Mahroo Movahedi

SENSE OF BELONGING

I found myself in conversation with new foods and recipes mixed with Persian spices which I brought from Iran. Food as an important and unique site of cultural exchange between people from different cultures and geographical regions. how can we insert ourselves fully into the new food culture, and yet retain our own food taste? Migration influenced global food production, culinary traditions, eating habits, and gender dynamics. Food has also offered a way for migrants to maintain ties to their homelands. Recipes, imported products, and culinary rituals have provided imagined and real bonds between family and kin, and served as a symbol of comfort and stability during the economic, social, and political upheavals associated with migration. At the same time, immigrants also creatively modify their traditions as they interact with new ingredients, tastes, and market forces. How might these documents be examined together to hypothesize about effects on culinary traditions and eating practices?