Foodscapes

It is a bit challenging for me to sketch out a childhood kitchen as they were constantly changing, I can hardly remember the whole floor plan of a kitchen. I recal in small parts but they don't really connect. I never sat in the same place, the light never came from the same direction and the people sitting around the table changed a few times as well.

Eventually the kitchen became a place to get food and I spent very little time eating at the table.

Something I did notice however is that when there were a large number of people, we would make a point to all eat together, the fewer people there were the less we were inclined to eat together.

Propaganda

I think that any kraft or mccain or nestle product can be accused of propaganda as they are brands that try to market a whole chain of various products to get people to spend more of their money in the same place. Through advertisements and campaigns, promises are being fed to the audience and we fall for it. If the same kind of passion, funding and effort were put towards a better cause, we would all benefit from it.

Food related family photo

Something I’ve noticed that only comes out on special occasions in Croatia is a plate with an array of cheese and prosciutto. Although I’ve never lived there for more than one consecutive year, when I do visit, and even from childhood memories, I recall how important it was to have this plate out.

It wasn’t something put out every other day, it is usually to celebrate something or someone. I haven’t done the research to be able to say that this is something that’s been a cultural marker for some time now, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find that there is a connection to cheese and prosciutto being hard to acquire and that it shows wealth to be able to offer such delicatessen to a special visitor or to celebrate a family member.

Actually, prosciutto is quite expensive in Croatia (Split specifically, as I can’t say for the rest of the country), as I remember buying some from the market. Cheese and prosciutto was something I ate quite freely while in Croatia, not really following this rule of thumb. It was only until it was asked of us to find a food related family photo that I noticed this plate in two pictures on 2 occasions where my father and I visited family before leaving for Canada.

what would I eat on death row?

My very last meal would have to be quite spectacular, I feel it is difficult to say as I havenèt really tasted all that there is in the world to really decide.

The food experience I had this summer has definitely broadened this statement as I know how delicious food can actually be.

I don't often get to eat home cooked meals unless I make the time to try and make something myself. I am a far cry from even a moderately experienced amateur, but I can make simple meals. However they all do not measure up at all to the Italian cooking I tasted this summer along with the pleasant surprises of re-discovering Croatian food.

Eventually I think it would come down to comfort food, or soul food. Something that recalls a good memory. For me, at this point it would be that white wine I had in Rome which I can't remember the name of, a ricola and parmesan cheese salad, my grandfather's home made gnocchis covered in his special fish sauce, sour cherry syrup juice, fabrizio's marguerita pizza with chilly flakes, carbonated water and finally a slice of springtime tiramisu cake that was made for my birthday while I was in Acquapendente.

I guess what I'm saying is that it should be a banquet.

Analyze a flyer

Having worked at 2 largesupermarkets under the same company, I needed to know the organization of flyers to point out to customers what is in fact on special and what is not or how to read it.

Not all flyers are the same. Some flyers like that of the Loblaws supermarket put a lot of funding into their flyers and photograph their products very well and advertize them as being absolutely salivating. The flyer can soemtimes be a catalogue making it quite complicated.

Maxi's flyer on the other hand is very simple and straight forward, front page are weekly specials, inside and back are monthly specials.

I can't say whether or not there is a correlation with the flyers of a store and who comes to buy their produce, but I'm sure there is a small link.

Having worked in these two supermarkets I've noticed their differences even though they are both under Provigo.

While I was at Loblaws I noticed that there are quite a bit of celebrities who shop at the one I used to work at, namely Quebec celebrities who would sometimes cause a small ruckus amongst other shoppers, thus giving Loblaws a more high class feel. One christmas a band played carols in front of all of the cash registers serenading the customers as they shopped. Another time an Italian chef who was popular at the time (Chef Pasquale) on french television was invited to cook up a meal, an incredible amount of people showed up.

At maxi I haven't passed any celebrity, the prices are more affordable and the specials are frequent, in effect, it's the better place to shop to save money but it doesn't have the glitz that Loblaws gets to float around with.

It's a general statement but interesting to note anyway.

Antique Bakery

Watched a korean film called "Antique Bakery" based on a japanese manga of the same name.

