Thursday, April 3, 2014

This week's compost




1.      Graduate Journal of Food Studies

Some of you will have already got this information so apologies for cross-posting. The Graduate Journal of Foods Studies is an international student-run and refereed journal dedicated to encouraging and promoting interdisciplinary food scholarship at the graduate level. Published bi-yearly in digital form, the journal is a space for promising scholars to showcase their exceptional academic research. The Graduate Journal of Food Studies hopes to foster dialogue and engender debate among students across the academic community. It features food-centric articles from diverse disciplines including, but not limited to: anthropology, history, sociology, cultural studies, gender studies, economics, art, politics, pedagogy, nutrition, philosophy, and religion.



2.      Lamington invented in New Zealand

‘Fresh analysis of a collection of 19th-century watercolours by the New Zealand landscape artist JR Smythe, shows that in one portrait, “Summer Pantry” dated 1888, a partially eaten Lamington cake is clearly visible on the counter of a cottage overlooking Wellington Harbour.’


3.      Some thoughts on French cuisine

‘Outsiders are often perplexed by the popularity of fast-food chains in France, but they are convenient: They’re open all the time, between traditional meal times, when other restaurants are closed. Service is fast and efficient. Restrooms are sparkling clean and offer free WiFi. (Which, anyone who lives in Paris knows, is a godsend when your Internet service goes out at home.) And, as other countries, they allow families who don’t have a lot of money, to have the experience of going out to eat.’

I do hope people don’t actually have to sit in the toilet to access WiFI in fast food chains in France.

Outside of that peculiarity, I found the discussion about what is French food of interest in the light of a comment made in a similar vein by one of the NYU students I hosted a couple of weeks ago. We had been to Cabramatta and Ashfield and in the reflection session at the end of the day she said she hadn’t expected to be eating a Vietnamese pork roll in Australia because that wasn’t what she had thought of as Australian food, but that later she thought, well, everyone is eating it, and it’s in Australia, so I guess it is Australian food. I found that a refreshing perspective on what makes for a national cuisine; the idea that once a food is popularised within a country outside of its communal roots it becomes a part of the national cuisine.


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