Hard to Swallow Reflections on the Sociology of Culinary Culture^

Hard to Swallow

Reflections on the Sociology of Culinary Culture^

Frank Nutch, [email protected] University

REFLEXIVE STATEMENT

What I perceive is informed by where I came from and who I am. I was bom andraised in New York. I grew up surrounded by my extended family, whose origins aretraced back to Calabria in southern Italy. I am by temperament and culture "Calabrese".But, I am other things as well. My perspective of the world is very much influenced by thecultural mixture of my Bronx neighbors, which included Jews, Puerto Ricans and BlackAfro-Americans. People of these cultures left their imprint on my perspective. Thesepeople became the silent voices of my consciousness. It is the Jewish and Italian outlooks,however, that most influenced my vision.

I am a sociologist. My sociological perspective is informed by the pragmatism ofGeorge Herbert Mead and John Dewey. My research is primarily focused onunderstanding the practical, everyday life-world of marine field scientists who studycetacea (whales, dolphins, and porpoises).

I am passionate about food. I cook as often as possible, mostly Italian dishes and Ihave had the pleasure of occasionally hosting Italian cooking workshops. This article,"Hard to Swallow", affords me the opportunity to bring together the different parts ofmyself as a Jewish-Italian, New Yorker, sociologist, philosophically grounded inAmerican pragmatism, and interested in the ways by which people are both socially linked

and culturally separated by "food."^

1. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Western Washington University Symposiumon Ethical Representation and Cross Cultural Communication. I wish to thank Valerie Alia for her efforts inorganizing the symposium and for her unflinching faith in all its participants. I also wish to thank P. Bruder-Freeman and P. Hum for suggesting the Sociology of Food as my presentational focus for the symposiumand K. Axcell, R. Devlin, C. Forsythe, and L. Trafagander for critically editing earlier drafts of this paper.

2. "Food" in the more inclusive sense entails cultural conventions, culinary culture, culinary arts,and the intersecting social worlds responsible for producing an object of food for consumption.

©THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE, 8, i, SPRING 2007 37

38 Frank Nutch

COSMOPOLITANS AND LOCALS

Although I was bom and raised in New York City, I have lived most of my adultlife in southern Ontario, in and around Toronto. Toronto, Canada's major urban center, islocally touted as a "cosmopolitan" city. I take that to mean it is possible to eat somethingother than fast food. Indeed, Toronto is now replete with culinary treasures from aroundthe world. One would think that if Toronto could break from its Anglo-provincialism, thensurely New York, the larger-than-life culinary and arts Mecca of North America, "the citythat never sleeps", would be free of provincialism. Many New Yorkers, including myself,are, however, quite provincial. By that I mean we adhere to our local traditions, customs,and practices, and particularly our culinary conventions. For example, while I love pizza, Ican rarely bring myself to eat pizza outside of New York. I have made exceptions onlyonce or twice in Italy and on several other occasions, and always under desperatecircumstances.

It is not simply specific types of foods or particular, locally cultivated tastes, butalso food combining which informs provincial attitudes. Several years ago, for example, Iattended a professional conference in a mid-western American city. As with all suchevents, there came the inevitable search for a good, local food emporium. A dozen of ustagged along with the "local" conference organizer. He took us to a delicatessen. "Hey," Ithought, "I am in a delicatessen...sounds like home to me. But it is, after all, a delicatessenin the mid-west...this could be dangerous." Throwing caution to the wind, I ordered asalami sandwich. The sandwich came. I peeked at its contents. I was shocked, though notsurprised. It was, after all, "da mid-west". However, this was supposed to be a "del-i-ca-tes-sen." I immediately summoned the waitress and bellowed, "I couldn't possibly eat this.It would make me sick!" She appeared perplexed. I tried to explain. "This is a salamisandwich." She cautiously replied, "Yes, isn't that what you ordered?" I continued. "Butthe bread has butter on it!" "Yes, that's how we serve it...with butter." "I couldn't possiblyswallow this, I would wretch. I feel nauseous at the very idea of it." My violatedsensibilities plucked no empathetie strings. She mechanically apologized while whiskingaway my plate, promising to bring another one without butter.

At this point, my host turned to me and whispered, "Don't be so ethnocentric." Iwas truly perplexed. "Who in their right mind," I thought "would serve a salami sandwichwith butter? And what's with him... telling me to not be ethnocentric? How could he, anexpatriate Jewish-New Yorker, not champion my 'rightful' squeamishness?" Gabaceia(1998: 8) addresses the source of my discontent:

It is easiest to see how food choices reflect the eater's identity when wefocus on culinary conservatism. Humans cling tenaciously to familiarfoods because they become associated with nearly every dimension ofhuman social and cultural life.

©THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE, 8, i, SPRING 2007

Hard to Swallow 39

My experience with the sandwich clearly demonstrates this idea that food is an undeniablyimportant element in shaping and maintaining our individual and cultural identities. Thereis, therefore, much more truth to the saying "we are what we eat" than is usuallyacknowledged, for the realm of culture is impacted by food as profoundly as is thebiological.

