Buettner, Jaffrey and the #1 Nani
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Buettner's essay does a strong job of exploring Indian cuisine as it progresses through the British culture — going from shunned and "stanky" to a commonplace occurrence all across Britain. My first reaction to this reading was, "Wow, even our dishes aren't safe." Somehow, the British not only colonize everywhere they go, but they colonize our cooking now, too. Buettner goes into detail, talking about how Indian cuisine in the Western world is far removed from anything served "authentically" in India. Furthermore, it is learned that the majority of these Indian restaurants are not even owned by Indians but rather by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. All of this represents an apparent commercialization of Indian cuisine to be set up just the way the West likes it again, but those from South Asia cannot really be blamed.
The real blame stems from a deeper issue earlier in Britain's history. As lascars and professionals began seeking money-making opportunities on the shores, they were forced to commodify their culture as a means to survive. In previous classes, we saw this through the lens of the Bengalis who went to America and made a living by upping their culture and selling something to the upper class that was an exaggerated version of the truth. While the culinary field isn't identical, some key patterns remain consistent across both situations. Buettner exemplifies the transition to Indian food becoming a staple as "the evolving dialectic between the rejection and embrace of the 'other.'"
When these restaurants began popping up, particularly in the lascar communities, as we previously discussed, they were a way for immigrants to offer other immigrants a piece of their home. They would come to the restaurants and sit for hours, soaking in the culture contrasting to the outside world. While this is how the restaurants began, they were in store for a significant transformation as British people started to find the taste tolerable. Buettner highlights a woman's story, saying she could not stand the "stank of curry." What was particularly interesting in her account was that she made it quite clear that her problems had nothing to do with the colour of her neighbour's skin but rather just the smell of the food. This is another theme that was mentioned in my previous post, where I talked about how very often the case is that the problems people have aren't about skin colour but rather about lifestyle choices, and anything other than what they deem acceptable has to be wrong.
Another interesting link that Buettner makes is the role of masculinity within Indian food as it became more popular. She talks about how young men thought of "going out for an Indian" as a ritual framed as a "boys' night out." The aspect that stands out is the similarities between the treatment of staff and the power dynamic between Britain and India. These boys coming into the restaurants would often ridicule the staff, attempting to assert dominance as staff wore proper "servile" uniforms. In turn, this made the restaurant experience even less authentic. What was once a way for South Asians to feel back at home now became a means for the British to reaffirm their superiority in a country's cuisine they had already colonized.
One final thing I want to point out, and this is due to the mention of Muslims owning many of these restaurants, is the extent to which generalization goes and how harmless it can be. After 9/11, there was a significant increase in racism towards Arabs, which quickly spread to all Muslims. From there, it naturally arrived to Pakistanis, and with such a long history, it extends to Indians as well. When I was thinking about this, I thought of the game "telephone," where racism continues to expand to no end and affects people who have no involvement whatsoever.
Back to the food, Mannur's Chapter 1 highlights Madhur Jaffrey's cookbook and, in a way, extends the conversation about South Asian food becoming Westernized. In Jaffrey's case, however, it plays the role of what is described as a "patriotic responsibility" to represent Indian food in a certain way to a Western audience while catering to the nostalgic Indian audience in the West. A portion of the reading speaks about her adapting her recipes to conform to Western kitchens, which is inevitable, and how doing things such as using the blender rather than a grinding stone is an example of "fabricating authenticity." Interestingly, despite being aware of the differences between her cooking and the cooking that happened back in India, she still considers it authentic because sticking to the methods is not the only way to achieve that.
Nani by Mr. Cardamom includes videos at the start of Madhur Jaffrey's cooking videos, and you can see how the first clip is seen outside with what looks like an attempt at a more authentic setting and a second clip in an industrial kitchen. It then shows Mr. Cardamom's mom following the instructions and cooking, and when she is interrupted, it dives into the song of her standing up for herself and her ways. While not directly related to cooking following that, she still shows a sense of pride and legacy in her family when she says things like, "85 years with my family on my back."