A guest post by Nandita Godbole
Recipe writers and content creators frequently struggle to understand cultural appropriation. To some, cultural appropriation challenges the old ways of doing things. Others wonder why food writers lose their jobs over it. They question why it is important. Is it?
Here’s my understanding of cultural appropriation and how to avoid it as a food writer:
1. First of all, what is cultural appropriation?
Wikipedia describes cultural appropriation as “The adoption of an element or elements of one culture or identity by members of another culture or identity.” For me, it also means profiting from another culture without compensating them adequately.
In the food space, cultural appropriation shows up in products, as repackaged ingredients, in cookbooks, and in recipes. The most problematic scenarios emerge when people outside the culture use an item for their own profit. Cultural appropriation can create an elitist environment and approach to world cuisines. It assumes that the cultural legacies of under-represented or historically marginalized cultures and people are available for profit.
2. How does it start, and how does it go horribly wrong?
Most civic-minded adults do not intentionally seek to harm or misrepresent another persons’ culture or cuisine. But sometimes, writers channel the innocent appreciation of other cultures into a commodity that only benefits themselves. Such commodification typically eliminates all mentions of the origins of that food culture. It also eliminates the communities who consume the foods every day. And it ignores the place of that food in the culinary history of that culture, or mentions all of it in passing.
One famous instance occurred when two American women tried to pass off classic Mexican recipes as their own to start a business. Jaime Olivers’ interpretation of jerk rice proved problematic because of who made it versus the dish’s origins. People also objected to the ingredients of the dish as prepared by Jamaicans versus what he prepared for his audience. Oliver’s glaringly incomplete knowledge of the dish insulted Jamaicans, who consume jerk dishes every day. While Oliver tried to highlight his creativity, his “inspiration” was poised to profit from a historically underrepresented community that often is undervalued and underpaid.
In each case, none of the individuals or companies had any direct ethnic or cultural ties to the commodity they promoted under their own brand name.
In this Eater piece, Navneet Alang discuss the aftermath of the Alison Roman controversy. Alang notes that most successful folks are successful because they have worked very hard. But, despite their best intentions, the thrill of success can sometimes trigger cultural appropriation. When successful people do not recognize the inequities in the business, or become part of perpetuating inequities, they are part of the problem.
3. Can people cook dishes from another culture?
Yes. We can cook anything we like. But if we are teaching someone else (in the family or for commerce) there are ways to do it respectfully:
- When cooking for yourself or your family, learn about that culture’s foods
- If you must promote another culture’s dish for commerce, include several ways your audience can learn more about that cuisine and dish from a different source or expert from that cuisine
- Social media posts are particularly notorious for blurring the lines. Making a dish for fun is one thing. If you do not include information about your inspiration for the dish, it risks being called out as cultural appropriation.
4. How to cook from, write about, or teach someone else a dish from your own heritage.
This topic deals with at least three issues: ownership, lived experience, and communication, all negotiated through access to resources and the guidance of a teacher. When you are writing about your heritage, you are often navigating a grey area.
Regardless of your proximity to a culture, when writing or developing a recipe for a blog, a cookbook, or an article, treat it as a research paper. Identify all your sources and inspirations, especially if the dish is heavily inspired by something or someone other than yourself. Include how you are connected to the dish. If family or friends taught you a dish, include them in the headnote. Readers want to know how our experiences fit into the story of that dish.
Here’s another thing to consider: What makes you an expert to write about it? If it relies on access to the editor’s desk, share the spotlight those who know the topic better than you.
No one is born with all the knowledge, or can fully claim to being an expert. Yet, we all have our place in telling the story of a dish. While we teach those who come after us, there are more who came before who taught us.
Reflect the interchangeable roles of teacher and student. If you felt inspired by the work of a fellow writer or a published author, recognize that that work that came before your own. Even small but meaningful gestures can show respect.
In closing
No matter the platform or medium of audience engagement, if you show someone how to make a dish, you take on the role of a teacher. A good teacher encourages thoughtful inquiry and encourages students to be respectful of the food and culture they learn about.
Writers must continually inspire mutual respect. A cuisine or its people are never a curiosity, a theme, or an invitation to commodify. A cuisine tells the story of humans living, thriving, and nourishing other humans. Good writers, like good journalists, tell the complete human stories in the best way they can, because those stories will always matter more than the byline.
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Nandita Godbole is an Atlanta-based, Indian origin, indie author of many cookbooks, including her latest, “Seven Pots of Tea: an Ayurvedic approach to sips and nosh.” Her work has appeared on Healthline, Forbes, NBC-Asian America, CNN, BBC-Futures, Thrillist, Epicurious. As @currycravings on social media, she shares simple ways to make classic Indian recipes. She also talks about chai and the bounty of her unruly garden.