FOOD AS SUCH: INDIVIDUAL, CULTURE, AND NATURE

Food and eating habits are banal practices of everyday life: we all, asliving beings, must eat to survive. (Lupton, 1996: 1).

While everyone needs to eat, what becomes defined as food is a function of our culturallymediated relations to nature. Food, obviously, does not come labeled as such. Food is aselectively identified object emergent from the intersection of "nature," culture, and thehuman individual.'' Humans selectively identify and choose objects as "food" from acornucopia of possibilities. Food is typical of the human connection to reality. As Blumer(Charon, 1998: 101) has indicated:

With the mechanism of self-interaction the human being ceases to be aresponding organism whose behavior is a product of what plays upon himfrom the outside, the inside, or both. Instead, he acts toward his world,interpreting what confronts him and organizing his action on the basis ofthe interpretation.

Our biological (physiological) make-up demands that we eat to sustain life, butmatters including what we eat, how it is prepared, how it is served, how and with whom itis eaten are historically and culturally variable. Culinary conventions define each of us,and food represents an intersection of biology and culture, nature and society, theindividual and social life:

While food intake is an inescapable physiological necessity, eating entailsfar more than its basic physiological dimensions. Quite clearly, the act ofeating lies at the point of intersection of a whole series of intricatephysiological, psychological, ecological, economic, political, social andcultural processes. (Beardsworth and Keil, 1997: 6).

3. "Nature" is an emergent dialectical relationship between an external, independent physicalenvironment and the creative human individual, rooted socially, culturally, and historically. Thus ourperceptions of the composition of nature are informed by historically rooted cultural perspectives, andemergent, individually creative processes. There is no monolithic nature that we humans can grasp in itsentirety.


40 Frank Nutch

The combination of biology and culture underscores the process ofconstituting aspects of nature as food. In other words, what becomes constituted asfood is a product of our engagement with our environments. This engagement ismediated by our historically located cultural conventions, our biologically rootedcapacity for symbolic communication, and our individual capacity for creativity(cf for example, Dewey, 1966 and 1973).

In "neighborhood supermarkets" we witness that perceptions of food differdramatically between individual shoppers living contiguously to each other but inhabitingdifferent perceptual fields. Supermarkets bustle with a mixture of selectively perceived"opportunities." Differences between people in terms of what does and does not constitutefood are considerable.^

In considering the confluence of food emergent from nature, culture and perception, weare cognizant of the fact that our environment provides two sorts of human opportunities:one is the unadulterated and unadorned foods from nature such as honey, readilydigestible fruits and vegetables, and uncooked fish, foul, and meat. These are productsdirectly consumed with little alteration to their "natural" state, save picking, catching,killing, and cutting. The second opportunity for humans entails the processing andtransforming of food, or "culinary arts." All cultures include both sorts of opportunities.With this in mind, it becomes obvious that there is virtually unlimited potential for"cultural food products."

One outcome of "culinary cultural" differences between people is the setting ofgastronomical boundaries, as well as a gastronomic-culinary centricism ("gastro-centrism," for short). Gastro-centrism is the view that one's own culinary culture issomehow "the best" and "right", and as a yardstick by which to compare other culinarytraditions. These culinary-cultural differences or boundaries are experienced on aphysiological (gut) level. In many instances, these differences are impossible forindividuals to overcome or to bridge. Gabaceia (1998: 8) notes:

Food thus entwines intimately with much that makes a culture unique,binding taste and satiety to group loyalties. Eating habits both symbolizeand mark the boundaries of cultures. Scholars and ordinary people alikehave long seen food habits, both positively and negatively, as concretesymbols of human culture and identity. When we want to celebrate, or

4. For example, in early spring I love having young, tender dandelion leaves mixed with othergreens as a salad. Dandelions add a zest to the blandness of other greens such as iceberg lettuce. When Ilook out across my backyard in spring I can taste the dandelion's flavor. I know that very soon thoseleaves will become tough and extremely bitter when they produce their bright yellow flowers. I love theseflowers as well because they add to my lawn's bouquet of light mauve chive flowers and the periwinkleblue bachelor buttons. My wife, on the other hand, looks out on the backyard and sees a fleld of weeds--weeds to be pulled and discarded ASAP. This same "field of weeds" is food for one and pests to be ridfor another.

©THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE, 8, l, SPRING 2007

Hard to Swallow 41

elevate, our own groups, we usually praise its superior cuisine. And whenwe want to demean one another, often we turn to eating habits.

