Questioning Authenticity

Several people have raised questions about this issue of authenticity. For me, the word authentic conjures the idea that there is a true or real thing (or way) vs. ones that are false or imitations. There is an implicit value judgment, a presumed hierarchy of real-ness, that seems a bit dangerous because it pre-supposes that cultural expressions, such as foodways, are static and unchanging--even in their places of origin--and that adaptations made by choice or necessity are somehow inferior or wrong. Also, without knowing the deep history of a particular food it can be easy to presume something is authentic simply because it is the way we, our parents, and maybe even our grandparents remember it to be. Therefore, some foods or phenomena that we view as authentic might themselves be “fusions” created in earlier moments of exchange and adaptation.

An example might be the Chow Mein sandwich that Professor Lee has mentioned became popular in the Fall River, MA area. Here’s a description from an article in the Providence Journal:

“What is a chow mein sandwich? The chow mein -- a mixture of minced meat, celery, onions, and bean sprouts in gravy over deep fried noodles -- is placed between a hamburger bun and covered with brown gravy.”

And that’s only one version of the sandwich. Others in the region will claim their variation is the most authentic. For Asian Americans and non-Asian Americans who don’t come from the region the very idea of this concoction represents a violation of boundaries that Manalansan argues are markers of ethnic identity, i.e., acculturated ideas about what tastes, textures, ingredients, etc., do and do not belong together. So, is this food item “authentic”? For some people it is an “authentic” regional food and a unique marker of local identity that they remember from childhood. Yet, its history only spans a few generations.

So, in viewing the “Chinese Restaurants” series I didn’t think too much about what was or was not authentic. Rather, I was amazed at the ability of Chinese chefs and cooks to adapt their cuisine to a wide array of circumstances. Some restaurateurs seemed more concerned than others about compromising traditional foodways (I like that term better than authentic). For example, one of the people associated with Restaurant Huang in Brazil listed the popular dishes and said something to the effect of, “We say these are not authentic; they’re just to fool the Brazilians.” In contrast, some chefs like Collette of Chez Manuel in Mauritius were more excited about the creative possibilities of blending different traditions together. I thought it was interesting that she went to Hong Kong in order to learn more about traditional Chinese cooking. Did what she learn there reflect the traditions of the Hakka who had settled in Mauritius or would it have been reflective of other regional foodways within China?

Rye-Ji Kim and Melissa both raised good questions about the restaurants selected for the programs and whether it is a representative sampling of the Chinese diasporic experience with restaurant work. The series focuses primarily on places that are known as having really good food. As a result, there might be a tendency to focus more on restaurant owners who really love cooking and see it as an expression of their creativity, personality, etc. In other words, despite all the hard work, it’s more than a job to many of them. It’s a passion. The exceptions to this model were poignant, as in the case of Maria and the Little Buddha owners. For them, economic circumstance and barriers to other opportunities have trapped them in a profession that only seems to increase their marginalization within the dominant culture.

Chez Manuel and Chinese Laundry

I’ve always been one of those few Asian people who doesn’t really like Asian food. It’s slowly grown on me as I’ve gotten older, but after watching the videos this week on “Chinese Restaurants,” I started to realize exactly how interesting Asian food really is. Watching Part II of the series introduced me to Colette and Manuel living in Mauritius who own and run Chez Manuel. Colette is responsible for all of the cooking as she combines Creole, Indian, and Hakka Chinese styles to create new dishes while Manuel doesn’t really seem to do much. I thought it was intriguing how we as viewers are transported into their mom-and-pop family business that is full of history and cultural pride. The relationship between Colette and Manuel was fascinating to me because although Colette did all the work, the restaurant was still called Chez Manuel and not Chez Colette. I think that this illustrates the gender hierarchy often seen between men and women in Asian culture because the female is expected to be humble and hardworking while the male has a lot more flexibility and freedom. This is similar to discussions we had while watching “Flower Drum Song” because again, the Asian male (the father) determines the future of his daughter Mei Li and she is expected to simply comply with whatever her male superior tells her to do.

Looking at the reappropriate.com blog about the Chinese Laundry is a significant departure from the video on Colette and Manuel. I am shocked by the advertisement for the restaurant and think that the writer of the blog makes a noteworthy point that “the advertisement implies that diners of this restaurant will be able to conquer the East, not only gastronomically, but sexually. The female form then becomes an object for sexual consumption.” I was surprised that the owner of the restaurant seemed so defensive about his advertisement and commented fervently that he did not mean any harm. Although I do believe that he has the right to create his advertisement as he wishes under his First Amendment rights, I am amazed that he believed that it would not spark any sort of controversy and that he thought it would be appealing to community members. Independently of the fact that I am part Chinese, I would be slightly insulted by the advertisement. At first glance, it seems like an advertisement for a strip club so I was pretty surprised that it was for a new restaurant. If I were in charge of the marketing and advertising for the restaurant, I would have gone about it in a much different way.

Kudos to whomever in the class wrote to Mr. Elkhay!