Ninth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

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.