Local Foods and Practices
Patronizing the Local Brewery: Patron Experiences and the Craft Beer Community
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Antoinette Pole, George Martin, Christopher Lynch
This paper investigates the demographics of microbrewery patrons in New York City, exploring patrons’ views about the microbrewery they frequented. In particular, it assesses whether microbreweries facilitate community among patrons, and if so, how. The research relies on surveys of patrons in microbreweries and in-depth interviews with owners and brewers in New York City conducted between May and June 2016. Results show a majority of patrons consist of non-Hispanic white males, who are well-educated and concentrated in white-collared positions. Patrons report frequenting the brewery as opposed to other breweries, because of taste, support of local business, and the cool vibe/ambiance. Eight out of nine breweries held special release events and attended festivals, while seven out of nine breweries hosted lectures. These events also motivated patrons to patronize the brewery in which they were surveyed. In terms of community, brewers and owners suggested their patrons varied, however five out of nine respondents described their patrons as locals, foot traffic, or neighborhood residents, and 71% of patrons report residing in New York. Finally, just over half of patrons see themselves as part of the craft beer community, sharing the same the same objectives as other craft beer enthusiasts.
Millefeuille and Napoleon as an International Favorite
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Masahiro Miyake
This paper focuses on cakes and their relationship with globalization. As is generally known, cheesecake became popular worldwide after it was originally brought by immigrants, and only later manufactured in enormous quantities. Its progress into a world-over favorite was very fast. Tiramisu also became popular in a short time through similar means. Cheesecake and Tiramisu make an assortment for patisseries, but this assortment will comparatively standardize without finding big differences among patisseries around the world. On the other hand, there are cakes that spread over a long period of time. One of them is Millefeuille/Napoleon. The cake is known as Millfeuille in France and Tunisia and it is known as Napoleon in Russia, America, and Poland. Moreover, a similar cake called Tompouse is widely enjoyed in Holland and a part of France. Through these examples, we are able to analyze the relationships between regions and foods. This research reveals a characteristic of each region through the specific food analyzed.
Cooking Banana to Narrate a Representative Place
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hsin-Hua Tsai
Unable to withstand external competition, Taiwan’s banana industry has been in decline since the 1980s. Qishan, once known as the Banana Town has also lost its glorious days. Government efforts to transform the place into an agri-tourism attraction resulted in a loss of placeness. Recently, a group of youths set up the Youthbanana social enterprise attempt to represent the place through the banana cake culinary show. Using in-depth ethnographical studies, this paper looks to provide a new perspective to present the banana discourse to narrate a representative place through cooking banana.
Reconstructing Sweetness of Red Tortoise Cake in Post-colonial Taiwan
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jaqueline Hsu
Sweetness is what human desires by nature. This physiological desire reflects humans’ tendencies to eat and pursue all kinds of sweet food, which used to be manipulated by the 15th century European colonizers (Mintz, 1985). As a Japanese colony during 1895-1945, Taiwan became the Empire’s sugar plantations to make high (cuisine) products of sweets for local Japanese colonizers and, however, low (cuisine) sweets for the colonized Taiwanese (Goody, 1982). Rice-made red tortoise cake was the most popular low sweets then, which was not only used for festival celebrations, but also for daily necessities. However, early post-colonial red tortoise cake began to lose its appeal to the younger generation along with introduced western bakery industries, making its appearances mostly at traditional celebrations. It is until 21st century when culinary authenticity was uplifted, red tortoise cake began to make a comeback with various innovations to develop it into a high sweet. This study aims to narrate the new reconstructed sweetness of red tortoise cake in post-colonial Taiwan to realize how national identity is embodied and interpreted.