As my salami sandwich encounter demonstrates, one need not travel great cultural orphysical distances nor cross national boundaries to experience the psychological andphysical dimensions of different culinary conventions. Indeed, upon closer inspection,individual differences emerge within families and between neighborhoods and regions.This idea is aptly demonstrated by Valentina Harris, television personality, author, and anItalian culinary expert from Toseana (Tuscany) in her book Italian Regional Cookery:

Here is where the heady southern red wines and very liberal use of chilipepper combine to create a stupefying effect over the dinner table. This is aregion that has known recent poverty and hunger, clearly reflected in thecuisine-- literally everything remotely edible has found its way into the pot,even things which I find frankly nauseating. (Harris, 1990:17).

Even what, at first blush, may appear to be a relatively benign culinary differencecan, in practice, portend near shocking disparities. As students of human culture, weshould be alert to the centrality food has for people and, therefore, to its centrality in ourquests for understanding individuals and their cultures. We need to recognize not only theselective processes entailed in producing a diversity of food preferences, but also thenumerous social and cultural conventions associated with food; that is, the clusters ofinterconnected and meaningful culinary conventions informing specific human groups.The network of these normative groupings forms an indelible mark of cultural boundariesthat no one specific culinary dimension would necessarily demonstrate. On an individuallevel subtleties of culinary conventions are often hidden from consciousness, and mightnot even be recognized until some disturbing incident brings them to the surface.

On a trip to England I endured yet another disconcerting experience for which myprovincial Jewish-Italian, New York "attitude" did not prepare me. I was traveling toEngland and Europe with a girlfriend. We set out on one occasion to visit her uncle, aunt,and cousin in Yorkshire, Her family was charming, delightfril, witty, and intelligent. Itwas a pleasure to be in their company. When we arrived it was nearly dinner time and theyquite naturally invited us to join them.

5. As one gets closer to any culture, the differences between its people appear more defiantlyvisible. To borrow from Troy Duster (1998), "the closer one gets, the more chaotic things appear." As withculture in general, culinary culture is not monolithic. I was recently reminded of Duster's idea of "chaos"emergent from a close encounter of the cultural kind by my local purveyor of Italian food. He mentioned inpassing, "give fifty million Italians each a potato and you'll witness fifty million ways to prepare it." Fromwithin my own experience, I also recall that what my mother and grandfather constituted as a delicious treatof pickled pig's knuckles and feet, my father, sisters, and I regarded as vile offerings we could not stand toeven smell, let alone try to nosh on.


42 Frank Nutch

I had experienced English "cuisine" once before and found it quite dreadful.Although I was somewhat hungry, I felt reluctant to try it again. I did, however, reason,"How bad could it possibly be!" I was hungry. I was ready to give it a chance. I was askedby my girlfriend's aunt, "Would you like to eat something, you must be hungry." "No," Isaid. She persisted. "Are you sure? You are very welcome to join us, we have plenty.""No," I said. "I am full. I ate just about an hour ago." I lied. By this time my hunger hadincreased and I was ready to eat anything. I could not, however, agree just yet, after beingasked only twice. From my perspective, to say "yes" too soon would be impolite. "Oneneeds to be asked several times," I thought, "before saying yes." And even at that juncture,one must agree somewhat begrudgingly out of respect for the host. I waited. She askedagain. Again, I said no, and she immediately replied, "okay." I was nonplused. "Comeon," I thought, "ask just one more time." She didn't and I went to bed hungry.

At the time of this Yorkshire incident I was relatively insensitive to the manysubtleties and broad scope of cultural conventions surrounding food. Only sometime laterdid I become sensitized to these. I have since learned to say yes sooner, depending, ofcourse, on who is doing the asking.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES: REFLECTIONS ON ASPECTS OF A

SOCIOLOGY OF FOOD AND CULINARY CULTURE

I have suggested that "food" as such represents an extensive cluster of socialconventions which demarcates cultures. These conventions include an orientation towardand connection with nature, other individuals, and one's identity. We are clearly defmed ina cultural sense by what, how, with whom, and when we eat.

I have also suggested that food should be a central consideration for students ofhuman societies. Although I have emphasized the importance of food and culinaryculture, these have not commanded a great deal of sociological attention (see, for example,Mennell, Murcott and van Otterloo, 1992: 19, Murcott, 1984: 1, and Lufton, 1996: 2). Inwhat follows, I sketch what I take to be salient features of a sociology of food and culinaryculture. My sketch is simply suggestive, and is not intended to be exhaustive orcategorically fixed.

The Social Construction of Food

As noted earlier, food is a culturally mediated connection to nature. Food, anutritional resource, is a socially constructed object. Constituting objects as food is a partof the more encompassing "social construction of realty" (cf Berger and Luekmann,1965). Sociologically speaking, reality is socially constructed by individuals in interactionwithin sociohistorieal contexts that simultaneously define and are defmed by them.Sociologists are interested in determining "whose" and "what" reality dominates a society,how this came to be the case, and how and why these social constructions change.