It was filled with Rachel Ray-isms and more. This type of food sensuality is really everywhere.

Tracking food

How locavore am I?

Every trip to the supermarket makes me feel as though I am truly not a locavore. Oranges on special for 3,99$ are from Africa, rice noodles are from Thailand. The dried pasta is from Italy, but is it really?

It’s slightly easier to be more conscious about what I eat, when I only have to worry about what I’m eating, but since having to take care of my youngest brother, suddenly I’m faced with the burden of making sure he was eating well.

The easiest meal to make for the both of us is some form of pasta with steamed/boiled vegetables, sometimes some meat, a little olive oil and some salt. Add to that a nice bowl of salad with tomatoes, cucumber and peppers and I feel like I’ve made something good for him. However, when I try to think about where those ingredients came from specifically, I’m stumped.

Those frozen vegetables, where were they grown? The U.S. The salad wasn’t organic and I can’t tell if they were brought in from another country or from a Quebec farmer.

Even while I spent many years being a cashier through all of Cegep and some of University, I was so disconnected with the food I was holding in my hands, they all had a sequence of numbers I had to remember and that was better rewarded by my supervisors then if I knew what a passion fruit tasted like or where it came from. I used to get annoyed when people would ask me specific questions about the products in store, as if I were trained to know about every item in the store.

I once had to wear a sandwich board styled apron that said “You have a question” on the front and “I have an answer” on the back. I was completely embarrassed when I was faced with all sorts of questions I couldn’t answer.

A while ago as I was browsing through a few blogs I came upon either a designer or an artist who had photographed various fruits and vegetables that are known to come from different countries and attached to them where those stickers put on luggage to know where to and from they’re travelling. Except for the produce the information is about the energy needed to bring them to supermarkets and how many miles they travel, etc..

I haven’t been able to find it but hopefully I will eventually, it makes a very strong statement.

It’s important to think about where your food comes from, but we don’t because it’s easier not to. What kind of price do you need to pay for commodity?

Food in television

We often see eating as second nature and so don't pay much attention to food consciously we just know that we like it and that's that. So it's really surprising to suddenly have to pay attention and realize just how great a role food plays in our society and how many times it comes up while we're watching television or going to the movies.

In the last few years I've been watching less and less television but have been much more connected to my computer and watching shows, clips and movies on it. It's become much easier to do that and the world is literally at my fingertips.

However I don’t necessarily follow television series that are popular at the moment because I only have 4 channels so I am a bit limited. That doesn’t stop me from going over to my aunt’s house every once and while and watch the food network on her HDTV.

On the Internet I tend to look for interesting films and lately that has led to me foreign movies. As I think back to some of my favorite ones, the most memorable scenes in terms of moving the plot along or being very emotional, tend to revolve around food.

The easiest foreign movies to find have been Asian movies and I’m almost hooked on them you could say as the storylines are very inventive and capture emotion in a sincere way. Some of the ones I’ve enjoyed the most were Korean films whose genre could probably be described as romantic comedies but I feel there’s an added layer to what we know as Hollywood chick flicks.

What I’ve noticed is that in these Korean films there is always a scene where the main character and supporting character will go to a food stand (which are very prominent in South-Korea), eat bbq meat, vegetables and drink rice wine. These are usually the turnaround points of the movie or when you get to feel closer to the characters.

In comparison to the Hollywood films I’ve seen, I feel that the Asian films food is much more integrated in the plotline of the story, it isn’t a backdrop, a metaphor or product placement it acts as indications of a story moving along.

In a film like “My Sassy Girl” food plays a part every step of the way as opposed to other films where food is used as a comedy prop, for example.

Or even a show like “The City” or “The Hills” which are constructed reality tv shows where you don’t ever see the characters cooking at home, but instead eat out, while still never seeing them eat because the interest is in the drama that’s going on between the characters.

