Fieldwork Assignment – Conducting Food Ethnography

Fieldwork Assignment – Conducting Food Ethnography
Your Name
Your Institution of Affiliation
March 30, 2017
Last weekend, I was very fortunate to be invited to dine with one of our neighbors. What makes this interesting is that I’ve known these neighbors of mine for two years now, but because I haven’t stayed at home (or go out much when I’m there) I wasn’t really able to chat with them. More specifically, what made me very interested in this encounter was the fact that these neighbors of mine are Filipinos. And, in my opinion, the fact that they are from the Philippines makes the experience of dining with them more enticing, since most of my life I’ve just been familiar with oriental cuisines such as Japanese, Korean, and Chinese food. And, thus my own knowledge of what Asian food is like is simply limited to these ones. Another thing that makes this experience more thrilling for me was the fact that most of my experiences with eating oriental food are just from restaurants and other fast-foods, which seems ‘simulated’. On the other hand, I believe that dining with the family would give me a more realistic experience. The paragraphs below would summarize my own experience dining with them and also my thoughts about the importance of food ways in one’s identity. As for my thesis statement, I believe that the main importance of food ways (cuisine and dishes) is the fact that it propagates one’s culture and reinforces family values, especially in families who dine together.
Rituals
During one of my experiences dining with a Filipino family in our neighborhood, I was able to notice how the diners perform their rituals before eating. Basically, they start their dinner with a prayer from the youngest member of their family. In my two years of being the next block neighbor of this family, I’ve always noticed how the family perform the same routine and the same principles during dinner time. As I asked them why they do so, the father says that as a devoted catholic this have been a tradition that they’ve practiced and passed on to their children because they believe that it is really important to give thanks to the one who gave them blessings, and that is, God himself. However, even before this, the father reminded his children to wash their hands before they dig in. In my own perspective, this is not something that is natural with families that I usually encounter.
The Value of eating together
As I interview the mother, she said that in their own place, making sure that the family eats together is very important because of a saying that they have. As the saying goes, the Family that “eats together, stays together”. With regards to their cuisine I was enticed with one of their local dish sinigang na manok, which looks like chicken broiled in a sour broth. As I asked the family about where and when did they learn to cook it, the mother said that sinigang is one of the most popular dishes in their home country and that each of the localities beck there have a special twist with their own version of the if the dish. She also stated that these varieties reflect the ingredients which are abundant in a particular place such as those mixed with...