Hard to Swallow 43

As biological creatures, food provides the nutrients and fuel necessary for healthylife. Humans contribute to these physiological needs by "transforming" or processingnatural objects in order to make these nutritionally available.^ Food processing, however,has a wider range of potential outcomes. In addition to transforming raw materials ofnature into what is perceived as edible, digestible food resources, there is the potential for"improving" taste. There is also the abihty to process foods not for nutritional or culinarypurposes but primarily for profit, not to sustain human life but instead to extend "shelf-life". Whether these processed materials are called meals, snacks or junk food, they havecome to be perceived and consumed as food, even where their nutritional value is

questionable, if not dangerous.^"Food for profit" connotes a Weltanschauung toward nature, people, and food that

challenges our initial conceptualization of food as a source of nutrition for biologicalsurvival in that "objects", although labeled as food, are counter to the notion of such as anobject of nutrition. The social organization of food labeling and processing would,therefore, be of interest to sociologists in their analyses of the social construction of realityand the political-economy of social life.

Production, Distribution, and Consumption

If nothing else, sociologists, as the cartographers of industrial and post-industrialsocieties, are noted for four things. One is their preoccupation with social change,especially with reference to the impact of technology on the social order. Another is theirinterest in and focus on the social structure of the production, distribution, andconsumption of goods and services. Yet another is their focus on social differentiation andstratification, in terms of the division of labor and the unequal distribution of resources.Surprisingly, they are also noted for how little attention they have paid to consumption inindustrial societies.

In terms of the sociology of food, sociologists would be at home addressing foodas a part of the aforementioned domains of social life. Sociologists would normally ask:Which foods get gathered, prepared, distributed, and served by whom for whom? When,where, and how does this take place? And, of course, who cleans up the mess? Answers tothese questions result in a characterization of the coordinated lines of social interactionthat produce the social world of food and culinary culture.

6. Actually, the more physiological sense, "we are what we absorb",7. In addition, many of these processed "foods" are usually rich in saturated fats and sugars and

compose what Susan Stocking has labeled as SAD (Standard American Diet), While supermarkets andfood conglomerates amass profits from a SAD diet, many health professionals view it as a national healthdisaster. There is, however, a "whole-foods" organic dietary movement emerging. These foods, however,tend to be expensive, difficult to find, have limited shelf life, and for the moment, are counter to the com-modification of food dominated by the food industry's corporate giants. Food as an intersection of nature,culture, individual creativity is being mediated by a particular political economy of food.


44 Frank Nutch

Sociology and Culinary Culture

The ways in which foods are prepared represent the various techniques or culinaryarts of a culture applied to its food resources. These techniques are based in thetechnological, theoretical, and experiential knowledge components of a social order. Thisapplies in all cases, from hunting and gathering through to "post-modem", post-industrialsocieties.

From a sociological point of view, culinary culture involves interconnected socialworlds, or integrated clusters of meaningfiil and purposeful activity of individualsresponsible for bringing food to the "table." Sociological studies would entail analyses ofthese integrated networks, and examination of the "social status" accorded to individualsin different positions within the social world of food production.

What, for example, is the status of the chef, the cook, the baker, the sommelier? Anexercise in this sort of analysis would afford the opportunity to compare societies relativeto the social status accorded to different spheres of culinary artistry. The relatively recentproliferation of cooking shows on "The Food Network", for example, is a very visiblephenomenon that serves to spotlight the rising status held by chefs in contemporary NorthAmerican society.

Perhaps the most celebrated of these T.V. chefs is Emeril Lagasse. His show hasrecently been transformed from "The Essence of Emeril" (a toned downed, no audiencedemonstration of cooking techniques) to the current "Emeril Live" which features Lagasseas an outrageous, culinary master folk hero whipping up magical culinary potions in frontof an eager and enthusiastic audience.

Another important social movement in the world of food is the "Slow Food"movement. A growing number of individuals and groups are attempting to stem thedirection of contemporary society by resisting and arguing against the acceleration ofeverything in everyday life, especially with regard to the production and consumption offood. Culinary writer and Slow Food advocate Carlo Petrini of Rome in 1986 jump startedthe Slow Food movement which has since spread around the world. In addition, the Slowmotif has found its way into numerous dimensions of everyday life, including schooling,exercise, travel, and more (cf Honore, 2004).

Although all social groups have a culinary culture, there nonetheless is a "statushierarchy" of culinary cultures. That is, particular culinary traditions are accorded higherstatus than others are because they are thought to be "better" or more sophisticated orrefined than others on the basis of some set of evaluative criteria. We are, for example,aware of the status French culinary techniques generally command, with all other westemand non-westem culinary cultures being conceived of as second best (or worse). We arealso led to believe that "gourmet cooking", that may not appear to be rooted in anyparticular culture, is somehow superior to culturally-rooted culinary arts. One of the moreoutspoken, bad boys of the kitchen, Anthony Bourdain (2001) has repeatedly argued in hiswritten work and television shows against the sacredness of "gourmet cooking" and


Hard to Swallow 45

indeed takes pleasure in pointing out the humble, home kitchen origins of many of themore internationally recognized gourmet dishes.

