian cultures fused together by immigration.

Effect of Migration on the Culinary Culture of Other Countries

Unlike the United States, immigration may not be a conspicuous characteristic attributed

to foreign countries, but changes in demographics, such as migration to another region within the

same country, continue to affect their respective culinary identities as well. Gabaccia and Pilcher,

leading scholars in the emerging field of international food history and migration studies,

examine the distinction between urban and rural food cultures in Southern Italy and Mexico, two

geographically disconnected countries. They discuss how street foods used to remain as a

cyclical occurrence in small rural towns, but the urbanization in the late eighteenth and

nineteenth centuries, as hundreds of thousands of rural Italians migrated to larger cities, such as

Naples, for job opportunities led them to be ubiquitous in everyday life (2011). Until these waves

of migration to bigger cities in the late eighteenth century, even the culinary culture of bigger

cities were obscurely defined. For example, the cuisine of Naples displayed Spanish influences,

including pignata and minestra maritata, which is a marriage of meat and green that

resembled the Spanish olla podrida (2011). Therefore, Naples modern cooking traditions were

not established until the urbanization of Italy when the plebeian and aristocratic tastes of the

city and the countryside combined. The plebeian, or rural side of Naples urban culinary

culture was exhibited in the streets, where street vendors sold cheap fast foods in small

quantities. Because lazzaroni, working class that comprised majority of the citys population,

were unable to afford expensive costs of urban living, including fuel consumption in cooking,

they frequented street vendors to purchase their daily meals (2011). It is interesting to note that
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one of the most loyal customers group of street vendors included the wealthy as well,

demonstrating that the significant demographic shift from rural to urban areas resulted in the

successful development of street foods that were enjoyed by all Italians. The development of

tavernas, which are modest eating and drinking establishments with an indoor kitchen serving

food through a window or doorway to customers who are outside on benches of the street,

attracted both locals and tourists as well, accumulating to the popularity of street foods (2011).

Likewise in Mexico, the formation and the consequent popularization of street foods

reveals the role demographic shifts played from the age of conquistadors in the 1500s to

urbanization. Unlike Naples culinary culture that combined rural and urban aspects, Mexicos

urban culinary culture was created from separate culinary traditions of two cultures: Hispanic

cities and indigenous countryside (2011). In the 1500s when the Spanish settled in South

America, their consumption of wheat bread, wine, olive oil, and livestock blended with the tastes

of the indigenous people, such as tortillas, beans, and chiles, despite the class division between

the two groups. Although public and communal dining was rare for a long time due to irregular

markets and religious festivals, the economic growth fueled by rural-urban migration in the

1800s led to the development of fondas, small enclosed spaces that offered Spanish-style meals

(2011). Just like Italys lazzaroni, who were unable to afford the expensive cost of urban living,

the poor in Mexico City took their meals in the streets. Fondas, pulqueras (places that had

resident enchilada makers prepare snacks for customers drinking the native beer pulque), and

almuerceras (places that served brunch mixing Spanish and indigenous foods) all culminated in

their popularity as the citys population multiplied with urbanization, and urban life revolved

around public plazas. As a microcosm of the Columbian Exchange, the development of public
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dining culture of Mexico City, as well as that of Naples, aligned with major demographic shifts

to leave a lasting influence on the culinary identity of their countries.

Minority Influence on the Culinary Culture of the United States

Although demographic shifts, like immigration and migration, play a key role in shaping

a countrys culinary culture as highlighted in previous sections, demographic makeup also has a

direct impact on the cuisine as well. In the United States, even before the inundation of

immigrants during the mid- and late-twentieth century, the long history of white dominance over

African Americans and Native Americans and their respective food cultures have maintained a

close relationship. Here, in discussing the minority impact on the U.S. culinary culture, it is

pivotal to note that there was a more reciprocal interaction among white majority, minority

groups, and food styles. In other words, although minority groups did alter the American food

culture, they were also transformed due to the white supremacy and the resulting white control

over foodways at the time.

Foodways refer to the intersection of food in culture, traditions, and history. Thus, they

are the cultural, social, and economic practices centering around the production and consumption

of food. During the 1930s, before the Civil Rights Movement began decades later, the social

order between whites and blacks was clearly defined. Especially in the Jim Crow South,

segregation was more conspicuous, and whites stayed at the top of the racial hierarchy by

controlling the southern foodway. For example, black women cooked daily meals in the white

households while black men barbecued for white social events, demonstrating that whites

derived their authority by defining when and where sensory intimacy was permitted (Bgin,

2011). As a result, even stereotypes of black cooks named mammies in white kitchens with a
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high turban and of stooped and grey-bearded uncles were omnipresent in the southern society

(2011). Because southerners had a legal means to segregation, they used food to emphasize racial

difference, as well as their social and racial superiority. In short, the necessity of black labor in

producing white southern food reveals whites success in reinforcing black inferiority during the

Jim Crow era.