( Photo courtesy of Julian Hochgesang-Huep on Unsplash.)
Thanks Nadita and Dianne,
This post is very instructive and define well where to stand when writing or teaching about food.
I wonder about classical dishes that became popular all over the world ex Pizza, Beef Bourguignon, hummus etc does the same rules applies?
For my cookbooks on Quebec regional cooking when the recipe was special from one person I always mentioned the name in the head note of the recipe while I didn’t when I had many testimonies on one dish that was very popular in the region. I did wrote the stories about the recipe as well as food history of each region I wrote a book about.
Micheline Mongrain-Dontigny
Hi Micheline,
Thanks for your comment and excellent question.
Cultural appropriation impacts the cuisines of the (once) colonized nations more than it does any others cuisines. The crux of the issue is about who profits from representing a dish. If a person is writing about a cuisine that isn’t their own, then they ought to show providence, or how the dish came to their repertoire, and the culture to which it originally belongs to.
Hope this helps!
Nandita
Thanks Nandita your answer clarifies more the rules. It will keep your recommendations in mind when I will publish or teach about food.
Micheline
Thanks! And please feel free to connect!!
Can you also share some positive/good examples in addition to the inappropriate ones?
Thanks for your question, Lee Ann, but this could take a lot of time – simply because there are so many bad examples.
It is more often advisable to air on the side of caution and avoid cultural appropriation by not taking on a cuisine that is historically under-represented, marginalized, or under-valued – especially if this cuisine isn’t your own.
If I find some good examples I will try and post them here, but it may take some time. Thank you for asking!
Nandita
Thanks for sharing this wonderful article
Thank you!
Excellent article. Can you please explain where FUSION COOKING falls in this discussion. I have have traveled to every continent except Antarctica, and have much respect for all cuisines, but love to blend dishes in unique ways…..
What a thought provoking question!!
Fusion cuisine is, in my opinion, taking two completely different cuisines and blending it in a manner where the finished dish is something different. Maybe a technique from one and category of dish from another. For instance, using a Samosa filling in a wonton wrapper out of convenience. They aren’t quite the same, but the name of finished dish then reflects if folded like a samosa, a spring roll, a wonton or something else?
(IMO) A fusion dish must consider the name of the finished / new dish and ask if this is misleading someone or if it telling a story about how the dish came to be. The important part is including information in the head note of the recipe to identify the marriage of two cuisines. Otherwise it is just “taking” without honoring either cuisines. Providence matters.
Thanks for asking, and reading 🙂
Should “Americans” (whatever that means) be angry at the Japanese food culture that takes the hamburger, the sandwich, and other iconic foods to make them its own? Should the French (or going back further the Austrians, or further, the Turks) also be angry at Japanese chefs who have taken “their” pastries to new, or at least different, heights? What about Neapolitans and Romans re: almost every other country’s food culture because of what has been done to/with pizza for profit?
Which is all to say: Is there any food culture that has NOT been subject to appropriation? I would suggest there are not many. This does not minimize the theft of “third-world” foods, but let’s be realistic: No one owns anything anymore.
Thanks for your contribution to the dialog, Suzanne. No doubt it is a complex issue.
Foods of historically marginalized cultures are at risk of being obliterated because of rampant “taking”. This dialog is not about blatant ownership but about respecting someone else’s traditions rather than profiting from them and not assuming any responsibility for being a profiteer,
As you said, let’s be real. It is no different from the conversations we are having about the Gullah cuisine. People would not be arguing if this was a more prominent voice or a JB award winning author reminding people about sharing the stage equally. Or fighting for respect for the cuisines of their people.
The communities I am taking about were colonized, their indigenous culture grossly undervalued for centuries. Their culture was whitewashed to the point of no return. The damage is greater than what one voice or one generation can address. If an individual refuses to extend respect to another culture – in the manner that culture sees fit, they are just much a part of the problem as the colonizers.
So would it only be cultural appropriation when its an ethnic food? like for example eating eggs wouldnt be cultural appropriation even though chickens come from asia since many different cultures use them in different foods /gen (not trying to offend anyone im just confused have a good day)
So it would only be cultural appropriation if it’s ethnic food? For example, it wouldn’t be cultural appropriation to eat eggs/chicken even though they come from Asia since its not native to one country and many cultures around the world use it in their cuisine. /gen (not trying to offend anyone sorry if i did)