Sociology of Taste

A hierarchy of culinary culture also has other important residues, including adirectly related "hierarchy of taste" and cuisines. We are all aware of the numerousdichotomies that exist: gourmet food versus everyday or peasant fare, refined versus crudefoods and so forth - tastes which are related to culture and class. Sociologists welcome theopportunity to analyze the social construction of taste, especially regarding the socialdistribution of tastes and consumption opportunities of distinctive foods. Two examplescome to mind: foie gras and caviar. Both are viewed as extravagant representations of"good taste". In part, what these may also represent is the conspicuous consumption of theleisure class. Combining the two aforementioned hierarchies also produces anotherinteresting social phenomenon: tasting response on the basis of the food's culinaryhierarchical location. For example, when sampling foods from other cultures where thestatus of the food is either unknown or not particularly high, individuals, at least in NorthAmerica, are more likely to point to themselves as the locus of blame for not liking orrefusing to taste something of the "foodstuffs". On the other hand, if the culinary status ofthe food and the status of the "chef command high status, then the likelihood of tastingand liking the food is greater. Although this is anecdotally true, it would be interesting tomore rigorously test its veracity.

Food and Social Relations

In addition to satisfying our basic nutritional requirements, food is also a centralfactor in meeting human social needs. Various social relations are developed andsustained around the offering and consumption of food. Any sociological analysis ofhuman society would be measurably weakened without an analysis of the role food playsin social relations. Two obvious extremes, within a continuum of intimacy in socialrelations, are the family and the stranger ("foreigner"). Cultures are distinguishable on thebasis of the cluster of socio-culinary conventions within and between these extremes ofsocial intimacy. One social phenomenon that normally includes a full range of intimacylevels is the "feast". Other social events uniting food and relations are the various holidaysand special occasions which are punctuated with special foods and eating rituals.Although my family was not particularly religious, Christmas Eve was a very specialoccasion on which fish and shellfish would be the only fiesh prepared. The evening mealwould, in addition, always be taken late at night.


46 Frank Nutch

Feasts, Occasions, and Special Foods

The pervasiveness of festivals, feasts, and special occasions as significant eventsof people's lives is yet another example of the need for an extensive and detailedsociological analysis of food. One dimension of such an analysis would entail examiningthe implications and consequences of the social bifurcation between the "sacred andprofane", and/or the ordinary and special. The special and the sacred entail sacred,symbolic foods as a part of symbolic occasions - such as champagne for the arrival of theNew Year, or cakes with candles for birthdays. These occasions punctuate the continuous,mundane fiow of time with highlighted events.

Gathering, preparing, and serving special foods on special occasions is one way inwhich "occasions" are especially distinguished from everyday life. Traditionally, foods ofthe season would be used, especially when these foods are expensive or difficult toacquire. Special preparations for special foods at special times are other ways in whichoccasions are demarcated. Lasagna, the way my mother made it, always required at leastone evening plus another day for it to be made "properly."

These traditional conventions around food for special occasions are undergoingdramatic changes. Jet freight, refrigeration, the eommodification of life, the lack of time,the Americanization of taste, and a "world economy" take away from much of the specialin terms of food. Lasagna can be had any day, anytime one wants ...but not Mama's, ofcourse (cf Honore, 2004).

Sociology of Food Consumption: Eating In and Eating Out

The social organization of food production and consumption includes: (1) twoimportant "settings" - eating at home and eating out, (2) various "props" used in eachcontext of eating, and (3) the ways foods are eaten. Cultures define themselves by theirdistinctive organization of food production and consumption in these arenas. It isimportant for sociologists to note the similarities within and between soeiocultural units.Notice, for example, that America is eating out more, but where arc they eating? Much ofthis eating out is in fast food chains, much of the food is eaten by hand (there is no"silverware"), and little by way of what is known as "decor of setting" accompanies it.

Implicit in the above pairings is the numerous technological and culturaldimensions surrounding the production,serving, and consumption of food. Culturally significant dimensions include, for example,table shape (assuming the presence of a table for the moment) and seating assignment. Theshape hides a number of significant dimensions of a set of normative conventions definingand distinguishing cultures. For example, the use of a round or rectangular table producesdifferent possibilities for social interaction within the context of sharing/consuming food.Further, we often hear the phrase "sit at the head of the table", thereby indicating someprivileged place of seating. Sitting to the left or right of the head may, consequently, holdrelational symbolic implications in terms of social status.


Hard to Swallow 47

In considering the social organization of food consumption, various questionscome to mind: How arc foods consumed and by and with whom, and under what physical-social conditions? What utensils are used? (Chopsticks? Spoons, knives, and forks?Simply the hands, perhaps, as mentioned above?) How a food item shall be consumed alsofigures into how that item may be prepared. A friend of mine from India would normallyeat with his hands and various breads, but when in an Anglo-Canadian context, even ifeating his native foods, he feels compelled to follow the local conventions of using aknife, fork, and spoon.

