LART-405: Traditional Foodways, Culinary Customs, and Ingredients of Asia

This course provides an introduction to primary historical documents, historiographical analysis, and literary texts related to Asia's contribution to world cuisine. In the various contexts of the build-up of ethnic identity, colonialism, the birth of nationalism, and de-colonization in different geographical regions, we will follow the history of ingredients, culinary practices, and the changes of trade routes that were related to food systems, from the Paleolithic to Modernity. At a macro level, the foodways will be followed along past and present migratory patterns, and across borders between nation-states, religious communities, and conflict areas. We will also make an inquiry into the symbolism of food in the context of the domestic space, and try to analyze family patterns related to the acquisition, shopping and storage, preparation, consumption, and disposal of food in a domestic setting at different stages of history. Apart from immersion trips to Southeast Asian countries, we will visit museums and markets to connect past theories and symbols to present techniques, behavioral patterns, and representations related to food.