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- Convenors:
-
Roos Gerritsen
Ferne Edwards (City, University of London)
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- Format:
- Workshops
- Stream:
- Body, Affects, Senses, Emotions
- Location:
- Aula 2
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 16 April, -, -, -
Time zone: Europe/Madrid
Short Abstract:
The panel and workshop aim to explore the relationship between food and the senses in urban and peri-urban contexts, with a particular focus on how these food practices and senses have been reshaped in recent years through an increasing mobility of both people and produce.
Long Abstract:
Food settles in cities in novel ways that include gardens, health food shops and freegan movements to street food, food trucks and food delivery. These changes do not only produce new social configurations, they also affect sensorial experience of food and urban space. This panel aims to explore the relationship between changing urban food practices and the senses. We ask how city and food practices co-produce each other. How are social relations and distinctions reproduced and reshaped through introduced and diverse cooking styles? What role do the senses play in the production, preparation, and consumption of food as our cities evolve? How do particular foods evoke memories of home for new arrivals or provide a means of understanding 'the other' for people who stay put? How do sensorial aspects from community gardens, shared meals or ritual feasts foster new communities? In times of change, what food practices stay, go, or return revised and how are these remembered? How do smells and tastes of food accompany life and urban transitions?
Recognising the physicality of food, senses and space, the workshop takes to the streets on a walking tour to explore how food is being sensed in Santiago, visiting locations such as open air markets, cultural food stalls, and urban agricultural plots. Techniques of audio, photos and mapping will be employed to interrogate these connections to bring together afterwards as a collaborative media display in the form of a sensory mapping and 'cookbook.'
Maximum participants: 15
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 16 April, 2019, -Paper short abstract:
Through sonic ethnography among diverse individuals and food practices in urban spaces, I address sensorial aspects of community-making and ritualized behavior. Thicker description and sense of "being there" are possible through sensory ethnography and interdisciplinary methodological explorations.
Paper long abstract:
Food sounds can open up whole universes of meaning. I offer different experiences that can be individually interpreted: in solitary space, food sounds can be contextualized with memories of taste and smell, of events and places. In communal space, more often than not, conversations about and over food gain more importance than food itself, the respective sounds reflect social intercourse, everyday rhythms and societal norms and rituals.
In different locations in Massachusetts (daycares, cafés, restaurant and kitchen), I have observed meal preparation and sharing of meals. I have interpreted food in a temporal and spatial sequence, from young age to adulthood, from breakfast to dinner, transitioning in and out of urban food places, and offer a senseable difference between communal and solitary space in context with food. I was especially drawn to younger groups, among whom the joy of hearing oneself eat, the sensation of new tastes, bonding and rituals over food takes place at a more conscious level than it does for adults.
Through sonic ethnography (audio clips) among various age groups (from toddlers to adults) of culturally diverse individuals and their food practices in different spaces of the city, I address the question of sensorial aspects of community-making, bonding, ritualized behavior and expression over shared meals and food preparation. I propose that a thicker description and an enhanced sense of "being there" are possible through sensory ethnography and interdisciplinary methodological explorations that capture and convey an experience of such practices and spaces.
Paper short abstract:
Explores how honeybees and humans sense each other in the city, and how the senses can help harmonize urban human and nonhuman interactions.
Paper long abstract:
Jesús Manzano, president of the association, EcoColmena, recently stated: "Beekeeping in upcoming years will either be urban or there will be no beekeeping" (Jornada de Apicultura Urbana, Valencia, 19/10/2018). This statement highlights how humans need bees for pollination of food crops, while factors such as climate change, colony collapse, pest, disease and food insecurity, all support the need to introduce and integrate beekeeping within cities. Correspondingly, urban hobby beekeepers are increasing in number around the world whose close attention to a small numbers of hives using a range of methods provide socio-environmental co-benefits for humans and honeybee alike. However, heightened proximity can create conflict with the general public who often remain fearful of bee swarms and stings. Drawing on Ingold's concept of dwelling (Johnston 2008), I argue that bees in the city is not just about 'being' but about 'being with' (Bingham 2006: 492), where affect theory offers ways of 'being with' by sensing the 'other'. While much has been written in affect theory about taste, this paper seeks to explore how sound shapes our perceptions to overcome boundaries between humans and non-humans. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted with beekeepers in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, this paper explores the connections between humans and honeybees through sound that can bring back bees, food and nature within the city.