The Sociology ofTrus^

Given all the pockets of fear, all the distrust we harbor in much of our daily living,and all the dreadful pain and suffering we witness and endure, I find it astonishing to seehow much trust we demonstrate in our everyday lives. Specifically, I am impressed withhow much trust we show within our complex culinary social worlds when we swallow apiece of "food". Although Westem society has demonstrated a growing fear ofcontaminated foods, including concern over the healthfiilness of preservatives, pesticides,and chemical fertilizers, and a general sense of uncertainty and skepticism regardingpractices of the food industry, there is still a major element of trust dominating ourbehavior. With specific reference to a sociology of food, it would indeed be instructive toinclude a sociology of trust within social life.

The Sociology of Elimination

No sociological analysis of food would be complete without attention paid to"elimination". Each social group has its normative structure or conventions regardingbodily functioning around digestion and elimination. Although intended as a critique ofanthropologists. Miner's "nacirema tribe" is a humorous description of "bathroombehavior" and orientation to the "body" and "bodily functions". Having a grasp of aculture's normative structures with regard to elimination is important in understanding thefull spectrum of a culture's orientation to nature and the social world. We definitely needopportunities to sketch the entire breadth of conventions surrounding food in order tobetter understand cultures and to make informed comparisons between them.

The Sociology of Etiquette

Underlying everything mentioned above are conventions of "etiquette" governingthe appropriate behavior within all the dimensions of food. Each detail of culinaryetiquette forms a part of a culture's normative structure of conventional expectations that

8, I must extend my thanks to Pete Steffens, storyteller extra ordinaire, for suggesting theimportance of trusting others as the key ingredient of social solidarity.


48 Frank Nutch

are important, and to which sociologists should thus pay close attention. It would beinteresting to know the extent to which our normative structures are directly and indirectlyrelated to food.

THE GODFATHER

The Godfather is a landmark American movie. It provides an opportunity toillustrate some of the dimensions of a sociology of food sketched above. The intentionhere is not to document and comment on every scene involving food and drink, but rather,to use a selection of scenes for illustrative purposes.

The opening scene takes place in Godfather Corleone's (Marlon Brando) study onthe day of his daughter Connie's (Talia Shire) wedding. As we soon learn "no Sicilian canrefuse a request" on this auspicious occasion. In the first few scenes we become aware ofthe role liquor can play within Italian (-American) culture. When two men (one the bakerof the wedding cake, the other a mortician) ask "Godfather" for help, we see that bothhave been given a "shot" of some whiskey. Brando is first shown from behind as hesilently listens to the emotional outcry of the mortician sitting across Corleone's desk. Asthe camera pulls back we faintly sec the right side of Brando's face as he effortlesslymotions with his right hand for someone to bring the mortician a drink. This is also offeredto the baker. In both cases they politely (barely) sip the drinks, never finishing them. Themortician has come to Corleone for the first time, and he comes not in "friendship orrespect" but requesting vengeance. When Corleone rebukes him for not coming to seek hisfriendship, Corleone makes the point that although Signora Corleone is godmother to hisdaughter, he has never invited him to his house for "coffee". Later in the film, after Sonny(James Caan) has been brutally murdered, we again see liquor taken, this time by TomHagen (Robert Duvall) prior to telling Don Corleone of Sonny's death. Brando says, "butyou needed your drink first...now you had your drink..."

A wedding normally provides occasion for a celebration that also includes foodand drink, and in this case, especially wine. The Corleone wedding, however, providessome examples of common practices as well as inaccurate portrayals. Wine is everywhereand a pivotal character ("hit man") Clemenza (Richard Castellano) at one point is dancingbut stops and takes a gulp of wine from a pitcher. This is a very unlikely behavior at suchan occasion. Although the wine is very obvious, we arc more experientiallyknowledgeable about food and celebrations than we arc able to witness in this film. It isobvious that fruit is available. In Italian culture, fresh fruit is regularly served after themeal, not before. At one point when Tessio (Abe Fish Vagoda) fondles and begins to peelan orange, we assume he will cat it. We also witness sandwiches being tossed to one of thepeople working for the family. Having sandwiches and acting like this is, of course,possible, but not very likely. Indeed, it would be insulting for this to occur at such anoccasion...rather like bringing a sandwich to a banquet.

There arc several other phenomena related to the sociology of food that arehighlighted in the Godfather and warrant mention at this time.

©THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE, 8, l. SPRING 2007

Hard to Swallow 49

Although it is apparent that due to her family's great wealth and power SignoreCorleone need not tend to food preparation, we see that she is, in fact, involved in this. Atone point we witness her in a kitchen apron. While this is an indication of women'sresponsibility for food preparation within Italian culture, the expectation that men need toknow something about food and cooking is also expressed. While waiting out a potentialwar after the shooting of Don Corleone (who was shot while buying fruit), Clemenzateaches Michael Corleone (Al Paeino) how to make a spaghetti sauce..."in case," he says,"you have to cook for a group of men".

