To Use or to Not Use Chopsticks

   "I see tourism as a universal human impulse—curiosity and an adventurous spirit are facets of personality that are shaped in their expression by the ethos and institutions of specific cultures, but the impulse itself is not dependent upon particular historical circumstances. Food is an arena in which that impulse can be exercised regardless of the institutionalized practices of tourism" (Long 7). 

    Epcot. Did anyone else keep coming back to the Disney theme park while reading this piece?? I could NOT get it out of my head. My family used to visit my aging great grandmother at her retirement home in florida over winter breaks. As a reward from lutefisk, lox and that sterile perfume smell, we would get to go to Disney World as a reward. The ultimate place wasn’t Animal Kingdom or Magic Kingdom. It had to be Epcot.

    We would spend the entire day strolling along the brick streets, the giant golf ball in the foreground enriching our lives with the cultural splendor of the place. French fries in France, Bratwurst and beer in Germany, a lamb and lentil dish in Morocco, churros in Mexico, all circling the manmade lake in the center, bobbing with manmade plastic ‘docks’ where fireworks would later be launched.

    I loved Epcot. I really really did. Going into 
the giant ‘aztecan temple’ in ‘Mexico’ and looking at all the ‘art’ before going on the “It’s a Small World After All” ride? Priceless.

    But I had never really thought of myself as tourist before reading this Lucy M. Long’s Culinary tourism. Especially when I wasn’t traveling. Sure, as a kid I couldn’t get enough of Florida and the Mall of America, but that was a faze and now I had matured. I fought my parents when they suggested we take a cruise instead of a ‘real’ vacation, I would insist we go to the markets instead of the food-courts when we were on trips, and I prided myself on ordering Pad See Ewe—Thai level hot—when I was out for Thai food with friends while they all ordered Pad Thai, mild
    But Long makes a very strong case to say that I am what she calls a existential, experimental and experiential tourist, tourists who "will insist on eating with chopsticks to demonstrate their competence of the other's food behaviors." I do this consistently. Sometimes I'll order the spiciest level on the menu just to prove I can handle it. I love trying out new dishes at 'ethnic' restaurants and I'm not very understanding when people order kung pao chicken or spaghetti at authentic chinese and Italian places respectively. 

   As I read through that section on page 68, I was feeling pretty snug, until she got to the but. She claims that sometimes, these 'daring' individuals are merely asserting their competence rather than take some risks (68). I'm still not sure how to deal with both her conflicting ideals. 

     There was one portion of the text that I found hard to believe. In the first chapter, Long talks about the “categories of otherness” foodways and makes the claim that gender and age are not as significant as the others (Long 31).  I see how the lines of the categories are blurred, however, I have to disagree with Long.  When it comes to marketing and intentional tourism, I think children and women are HUGE targets for companies and restaurants. I think about Epcot and how they are obviously advertising specifically to children and mothers. Kids! Eat a lot of junk food AND hug Mickey! Mom’s! Go to a theme park that will be entertaining for your children AND teach them about ‘diversity’ and ‘different cultures.’  Or infomercials for tubs of edible, sculptable goo that no child could ever resist. Or Luna bars. If you look at the packaging on a Luna bar you can see how feminine the advertising is, and how they are definitely targeting women hard, saying they are for women and aesthetically pleasing to women. I think Long didn't have a strong enough base for her argument here. 

    In Long's final chapter on the authenticity of ethnic restaurants in the US and Thai restaurants in particular, I think the connection between her chapter and the article on ethnic foods entering the restaurant strip mall sphere of the Midwest was undeniable.  I had never thought to think critically about thai places and their authenticity. But Long made some incredibly observant claims about the restaurants—especially with her brief mention of American broccoli verses Asian broccoli, it blew my mind when I found that out. From her description of the decor to the menu set-up to the staff, Long observes the line between the authentic and the inauthentic that I had never even thought to question. 

Side Note: When I was in Scotland with my family when I was fifteen, we loved eating the different flavors of Walker's Crisps (smokey bacon, roast chicken, cheese and onion, tomato ketchup) until we found this flavor and got freaked out. Authentic?