Paper short abstract:
The paper explore the relation between urban center, food and senses on the case of the town Maribor. At the center of the interest is the impact of the end of socialist era on the new food practices, tastes and smells of the town Maribor and their inclusion in the recent development of the city.
Paper long abstract:
Maribor lies at the junction of the Alpine and Pannonian worlds, near the Austrian border. This influenced the diet of its population, which was in the past dependent on agricultural products, fish and game from the rich natural environment. After the Second World War, new cooking styles, which resulted from significant social changes such as strong industrialization and migrations, affected the city's cuisine.
Increased interest in the culinary heritage of European cities prompted in 2016 the Slovenian Tourism Organization and the Higher School of Catering and Tourism in Maribor to organize research on typical food in the city. As a researcher of Maribor food culture, I have collected 35 typical recipes for meals and beverages which I presented in the book Taste of Maribor. The book not only presents recipes from the city but also their cultural and social contexts.
According to published recipes, city's top chefs prepared the dishes in a modern way, combining typical tastes and smells with contemporary gastronomy. Traditional Maribor dishes prepared in a contemporary manner offer not only an extraordinary culinary experience for the citizens, new arrivals and tourists, but evoke memories of home and also provide the means of understanding 'the other'. Interest in the smells and tastes of Maribor cuisine has evoked an innovative restaurant offer in the city, some new forms of acquainting people with the city's cuisine and increased interest in local foods at the Maribor food market.
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores the ways in which the growing presence of foodies (expats, snow birds, cultural tourists) has influenced the remaking of sensorial space of the city of Oaxaca (Southern Mexico), especially the presence, presentation and consumption of indigenous corn-based heritage foods.
Paper long abstract:
Characterized by high ethnic, cultural and bio diversity the state of Oaxaca is famous for its regional cuisine considered to be the most sophisticated in Mexico. In recent decades, due to advances of globalization and intensified processes of human mobility (migration, tourism, and consequently circulation of food items and imagery) it's capital city has become the site of booming (trans)national culinary tourism industry (numerous up-scale restaurants, mezcal distilleries, festivals, cooking classes and tours).
This paper is based on the results of an extended multi-sited fieldwork (sensorial and skill-based ethnography as well as food-related life stories) carried out between 2011 and 2017 in the city of Oaxaca and surrounding communities.
I focus on the sensorial aspects of gentrification of indigenous foods in the urban space. I scrutinize the ways in which the growing presence of foodies (expats, snow birds, cultural tourists) has influenced the remaking of sensorial space of the city of Oaxaca, especially the presence, presentation and consumption of indigenous corn-based heritage foods. I take up an example of local staple food - corn tortilla - not only still produced and consumed on daily basis in the region and the city itself but increasingly present in new spaces of consumption such as high-end restaurants. In these new establishments, technology of making tortilla from scratch and female indigenous cooks have been moved from the backstage of a kitchen to the front stage of a restaurant enabling the affluent consumers to "taste authentic Mexico" through multi-sensory dinning experience.
Paper short abstract:
Gardening is a physical as well as a sensual feeling which connects us with a web of life which contains all living beings. This presentation explores what I find unites most urban gardening activists: the pleasure and the joy to work with plants, to touch nature, and to put their hands in soil.