While meals arc important markers of the day and serve as occasions andopportunities for family conversation. Sonny reminds his (new) brother-in-law that, "wenever talk business at the table". While this applies to the Corleone family's business, itdocs not apply to all families and all "business" type transactions. In Sicily, for example,family ("marital") business does get done at the table. A meal provides an occasion forMichael to meet his friture bride and in-laws. This scene takes place in a rather austeresetting compared to the setting of Connie's wedding in New York, but the flavors of thefood push through the visual imagery. Just to note: during both weddings and nearly allthe food-related "scenes" I do not recall seeing one vegetable, with the exception of aquick shot of a salad as part of the meal that gets destroyed by Connie and her husband. Ifind this ironic in that Italians, particularly Southern Italians, love and eat lots ofvegetables, and almost always finish a meal with a salad before coffee and fruit. Indeed,the Mediterranean diet consists of an abundance of both fruits and vegetables. Another"business" scene also takes place within the context of food. In the notorious murder scenethat changes the course of Michael's life and his position within the family business,Michael is to talk business at the table in an Italian restaurant (noted for its veal).

As mentioned, food also has its cultural symbolic character. These symbolicallybounded universes of discourse entail an abundance of shared meanings. We see this mostclearly when a package containing two fish wrapped in a bullet proof vest is delivered tothe Corleone residence. Although Sonny is part of the family, he demonstrates a shallowknowledge of Sicilian symbolic culture when he asks, in a puzzled tone and off-handmanner, "What the hell is this?" He is told, "That's a Sicilian message. It means LuccaBrazzi sleeps with the fishes..." ...he is dead.

REPRESENTATION AND APPROPRIATION

This article is based on a presentation given at the Westem Washington UniversitySymposium on the Ethics of Cultural Representation and Appropriation. Given thisbackground, it seems appropriate to comment on "cultural representation andappropriation" within the context of my ethnic background and my interests in theSociology of Food.

Everyone seems to know something about Italian food. It's everywhere. Italianfood "is" lasagna, meatballs and spaghetti and, of course, pizza (the universal food). Eachof these is often treated, at least in North America, as a complete meal. In the Godfather


50 Frank Nutch

we first see Michael Corleone and Kay (Diane "Annie Hall" Keaton) at Michael's sister'swedding, where they are seated drinking wine and eating. When queried regarding thefamily connections Michael turns to Kay and asks, "Do you like the lasagna?" If meatballsand spaghetti are the Italian daily staple, then lasagna must be a dish for special occasions.

The Washington symposium sensitized me to be cognizant of the images of howItalian and Italo-American food and culture are portrayed. I hold contradictory views onthis issue. On the one hand, I readily dismiss the inaccuracies and stereotyping of Italians,Italian life and food. It is obvious that many people know very little about Italian food andculture. It makes little difference to me how my cultural background is represented,misrepresented, or "incorrectly" appropriated. I believe that anyone with any culinary and/or historical interest in Italian culture will eventually come to understand its richness.

This indifferent attitude, however, is turned upside down once I hear individualsspeak of Itahan cuisine as simple, crude, belly filling fare - a minor league cuisine in ahierarchy of culinary cultures. What is often thought of as Italian food in this context is thethree piatti famosi mentioned above. At this juncture, my concern about representationshifts to desiring an accurate portrayal of Italian cuisine. Indeed, I find myself "gastro-centric" every time French cuisine, for example, is compared to Italian; that is, whereFrench cuisine is perceived as infinitely more refined, sophisticated, or otherwise"superior". Under these conditions, I love to remind people of the infiuence of the Medicicook on so-called French cuisine. And adding insult to injury, I will indignantly blusterthat French cooking is nothing more than over-specialized chefs working over-developedtechniques in creating over-saturated fatty sauces to over-dress the otherwise tastelessfoundation of a poorly cooked piece of some carcass. Italian cuisine, on the other hand,reaches in and pulls out the succulent, natural fiavors of every carefully selectedingredient, which are purposefully united and harmoniously blended in a composition ofgastronomic perfection. Each individual ingredient contributes to the wondrous andseductive symphony of tastes, while simultaneously retaining its uniquely distinctivevoice. Italian cooking is Zen.

My second reaction illustrates a general dimension of cultural representation: oneis compelled to "strike out and set the record straight" when one feels culturallythreatened, diminished or subjugated.

"Appropriation of culture" usually relates to the appropriation of specificcomponents of a culture, and so normally the broader, culturally meaningful group ofnormative structures within which it exists as part of a culture is not included.Furthermore, how each appropriated component is related to fundamental values willdetermine the cultural reactions to appropriation. In other words, when a relatively sacreddimension of a culture, surrounded as it is by meaningful contextual layers, isappropriated without the wider context, then the issue of appropriation becomes an issueof misrepresentation and potentially of exploitation. To some degree, this is what hashappened with the assorted appropriations of Italian cuisine.