Similar to the film Chocolat, there is a Japanese movie which is completely based around the art of making Udon noodles. Watching the trailer makes you salivate and I believe it proves how our brains are directly connected to our stomachs all the time. We enjoy movies, television and books that talk about food because we can relate to this experience and connect them to a slew of emotions.

here is the trailer from for the movie titled "Udon"

And here is a clip of an American/Japanese film called "Ramen Girl" about a young American woman who follows her boyfriend to Tokyo only to be dumped by him leading her to find her way to a ramen noodle shop where she decides to train to become a chef.

Eating Out?

Whenever I think of times that I've gone to a restaurant to eat, I hardly recall it being solely about just that, eating. Yes it is a guiding factor, but I can just as easily eat at home. Eating at a restaurant seemed to me as a child and even now as something you do on special occasions to celebrate or commemorate something.

For this reason, the meals I've eaten at restaurants (always as a small or large group) are more memorable to me, including the situations surrounding that meal and who I ate with.

On the other hand, "eating out" also means eating food you haven't prepared and paying for it, which is what I've found myself doing much more frequently every since starting Cegep. Eating out was not a special occasion, it was a matter of commodity and time constraints. It was easier to buy a slice of pizza with a drink than to think about preparing a lunch before heading out for school.

In contrast to restaurants which are designed for people to spend a longer amount of time in them, consider numerous aspects of the decor. Fast Food places tend to be designed not for comfort but functionality. For example, in restaurants chairs are soft and sometimes large. In a Fast Food place they are usually small and hard.

These observations of the environment tend to affect the value and experience of the food being eating.

Specifically I have chosen a meal that I had in Florence with a few people who were also sharing a month long 6 credit drawing class in Italy this past summer.

It was the first time I was fully aware of the interior design of a restaurant and how it enhanced my eating experience (not to mention being in Italy was already enough to swoon me). Since then I have been much more observant of the environment around me as I eat and I see how it truly does have an effect.

The restaurant was called "Quanto Basta" and was a random find. During our first night in Florence we thought it a shame to waste the evening with unpacking and resting. We were equiped with a few suggestions from our teacher but gave up on our third try of finding one of the places listed and decided to go anywhere.

Luckily we landed on a (sort of pricey but affordable) goldmine!

When first entering, I had the impression that it was quite small and though it was a deli or pastry shop, a few steps further and the space suddenly opened up, now lookign like a fancy coffe shop with large white lounge chairs with striking pillows. At this point we were led by a waiter all dressed in black to the very back of the restaurant which looked more like the idea of a restaurant, however right in the middle of the classic tables an chairs was a high marble square table with high black chairs and right behind us was an open kitchen! We could see the chef at work!

Although I had absolutely no idea what I would eat or what it would taste like, I was salivating already. The menu was very simple and easy to read but the choice was difficult to make. With the waiter's reccomendation I chose the squid platter.

As we all waited for our plates we were gawking at the tableware, the lighting, the black and white framed movie screenshots on the wall, the polish constructivist poster in the kitchen, the crisp and white clothes of the 2 chefs behind us, the list goes on. Eventually the decor became an intruisic part of our conversation, the significance of how a restaurant is designed and how it can enhance an experience and render the food more enjoyable as well as the company and conversation.

When I received my plate, I had not even realized that time had gone by, I was completely immersed in my surroundings, in a way I was devouring the room with my eyes, there was so much to feed on. When I looked down I saw my food as a work of art such as I had been admiring the space. It became a sculptural element of the the environment. The food was familiar, I had eaten squid before and red and yellow peppers before, but when I took my first bite it was as though it was my first time ever tasting these ingredients.

I cannot say that the explosion of unknown flavours in my mouth was exclusively due to the talents of the chef, it was very difficult to pin point. The environment became a part of my meal as opposed to just a setting or backdrop, I can't help thinking it affected the way my meal tasted, although I know it my heart it was the chef's doing. I feel that the environment represented the degustation so well that it made it difficult to distinguish one from the other.

What was amazing to me is that with each bite I felt like I was taking a bite out of the room and because of my impression of it, my tasting experience was greatly affected in an unforgettable way.

I've also had some bad restaurant experiences in Italy (so few I think it was only one) but I don't only consider that the food itself wasn't to my taste but I recall certain aspects of the environment negatively.