However, as African Americans were once restrained by the white control of foodway in

the South, they were also able to reciprocally influence the American culinary culture during the

Great Migration. When millions of African Americans moved from the South to the North, they

played a monumental role in introducing southern cooking to the rest of the nation. During the

Great Depression, many African American migrant women opened up restaurants, which grew to

gain both white and black customers (2011). Soon, southern fried chicken became widely

popular among white northerners, and an advertisement like, partaking of choice poultry cooked

a la southern style, attracted a massive audience (2011). Additionally in the 1960s, black urban

food came to be known as soul food, which combined flavors of southern dishes, Caribbean

tastes, and processed food (2011). As this example illustrates, the southern culinary culture

became prominent by the African Americans movement towards the North, reshaping the overall

American cuisine.

Similarly, whites used foodways as tools for colonial control over Native Americans

during the late nineteenth century. The Blackfeet Indians, living in a reservation in Montana,

faced adversities as the bison population began to plummet in the fall of 1883. Because the bison

meat was their primary source of subsistence, the Indians were forced to succumb to the attempt

of the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA) to subordinate Blackfeet land and labor (Wise, 2011). The

OIA tried to accomplish its goals by replacing the reservations decreasing bison population with
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government-issued beef cattle and constructing agency slaughterhouses, which are buildings

borne from the administrations obsession with producing clean meat (2011). Because the

Blackfeet Indians engaged in troubling traditions of making beef and then ate raw meat, the

OIA established government slaughterhouses to purge their predacious past by instituting order

and regulation in the meat production and consumption processes. In Wises words, Control

over food dictates meanings to life itself, so the Indians were forced to work in the

slaughterhouses in order to simply survive. Thus, the OIA was successful in subjugating the

Indians under their control and exploiting their labor in Montanas livestock industry (2011). Just

like how Caucasians maintained racial supremacy over African Americans in the 1930s by

controlling the southern foodway, the white government accomplished its goals of assimilating

Indians and gaining colonial control by regulating the Indian foodway.

Conclusion

This paper looked into the effect of demographic shifts and makeups on the culinary

culture of a country. Scrutinizing immigration patterns in the United States and rural-urban

migration in Italy and Mexico, it contrasts transformations of culinary cultures in their respective

countries in order to isolate population shifts as the prominent factor that influenced food

cultures. In both Mexico and Italy, migration to larger cities during urbanization in hopes of

obtaining jobs precipitated in the ubiquity of street foods, which everyone - regardless of age,

socioeconomic status, and locality - enjoyed. The combination of cooking traditions of

indigenous countryside and Hispanic cities drove to the establishment of fondos in Mexico that

allowed quick, easy consumption of street food while the rural and urban culinary amalgamation

led to the formation of tavernas that served simple pizza and pasta in Italy. In both cases,
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urbanization, which led to a massive population shift, was responsible for the new element in

their food identities. In the United States, its diverse immigration patterns shaped mass

popularization of Asian, Mexican, and Italian food and ameliorated racial relationships. The

popularization of ethnic foods among whites undermined racial tension by focusing on culture,

rather than on physical features and biological makeup. Today, immigration still continues to

occur at a high rate. With evolving transportation and technology, a significant portion of

population from many countries immigrates to other countries or migrates within their countries.

From the examples analyzed in previous sections, immigration/migration improved relationships

between different cultures and made exotic and quickly consumable food available to

everyone.

Furthermore, American culinary culture and food in general have proven to be an

efficient tool in maintaining social order and control over minority groups in the United States.

Both African Americans and Native Americans were dominated by Caucasians through the loss

of control over their foodways. While the Blackfeet Indians renounced their traditions of bison

hunting and resorted to eating clean meat produced from the OIA slaughterhouses, African

Americans cooked in white households to develop white southern food.

Demographic shifts and population makeups thus confirm to be one of the most powerful

agents of change in a countrys culinary identity. Given that food is not just a necessity for

survival, it should be carefully analyzed as the mirror of a countrys identity.

References

Almerico, G. M. (2014). Food and identity: Food studies, cultural, and personal identity. Journal

of International Business and Cultural Studies, 8, 1-7. Retrieved from

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http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/141797.pdf

Bgin, C. (2011). Partaking of choice poultry cooked a la southern style. Radical History

Review, (110), 127. doi:10.1215/01636545-2010-029

Gabaccia, D. R., & Pilcher, J. M. (2011). "Chili Queens" and Checkered Tablecloths. Radical

History Review, (110), 109. doi:10.1215/01636545-2010-028

Lee, J. (2008, December). The Hunt for General Tso. [Video file]. Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/jennifer_8_lee_looks_for_general_tso#t-163931

Padoongpatt, T. M. (2011). Too Hot to Handle. Radical History Review, (110), 83.

doi:10.1215/01636545-2010-027

Wise, M. (2011). Colonial Beef and the Blackfeet Reservation Slaughterhouse, 1879 - 1895.

Radical History Review, (110), 59. doi:10.1215/01636545-2010-026