Culinary Moves

One of the first observations that we make in a changing urbanscape caused by migration in our society is the ethnic restaurant. There are as many stories embedded in the food that we consume in these restaurants. The myriads of ethnic eateries, fast-food restaurants and fine dining outlets marking Albertan urbanscape bear testimony to the fascinating travels of individuals and their families who have journeyed across borders bearing with them their inherited culinary skills. For these migrant families from other parts of Canada and from abroad, food becomes a way of retaining elements of their past and their cultural traditions, while creating new identities for themselves. The stories behind these recipes and dishes provide a fascinating window into the complex experiences of migration. 

This projet is a joint collaboration between Dr. Srilata Ravi (Faculté Saint-Jean, University of Alberta ), Dr. Geoffrey Rockwell (Kule Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Alberta) and Dr. Kamal Ranaverra (Arts Resource Centre, University of Alberta).

Why share your story?

• Your culinary stories that have voyaged widely across Canada and the world are a  reflecton of the creative ways in which you interact with members of the host society. Sharing these stories will show how mutual transformation in attitudes occur through interactions around such culinary practices.
• By contributing to our digital platform, your experiences will be preserved by the Culinary Moves project at the University of Alberta and read by Canadians eager to learn about the stories that flavour your favourite recipes and narrate their exciting journeys to this country.

The aim of the project is:

• to create, accumulate and preserve a repository of stories around food from migrant entrepreneurs in the food and restaurant services industry
• to use a digital platform for the collection of  «folk» data thus allowing  intimate stories of traditional practices and beliefs of migrants to be transmitted and accessed directly rather than through structured institutions
• to create an archive of stories that reveals living history and documents the subtle lines of social change
• to give voice to migrant stories and memories which are rarely documented formally.
• to provide an innovative framework to offer first-hand perspectives on a country’s immigration history.
• to provide a useful digital archive of folk heritage which will be beneficial to sociologists, urban anthropologists, and scholars in cultural studies as well researchers working on issues related to migration, tourism and food studies.

Bibliography

Collins, E. L.  “Of Kimchi and Coffee: Globalisation, Transnationalism and Familiarity in Culinary Consumption”, Social and Cultural Geography 9, 2008. pp. 151-169.

Emma-Jayne Abbots. “Approaches to Food and Migration: Rootedness, Being and Belonging”. In The Handbook of Food and Anthropology, J. Klein and J. Watson (eds), London: Bloomsbury, 2016, pp 115-132.

Hage, G. “At Home in the Entrails of the West: Multiculturalism, Ethnic Food and Migrant Home-Building’, Home/World: Space, Community and Marginality in

Sydney’s West, H. Grace, G. Hage, L. Johnson, J. Langsworth and M. Symonds (eds.). Annandale NSW: Pluto Press, 1997, pp. 99-153.

Meadows, Daniel. “Digital Storytelling: Research Based Practice in New Media,” Visual Communication 2.2 (2003), pp. 189-193.

Ravi, Srilata. “Cook Cook Hota Hai: Indian Cinema, Kitchen Culture and Diaspora.”  In: Hassam, Andrew (Editor); Paranjape, Makarand (Editor). Bollywood in Australia: Transnationalism & Cultural Production. Crawley, W.A.: UWA Publishing, 2010, pp. 105-120

Manekar, P. ‘“Indian Shopping”: India Grocery Stores and Transnational Configurations of Belonging.”In The Cultural Politics of Food and Eating: A Reader,

J.L. Watson and M. Caldwell (eds.). Malden MA: Blackwell, 2005, pp. 197-214.

Polk, Emily. “Folk Media Meets Digital Technology for Sustainable Social Change: A Case Study of the Center for Digital Storytelling”. Global Media Journal, Volume 10, Issue 17, 2010.http://www.globalmediajournal.com/open-access/folk-media-meets-digital-technology-for-sustainable-social-change-a-case-study-of-the-center-for-digital-storytelling.pdf

Interviews

La croisée, Radio-Canada (6 février 2020): Un projet albertain pour préserver le patrimoine culinaire. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/la-croisee/segments/entrevue/153887/cuisine-repas-communautes-culturelles-histoire-universite?fbclid=IwAR0NwXwzj7SrTZ9SqBr0mddJDiU-iVvQk9qc0i9eioRvAbqCmumClNHfen0 

Culinary Moves/Routes Culinaires  is a joint collaboration between Faculté Saint-Jean, the Kule Institute for Advanced Studies and the Arts Resource Centre of the University of Alberta. Contact: Dr. Srilata Ravi, Faculté Saint-Jean
culinary@ualberta.ca