Food & Us

Exploring our collective cultural identity through what's on our plates.

For as long as I can remember, I have had an interest in food. Whether it be just the curiosity of trying different cooking methods and recipes, or trying new cuisines and going to new restaurants, over time I have established a deeper connection with food. What truly created this connection, however, was when I learnt of the story that food can tell. Whether individually or collectively, one simple dish of food tells the story of who we are, where we come from, and who we might become. The food we make and the food we eat reflects little parts of our identities, of us as an individual or as part of a collective culture. Understanding the meaning behind a particular meal can teach you extensive amounts of a culture’s history.

Today I am a rising senior in university studying International Relations. I love to explore and learn about different cultures, to understand their history and the role that history plays in a nation’s, or group’s, beliefs and politics. In my opinion, there is no better way to learn about a new culture and its traditions and beliefs than through their food. Learning about and eating the cuisine of a different culture has been one of the fundamental ways that I have appreciated and learned about different cultures.

When I was 12, my family and I took a trip to Italy where we did a lot of sightseeing, learnt about the Renaissance, the history of the Catholic church and a whole lot more. My favourite part of the trip, however, was the food. Everywhere we went we tried different types of Italian food and even took a cooking class where we learnt how to make pasta from scratch and a couple of different pasta sauces like Bolognese and Arrabiata. Just through the different meals we tried and made, I learnt a lot about Italian history. Aglio e olio, one of my favourites, is a pasta sauce that consists of just garlic, olive oil, and red chilli flakes and is typically made with spaghetti. Since the sauce was simple and made with cheap, easy-to-get ingredients, it was historically eaten by people of lower socio-economic strata. Compare that with bolognese, a rich, meaty sauce made with beef and red wine, and you can understand why it was usually eaten by the upper class in Italy. A simple bowl of pasta can tell you so much of the history of a region.

Aglio e olio

The influences that other cultures have had on a region are extremely evident in the food and cuisine of that region. For example, the influence that Portuguese culture and food have had on Goan cuisine is so evident. The similarity in spices and the meats used too, tell you about the history of Goa. Goan cuisine takes influences from Maharashtrian and Portuguese food, but it is distinctly Goan.

Over a weekend staying with my college roommate Dan and his family in his home in Pennsylvania, I learnt more about Peruvian food and culture. His mother cooked us a great barbecue meal and over dinner that night, I learnt of the subtle Chinese influences in Peruvian cooking. Lomo Saltado is a very popular Peruvian beef stir-fry, with soy sauce, red onions, tomatoes, fried potatoes and Ají Amarillo (a paste of yellow and red capsicum). The Chinese influence in this dish comes from the soy sauce, which was introduced into Peru in the mid-19th century when Cantonese settlers immigrated to Peru to work in agriculture.

Food has this amazing ability to bring people together. Think about it for a second, in practically every culture, food plays a central role in holidays and celebrations. Whether it be a Thanksgiving dinner in the USA, Christmas dinner in parts of Europe, or Iftar during the month of Ramadan, we all gather around a large meal or plate of food to celebrate with our loved ones. In college, food's ability to bring people together has helped me understand the cultures of my friends and roommates deeper. While everyone in my friend group in college lives in a different part of America, each one of us has our own identity. Sharing a meal and cooking beans and rice, platanos (fried plantains) and croquetas (croquettes), with my roommate David helped me learn more about Cuban culture and political history. He explained to me about the use of pork in Cuban food, and why the political tensions between the US and Cuba lessened the use of other meats in Cuba. By sharing a Passover meal with my friend Caleb, I learnt about Jewish history. Unleavened bread is a large part of Jewish culture and is eaten during Passover because the Jews did not have time to wait for their bread to rise when fleeing Egypt.

As I’ve lived away from Bombay the past 3 years, food has been critical in making me closer to home. Whether sharing a North Indian meal of butter chicken, chole and some garlic naan on my birthday or calling my mom to get a recipe to make chicken curry at home, I have been able to share my culture with my friends in college through the food I cook. Every year on Diwali, my friends hang out with me and help me celebrate in some way. At the centre of our celebration is Indian food, in freshman year we went out for a meal, in my sophomore year we ordered in, and this past year I was able to cook a big meal for us all. And with my group of friends, none of whom are from South Asia, I have been able to share a small part of my culture through Indian food. Food has this unique ability to just bring people together. While I don’t have nearly as large a celebration as I would if I was home for Diwali, through food, I have been able to forge my own little Diwali tradition with my friends, and it's one I will cherish forever.

Visuals by @diyajhangiani

Sumair Jhangiani is a 21-year old college student studying International Relations and International Business at The American University in Washington D.C. He loves going out to eat and trying new foods and is an amateur home-cook.