Eating Asian America: A Food Studies Reader

Should the celebrated "Alice B. Toklas Cookbook" have been credited to the Vietnamese men who cooked for Alice and Gertrude in France? How do you feel about Uzbeks bringing their passion for horse meat sausages into conformity with Moslem dietary laws by a little sleight of hand? Had you realized how food can affect the complex relationships among queer Indian women living in Great Britain?This edited collection is a chance for readers fascinated with culture, history, and food to learn about the Toklas-Vietnamese connection, the dilemnas of Moslem Uzbeks, the implications of the queer kitchen, and a lot more. The editors intend to "examine the importance of centering the study of foodways and culinary practices on theorizing [about] the racialized underpinnings of Asian Americans....[the authors] refuse to yield to the superficial multiculturalism that naively celebrates difference and reconciliation through the pleasures of food and eating." (p. 3)"Eating Asian American" brings together 20 such essays, about 430 pages in all, none of them yielding to superficial multiculturalism, arranged in four sections:-- "The Labors of Taste" mostly deals with the workers---the hard-working entrepreneurs of Cambodian doughnut shops in California, the Japanese cafeteria ladies of post-War Hawaii, the remarkable feat of scholarship tracing the life of a Chinese cook in New York, Los Angeles' taco trucks, and a fascinating study of the origins & socio-political implications of the chefs & farmers of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine.-- "Empires of Food" continues the colonialism, racism, and political themes in chapters on how mess-halls contributed to shattering families during the World War II incarceration of Japanese, Filipina/o experiences in sustaining their accustomed foods (2 chapters) and the cold war implications of U.S. enthusiasm for Asian foods. Thie section closes with an irresistable discussion of Kikkoman Soy Sauce and the implications of when it really first came to the States.-- In the well-titled section on "Fusion, Diffusion, and Confusion," readers can plunge into urban hippiness & food trucks including one offering Korean tacos, the story of samsa and the Uzbeks, the Filipina/o culinary diaspora, and two chapters on Asian Americans, one as producers of food and the other on Japanese women's choices and their socio-political implications.--"Readable Feasts," the fourth section, almost could be X-rated. One chapter deconstructs a novel about the Toklas/Stein/ Vietnmese chefs connection, another deconstructs a film about the queer kitchen and transnationality, another chapter looks at the implications of Madhur Jaffrey and vegetarianism,and there's an eye-opening chapter on food consumption and a genre of edible contemporary art in Hawaii including the implications of chocolate formed into hula dancers.The content & theorizing in these chapters may be familiar to scholars in the academic discipline of food studies, but new ground for the general reader. This emerging discipline encompasses looking back at colonialism, oppression and historic racialism as well as interpretations of contemporary events such as those roving food trucks accessed by the latest in webs, phones, tablets, and twitters.Almost all the chapters are written by such scholars, who offer the quality one would expect in depth of research and documentation, including extensive footnotes. The result is a splendid book, intended perhaps for food studies professionals and students but a delight for readers eager to learn more through such research about who we are, how we got here, and the wider meaning of what we do and do not eat. Readers who appreciated, for example, Williams-Forson's 2006 "Building Houses Out of Chicken Legs: Black Women, Food, and Power" may particularly be interested in this examination of the Asian American experience.As the United States and the world becomes increasingly transational, such understanding becomes almost essential. "Eating Asian American" can help us think about the social-political implications, for instance, of the Moslem diaspora we see in foods, groceries, butchers, restaurants, cookbooks and, yes, school lunches.Reader Alert: The writing style is between popularization such as Pollan's "Omnivore's Dilemma" and high church academe, with such locutions as "I will argue that..." Some general readers may like or manage this style out of interest in the topic; others may not.The chapters vary in liveliness and readability, though not in academic quality. The differences may be in whether the lens is primarily colonialism, racism,and exploitation of Asians or if the chapter authors seem open to more complex possibilities such as the interaction of these with economic class. The brief chapters perhaps may preclude the in-depth study possible in full-length books. However, the extensive bibliography should open many doors for additional reading. There is an index, as well as brief bios for all the chapter authors.Foodie Readers Alert: Only the chapter on the school cafeteria ladies has some recipes. There are plenty of cookbooks available including many of Madhur Jaffrey's. Her recipes & stories can delight the omnivores & carnivores as well as herbivores.The handsome, eye-catching cover shows a re-labeled bottle of sriracha, a tangy sauce originating in Thailand. In this case, readers can tell a lot about the book from its cover. I found "Eating Asian American" fascinating, provocative reading. Where I have first-hand knowledge as in some of the Hawaii chapters, the book is insightful & accurate. Highly recommended.

I have always wanted to read this book for myself, and I am glad that I was able to order this book for such a low price. I Received this book in the Mail on Saturday afternoon. I am starting to read this book from the beginning, and so far, I am extremely impressed! As a person of Filipino heritage, I can't wait to read the chapters dealing with Filipino cuisine and culture!

the book is a bit daunting and some of the essays read at a high college level, but the information is very interesting. I enjoyed reading about the influences of Asian culture into American food culture.

interesting book

Many dishes that are popular in Asian restaurants in the USA (and other countries) might not be immediately recognised as authentic in their originating countries. But how did they get there? Through immigration or were they borrowed from distant lands and interpreted by the host country's own nationals?This book looks at the crossover between Asian-American "Asian Food", ethnic authenticity and integration into the mainstream through an academic lens. Twenty scholars from a variety of different disciplines present mini essays looking at various topics with titles such as "Cambodian Doughnut Shops and the Negotiation of Identity in Los Angeles", "Gannenshoyu or First-Year Soy Sauce? Kikkoman Soy Sauce and the Corporate Forgetting of the Early Japanese American Consumer", "Apple Pie and Makizushi: Japanese American Women Sustaining Family and Community" and "The Globe at the Table: How Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian Reconfigures the World".This is one of those books that isn't for everybody yet it does give a lot to those who are receptive. A foodie with an eye past their table, an academic on a specific course of study and research or even just someone who really likes reading uncommon, thought-provoking stuff will have many hours of engaging, focussed reading ahead of them and, if required, a mass of further reading suggestions to expand their knowledge further if desired from this book. But if you are expecting a book that will in a few hundred words tell you why a specific dish you might eat in a Chinese restaurant in New York is nothing like a similarly-named dish served up in Beijing, this book is not for you.It is often said that cultural integration of immigrants is often formed through food, with many immigrants setting up small businesses to cater for other immigrants and ambitious, open locals who will try something "exotic and foreign". Society's influences then change, are shaped and are built on this cultural cuisine-based melting pot. This is a great book that will certainly have you look at foreign food in a different, even more positive light.

As a food historian, I found this collection of essays fascinating. How we perceive 'Asian' food, and how it is prepared by Asian Americans can be two totally different things. Many of these essays focus on a particular aspect of how Asian food was either adopted or adapted by Americans. I found the essay on the Japanese internees and how they tried to keep family, culture and food together in an institutional setting.

I ordered a book that I needed for class at the last minute and 3 days later I got the book. When I tell you I was beyond happy I was excited. The book that I ordered from dailydeals usa said it would be in good condition ha it came in excellent condition and did I mention the price I paid $10 dollars.