On the other hand, when I feel culturally confident, I want to share my eulture withothers and have them incorporate dimensions of my cultural heritage into their own. As

©THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE, 8. l. SPRING 2007

Hard to Swallow 51

soon, however, as 1 see the "food for profit people" appropriate Italian food, I becomeuneasy.

Whether the issue is representation or appropriation, my judgement is that wherethere is cultural strength, cultural change is supported. Think of "pizza", invented inNaples. From Napoli it moved to North America where it was "improved upon". When Ifirst traveled to Italy in 1970, the only pizza I ever saw was at a comer "bar" in Florence.At that time, it was only school children I saw snacking on it. Some twenty-five years laterwhen invited out by a colleague from the University of Bologna, I was taken to a pizzaparlor for supper. I was stunned. I wanted authentic "Bolognese" food. My colleagues,however, were happy and remained unmoved by my comments.

Since those early days, "pizza" in various forms has made its way to the outback ofeverywhere. Granted, as I mentioned above, I rarely touch it unless it comes from a NewYork "mom and pop" pizzeria.

CONCLUDING COMMENTS: WINE, FOOD, AND SONG

Throughout the proceeding discussion I stressed three central components inunderstanding food and culture.^ First, there is more to food than eating, and a sociologyof food is emerging. Although anthropologists have recognized the centrality andimportance of studying cultural aspects of food, sociologists have been late in payingserious attention to this domain of social life. The main focus of a sociology of food is onthe production, distribution, and consumption of food within different social worlds.Being able to articulate these dimensions of social orders enables cross-cultural and cross-historical comparisons.

The second major point I wish to stress is while there arc obviously differences infood preferences between cultures, it is not simply food choices that form suchdifferences. Rather, there is a whole cluster of culturally meaningful conventions andpractices which, when viewed in their entirety, will clearly distinguish cultural groups.Understanding these conventions affords an understanding of a culture, especially withrespect to its connections with nature. Without a sound awareness of this extremelyimportant area of human interaction, one would be hopelessly lost to understand theculture.

Finally, I want to note that it is encouraging to see that people are becomingsensitive to and demonstrating respect for cultures other than their own. However, it isalso the case that to "take in" other cultures by way of food may, nonetheless, generateexperiences of nausea. Cultural respect when expressed in eating can, indeed, be hard toswallow.

9. I wish to thank David Goldberg for reminding me that "the one thing that combines food and cultureis yogurt."


52 Frank Nutch

REFERENCES

Bearsworth, Alan and Teresa Keil. 1997. Sociology on the Menu: An invitation to theStudy of Food and Society. London: Routledge.

Berger, Peter and Thomas Luekmann. 1965. The Social Construction of Reality. GardenCity, New York: Anchor Books.

Blumer, Herbert. 1969. Symbolic lnteractionism: Perspective and Method. EnglewoodCliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Bourdain, Anthony. 2001. Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.London: Bloomsbury.

Charon, Joel M. 1998. Symbolic lnteractionism: An Introduction, An Interpretation, AnIntegration. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Dewey, John. 1966. Democracy and Education. New York: The Free Press.. 1973. Experience and Nature. New York: The Free Press.

Duster, Troy. 1998. Authenticity Claims and the Ethics of Representation. WestemWashington Symposium on Ethical Representation and Cross CulturalCommunication. Bellingham, Washington.

Gabaeeia, Donna R. 1998. We Are What We Eat. Cambridge, Massachusetts: HarvardUniversity Press.

Harper, Charles L. and Bryan F. Lebeau. 2003. Food, Society, and Environment. UpperSaddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Harris, Valentina. 1990. Italian Regional Cookery. London: BBC books.

Honore, Carl. 2004. In Praise of Slow. Toronto: Vintage Canada.

Lupton, Deborah. 1996. Food, the Body and the Self. London: Sage Publications.

Mead, George Herbert. 1959. Philosophy of the Present. La Salle, Illinois: The OpenCourt Publishing Company.

Mead, George Herbert. 1967. Movements of Thought in the Nineteenth Century. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press.


Hard to Swallow 53

Mennell, Stephen, Anne Murcott, and Anncke van Otterloo. 1992. The Sociology of Food:Eating, Diet, and Culture. Newbury Park, California: Sage Publications.

Murcott, Anne. 1984. The Sociology of Food and Eating. London: Gowcr Publishing Co.Ltd.

Stockton, Susan. 1990. The Book of Health. Tampa, Florida: McLean Publishing.

©THE DISCOURSE OF SOCIOLOGICAL PRACTICE, 8, l. SPRING 2007

Hard to Swallow Reflections on the Sociology of Culinary Culture^

Documents

Transcript of Hard to Swallow Reflections on the Sociology of Culinary Culture^