The W's of Food and Culture

During my Food and Wine course, we learned the W's concept which I foresee offering an ongoing structure for my back pocket travels. When in any new city, the W's can help me (and you!) organize any thoughts and observations around food and help you learn about culture on a deeper level. To understand and communicate effectively about food, it's important to define the variables defining our knowledge of and practices around food. The age-old W’s: who, what, why, where, when, provide a helpful structure to understand one's cultural relationship with food. We will see that food is so much more than we realize: "The organ of taste is not the tongue but the brain...begins in the brain before it reaches the palate" (Montanari, 61). There is a heaping pile of thought that goes into each bite, food really packs a punch!

(With) Who:

As a social species, sharing food with people is integral to our experience as humans. As for the Mediterranean diet, the social ingredient is integral to the diet. As noted in Massimo Montanari's "Food is Culture," humans express a cultural form of food consumption when they decide WHOM to eat. Montanari says (harshly), "...only the hermit eats alone." There are physical and psychological benefits to eating in the company of others such as strengthening a relationship's connection, stability, support, and bond all over a sense of belonging/enjoyment.

What:

Initially, we define food as a biological necessity that satisfies nutritional needs. However, dating back to historical times, we often eat in ways contradicting this notion of food as a solely biological tool. Mostly, we eat to express emotions (birthday cake!), group belonging/exclusion, wealth (stereotypical Whole Foods shoppers), social connection (dinner parties), pleasure (munchies), reward/punishment (salad), etc. Today, food is more than what it does for our bodies. Food is a vessel for culture to express and influence people and events.

Why:

The choice behind why we eat certain foods is often guided by the context of the meal- holiday, weeknight, celebration, etc. According to a particular culture, the why is driven by principle tastes and core ingredients. For example, staples are wheat in Europe, sorghum in Africa, rice in Asia, corn in South America, etc. Meals often center around these main ingredients and tell us why we eat what we do. Most simply, why is because it's what's available- which is not globally even (think: why would I rather eat sushi in SLO vs SF's Japantown- ps- Sry, I love you SLO).

Where:

To be honest, anywhere! My mom always told me food tastes better outside, so that's what I prefer given the right conditions. Where can also be understood as - at the bar, on the water or the floor, in a booth or in a tree house, at a street-side table, or at the window table- all viable variables that can demonstrate status, power, or influence.

When:

A great pleasure for humans with food is expectation: we are aware of what food will taste like and how much we will enjoy it before the experience happens (recall: counting down minutes to lunch or snack at school). According to cultural norms, certain foods must be eaten at certain times or at certain events like eggs only at breakfast in the US versus any meal in Spain. Additionally, dinner is typically the largest meal in the US, whereas Europeans take this one light and go all in at lunch.

BONUS:

How:

The order of meals also varies per culture. For example, salad comes before the main in the US, after the entree in France, and all at once to combine flavors in Vietnam.