It is undeniable that the two go hand in hand.

Edible Schoolyard

The topic of this week's prep is undeniably about the relationship children have with food. From the products they entice their parents to buy, which toys they choose to play with and what is being taught to them in school.

In the first article by Charlene Elliott ("Healthy food looks serious": How children interpret packaged food products.") There is a session-based statistical investigation as to how children of both genders between grades 1-6 understand the design of food packaging and to which degree "fun food" is a factor in choosing one product over another.

Based on this particular session with a restricted number of children, it was concluded that children see "healthy food" as being boring and plain and "junk food" as fun and colorful, sometimes stating that the mere fact that it is junk food is in itself the appeal.

We understand through this article that their point of view didn't sprout entirely on its own. Food companies have invested millions to "kidize" their products to make them "prettier" or more appealing to children therefore boosting their sales. This has led to a whole "fun food" culture that has invested in the market of processed and unhealthy foods which in most cases, children should avoid as their tastes develop early and tend to follow them as they grow, often leading them to make unhealthy food choices later on.

In opposition to this occurring trend, The Edible Schoolyard was established as a way to teach children, not only to eat healthy food, but food origins, plant life cycles, community values, and the pleasures of work (http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org/edible-schoolyard). In this way you could say that the Edible Schoolyard manages to make healthy food "fun" therefore the children enjoy it and aren't bored during the experience. The 6th, 7th and 8th graders of Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California, get to grow their own produce in their garden and then use them in kitchen classes to cook up delicious meals, and hopefully instill a good relationship with healthy food that will stay with them as they get older.

Reading this reminded me of my own Home Economy class (which to my knowledge doesn't exist anymore at my old school) in the 8th grade where the second half of the year focused on the kitchen and cooking. It was a large classroom with about 5 down-sized functioning kitchens and I hardly remember fruits and vegetables being included in our recipe book. There was a baked potato in tin foil but we smothered it in butter and bacon bits. We also learned how to bake an egg in the microwave and make marshmallow popcorn balls.

Looking back, I really enjoyed that class not only because of the cooking but because we were divided into small "families", each with a kitchen and a dining table. I truly think it would have been a great opportunity to learn such things that are being taught at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School thanks to the Edible School Garden, as that was a time just before true adolescence when we were still intruiged by what our teachers were telling us (generally speaking).

As opposed to those good efforts, food has crept its way into the toy industry since many years ago. Probably ever since a young girl began trying to imitate what her mother was doing in the kitchen.

I was watching the Canadian Antique Roadshow a while ago and one woman brought an authentic functioning miniature cast-iron kitchen set from the 19th century which belonged to her great grand mother, the Appraiser couldn't stop gushing at how you could actually "cook" with this toy along with the mother who probably owned a real-life similar set.

I had almost entirely forgotten about this fact as I decided to browse the online toy store of "Toys'r'us" which was my favourite (real) store as a child and quickly found food related toys, which were even divided into age groups for me.

The first result was a "Step2 Lifestyle PartyTime Kitchen" which was equipped with a non functioning stove and a variety of condiments. And a wall clock.

The second result was the most current version of the Easy Bake oven. This item struck a chord with me as I had owned its predecessor in the 90s as a child myself, enticed by the television commercial telling me I could bake my own cakes thanks to this marvel. This led to me looking up that particular commercial and to my surprise I found one going as far back as 1972. I soon remembered other such food toy products that existed (and still do) which allow children to cook or bake and the one common denominator is that it is all junk food; ice cream, cake, snow cones, etc.. Teaching children through play that junk food is fun and it's not bad for you, because it tastes good.

On a last note, although it is mostly understood that all cooking or food related toys are geard toward young girls, it is, but not exclusively, I managed to find a boy version of the Easy Bake oven, called the Quesy Bake Oven and there are a number of toys that appeal to both genders although usually they are geared toward girls. Which is a whole other topic onto itself.

1972 Easy Bake Oven commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpFjQoWMUoU

early 90s Easy Bake Oven commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtpWgecmmlA&NR=1

90s commercial of Queasy Bake Oven, (boys version):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCxbE85h7Gk&feature=related