The Emergence of National Food : The Dynamics of Food and Nationalism

"What do deep fried mars bars, cod, and Bulgarian yoghurt have in common? Each have become symbolic foods with specific connotations, located to a very specific place and country. This book explores the role of food in society as a means of interrogating the concept of the nation-state and its sub-units, and reveals how the nation-state in its various disguises has been and is changing in response to accelerated globalisation. The chapters investigate various stages of national food: its birth, emergence, and decline, and why sometimes no national food emerges. By collecting and analysing a wide range of case studies from countries including Portugal, Mexico, the USA, Bulgaria, Scotland, and Israel, the book illustrates ways in which various social forces work together to shape social and political realities concerning food. The contributors, hailing from anthropology, history, sociology and political science, investigate the significance of specific food cultures, cuisines, dishes, and ingredients, and their association with national identity. In so doing, it becomes clearer how these two things interact, and demonstrates the scope and direction of the current study of food and nationalism."-- Provided by publisher Cover Half title Series page Title Copyrights Contents Notes on Contributors Introduction Atsuko Ichijo, Venetia Johannes, and Ronald Ranta Part One The “Template”: The “Orthodox” Emergence and Development of National Food 1 Salt Cod and the Making of a Portuguese National Cuisine José M. Sobral 2 The Cookbook in Mexico: A Founding Document of the Modern Nation Sarah Bak-Geller Corona 3 Potica: The Leavened Bread that Reinvented Slovenia Andreja Vezovnik and Ana Tominc 4 Bacillus Bulgaricus: The Breeding of National Pride Nevena Nancheva 5 Food and Nationalism in an Independent Ghana Brandi Simpson Miller Part Two Contemporary Accounts of the Emergence and Development of National Food 6 Signifying Poverty, Class, and Nation through Scottish Foods: From Haggis to Deep-Fried Mars Bars Joy Fraser and Christine Knight 7 Catalan Culinary Nationalism: A Contemporary Case Study Venetia Johannes 8 National Cuisine and Regional Identities in Costa Rica Mona Nikolić 9 Ethnicity, Class, and Nation in the Chilean Cuisine Isabel M. Aguilera Bornand Part Three Critical Accounts of National Food 10 Does Israeli Food Exist? The Multifaceted and Complex Making of a National Food Ronald Ranta and Claudia Raquel Prieto-Piastro 11 Obliterating or Reviving the Nonexisting Nation Liora Gvion 12 Nationalism, Culinary Coherence, and the Case of the United States: An Empirical or Conceptual Problem? Amy B. Trubek 13 The Canadian Cuisine Fallacy Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet 14 “They’re Always Eating Cuy”: Food Regionalism and Transnationalism in Ecuador and the Andes Emma-Jayne Abbots Conclusion Atsuko Ichijo, Venetia Johannes, and Ronald Ranta References Index Introduction / Atsuko Ichijo, Venetia Johannes, Ronald Ranta -- Salt cod and the making of a Portuguese national cuisine / José Sobral -- The cookbook in Mexico : a founding document of the modern nation / Sarah Bak-Geller Corona -- Potica : the leavened bread that reinvented Slovenia / Andreja Vezovnik and Ana Tominc -- Bacillus bulgaricus : the breeding of national pride / Nevena Nancheva -- Food and nationalism in an independent Ghana / Brandi Simpson Miller -- Signifying poverty, class, and nation through Scottish foods : from haggis to deep-fried mars bars / Joy Fraser and Christine Knight -- Catalan culinary nationalism : a contemporary case study / Venetia Johannes -- The construction of a national cuisine and its impact on regional cuisines as markers of identity in Costa Rica / Mona Nikolic -- Ethnicity, class and nation in the Chilean cuisine / Isabel M. Aguilera Bornand -- Does Israeli food exist? : the multifaceted and complex making of a national food / Ronald Ranta and Claudia Raquel Prieto-Piastro -- Obliterating or reviving the non-existing nation / Liora Gvion -- Nationalism, culinary coherence and the case of the United States : an empirical or conceptual problem? / Amy Trubek -- The Canadian cuisine fallacy / Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet -- They're always eating cuy : food regionalism and transnationalism in Ecuador and the Andes / Emma-Jayne Abbots -- Conclusion / Atsuko Ichijo, Venetia Johannes and Ronald Ranta