What´s in a Dish

I personally find food history a fascinating area of study and reflection. As any other identity-related story, it reveals very important national positionings and strategies. Plus, it may distract you from too high and theoretical thoughts, because makes you think of delicious foods.

´(...) as a national symbol, food carries the emotional charge of a flad and an anthem, those ´invented traditions´ crucial to building and sustaining a nation, to claiming deep historical roots´.

Anya von Bremzen is a well known food critic and writer, and her Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking is an food rendition of communist memories. Born in Moscow, she often travels the world to go beyond the simple act of food tasting.

In her latest, National Dish, she is trying to discover how specific foods - like ramen, for instance - were upgrated to the level of identity representation. She included in the list France, Spain, Italy, Japan and Mexico, with notable mentions of borsch(t). Von Bremzen is throughout researching her topics but it´s also taking the pulse of the street, tasting dishes and comparing tastes. In the end, there are food myths that are peeled and de-constructed, to separate the genuine from the conservants, the adaptations and original formats.

This book offers very important support for debates about food and identity, as well as the food wars that do reveal the extent of political interventions and ideologies in our everyday life and dishes. A recommended read for the historian of mentalities and the food historian as well.

Rating: 5 stars

Stories from Inside Qatar

 

I´ve started to read this book many months ago, shortly before Qatar World Cup 2022. It looked like the right moment to start understading ´one of ther richest nations on Earth´ that was about to take over the news with a much awaited international soccer event, from an anthropological point of view. Somehow though, the intake of daily news introducing also the ugly part of the Kingdom to the Western media, despite the intensive PR and spin-doctoring, was partly covered. 

As in the case of many other countries in the region, benefiting of huge financial power, mostly due to the rich oil resources, the treatment of foreign workers, the citizenship restrictions and the treatment of women - to mention only few of the most dividing topics - Qatar is mostly closed to outside scrutiny. News about corruption involved in the successful bid of Qatar, the Arab first world country to host a World Cup, and restrictions to journalists and participants to the events jeopardized the expected media success of the event.

A historian and anthropologist based in Turkey, John McManus explored a couple of very sensitive aspects of the everyday life in Qatar. Inside Qatar. Hidden Stories from One of the Richest Nations on Earth is based on discussions with residents of the country, mostly belonging to disadvantaged categories, such as construction workers, immigrants from the region or South-East Asia. Further on, a whole new realm is settled, where segregation is enforced outside the central urban areas, labour rights are denied and migrant workers abused. On the other side of the separation line, the highly qualified working force from the ´developed world´ is enjoying priviledges and a lifestyle impossible to entertain back home.

John McManus observes and takes notes, investigates based on his own observations and using voices of people directly witnessing different situations. I appreciated the focus on labour rights and the shy yet emergent movement or individual examples of individuals trying to challenge and eventually change the current situation. On the other hand, I´ve felt like there are so many other aspects missing from the book, including the influence of Qatar in shaping certain policies in the region, through Al Jazeera, for instance, or various support for terrorist groups. 

Inside Qatar is an important reference of anthropological value that helps understanding the country based on the testimonies of less priviledged people contributing to the wellbeing of the country. Thus, there are many myths shattered, and many more waiting to be analysed with the same distinction and distance from the steams of paid advertising.

Rating: 4 stars