Anthropological Notebooks, XXII/1, 2016
Brulotte, Ronda L. and Michael A. Di Giovine (eds.). 2014. Edible Identities: Food as Cultural Heritage. surrey, Burlington: Ashgate. 237 pp. Hb.: £65.00. IsBN: 9781409442639.
Not only do art, architecture, traditional celebrations show who we are to others, simple things such as food also do that, especially now the food tourism is so popular, and even organisations like UNESCO pay attention to food as part of culture and people. This compilation of essays concentrates on food as a major part of culture, how it unites people and also how it makes them distinct. The book provides deep insights and analysis of 21st-century problems concerning food heritage and covers the current situation. The authors of essays write about traditional food in modern times and its consumption and the role of it as cultural heritage. Many chapters are devoted to the role of food as cultural heritage in other fields, mostly tourism and economics, and how it influences these fields. The book gives specific case-studies from many countries that describe the struggle of organisations and government offices who want to promote a specific food as an item of cultural heritage, the impact of recognised heritage food on tourism and it explores the cases connected with UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The book's fourteen chapters written by different authors focus on food-related heritage problems in Europe, South and NorthAmerica, and Japan. Most ofthem concentrate on local food recognition as original and extraordinary in order to distinguish specific regions, cultures, or national identity. For example, Cristinas Grasseni essay Of Cheese and Ecomuseums: Food as Cultural Heritage in the Northern Alps is about disagreement on the names of cheeses that resulted in local competition between the producers. It showcases the struggle and problems producers face to get their production recognised as cultural heritage. Additionally, Greg de St. Maurice researches food recognised by its origin region in the case of Japan's Kyoto vegetables known as kyoyasai. He examines the effort of local farmers and organisations to promote the vegetables and the results that include the region's economic growth. Fascinating research is done by Miha Kozorog, which showcases Slovenian Salamander brandy, he writes about the background of this famous drink, how it is found only in Slovenia, and how it attracts the interest of tourists. It is a unique case, since Salamander brandy is more a legend than a true drink, but its fame has high value in Slovenian culture.
Several chapters are presenting cases in the context of UNESCO's List of Intangible Heritage, for example, French Chocolate as Intangible Cultural Heritage by Susan Terrio, this research concentrates on how to get French chocolate and artisanal chocolatiers' work recognised globally as French heritage and why it should be done. This book also covers the German Federation of the Bakery Trade struggling to get German bread recognised; the article by Regina F. Bendix reveals a story of local organisations trying to show how special German bread is and the politics that prevent it from happening. In her research, Clare Sammels illustrates examples from Mexico and France, how the UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage influences the traditional food concept and marketing; here, a concern is the great difference between traditional homemade food and the food presented by restaurants as traditional. In a similar manner, the chapter
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Book reviews
on Caldo De Piedra (traditional Mexican stone soup) by Ronda L. Brulotte and Alvin Starkman is about the food is included in the heritage list; it attracts much attention and is a good means of profits for locals. However, although the soup is traditional, there are inconsistencies with the recipe, and this creates tension on a local level.
Another part of the book is on the consequences of already known food, how it influences the tourism and local economy and even politics. An interesting article is the chapter on Cucina casareccia. It explains how a place can become a tourism attraction for thousands of people who also want to enjoy local cuisine with local stories and work of tourism offices and local government. The author writes how the food is promoted to the tourists and how the locals earn from this food tourism and its backgrounds. Very deep research and a description of the problem is given by Eric Castellanos and Sarah Bergestresser in Chapter 13. Their research is on the production and consumption of corn product in Mexico, throughout history, and the influence of political decisions on staple foods in the Mexican diet. It examines the results of importing corn from the United States, how it has influenced agriculture, how modernising tortilla production changed the social status of women and how it influenced tortilla consumption over the years in general.
Overall, the book gives very deep insights into today's situation with explaining case studies and researchers' comments. Most of them give not only the current situation and analyses of the problem but also gives insights from a historical point of view, which is very helpful. A reader should keep in mind that the research is mostly done in Europe (Italy, France, Spain and Slovenia) and South and North America, so it gives more concentrated information on these regions but not the global situation.
ASNATE STRIKE
University of Latvia (Latvia)
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