Paper long abstract:
Incredible Edibles (IE) is a social movement that began in Todmorden, England in 2008 and has since spread around the world. Activists involved in the movement reclaim empty public spaces in towns and city neighbourhoods, plant food, and share the harvest with others. The movement's motto is "If you eat, you're in!". This means anyone is welcome to dig up a few carrots, clip some basil, and pick a couple tomatoes, all the while leaving something for the next person and ensuring the plant replenishes. The larger aim of this movement is to build a resilient and more compassionate world through acting at the community level.
Through ethnographic research for my doctoral thesis, I follow IE activists as they spread soil, plant seedlings, and tend to public gardens in Montreal. Echoing Jahnke (2010) who worked with guerrilla gardeners across Europe, this paper proposes an exploration into what I find unites most IE activists: the pleasure and the joy to work with plants, to touch nature, and to put their hands in the soil. Gardening is a physical as well as a sensual feeling which connects (or perhaps, for some, reconnects) participants with new communities, with their urban surroundings, and with a web of life which contains all living beings. Planting food for others to consume is a symbolic act which raises awareness about personal and collective transitions, allows us to open a discussion about issues of justice, ecology, politics, and forces us to question our unbalanced power and resource distribution.
Paper short abstract:
Taking Donostia as an ethnographic case, this paper addresses the impact of tourism on urban food habits in the last decade. It also questions the processes of patrimonialization led both by local entrepreneurs and institutions, pointing out the sensorial experience in shared food consumption.
Paper long abstract:
Since the 19th century, the Basque Country has attracted both for French and Spanish elites. Today, culinary tourism has become one of the main strongholds of this attraction, targeting people from all parts of the world. In the present post conflict context, Basque food culture has trespassed frontiers and Basque cuisine has become a major commodity both for identity purposes and tourism development. The city of Donostia proudly boasts to hold the highest rate of Michelin star per km2 in the world. The tourist affluence has introduced significant changes in the way food is consumed, sold and experienced. The 'pintxo' culture -small one-bite delicacies traditionally consumed in bars in bar-hoping routes- is a good example of deep transformations of the urban scene. The recent introduction of 'pintxopote' has radically transformed local habits, definitely taking food consumption to the street and introducing new forms of sociability, Taking Donostia as an ethnographic case, this paper addresses the impact of tourism on urban food habits in the last decade. It also questions the processes of patrimonialization led both by local entrepreneurs and institutions, pointing out the sensorial experience in shared food consumption.
Paper short abstract:
I explore what it means to look at new urban food practices in terms of the senses and pleasure instead of sustainability. This paper is based on research in South India, in which I use multimodal methodologies to investigate how pleasure and worries cultivate notions of taste, health and pleasure.
Paper long abstract:
In this paper I explore what it means to look at new urban food practices not in terms of worries around sustainability per se but in terms of the senses and pleasure. This paper is based on my research project in South India, in which I investigate new food practices, which are often framed within notions of sustainability or worries about the environment. Instead of suggesting that it is one or the other, I argue in this paper that we must see the worries and pleasures as entangled, mutually creating the practices around new kinds of food in the city. In my research I use multimodal methodologies to investigate how these entanglements cultivate notions of taste, health and pleasure.
Paper short abstract:
This paper combines ongoing ethnographic fieldwork in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and interviews with residents to examine the idea of palate particular to the city. As Guadalajara grows, and food choices change, what happens to the flavors unique to the city?
Paper long abstract:
How does a city taste? For the past year, I have served on the citizens' advisory board for the weekly food section of one the major newspapers in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. The advisory board critiques each week's issue, offers suggestions for stories, and tips about new restaurants and other food-related businesses and events. Frequently, discussion turns to changes in local foodscapes: aromas, tastes, and textures remembered and no longer available, and the introduction of new culinary offerings and flavors, some more welcome than others. Many of the participants identify a particular "paladar tapatio," a palate specific to Tapatios, as natives of Guadalajara are called.
Based on interviews and ongoing ethnographic fieldwork begun in 2016, I explore the notion of the "paladar tapatio." Guadalajara is Mexico's second largest city; between 1990 and 2017, the population grew from three to five million. It receives migrants from other parts of the state and country, and is also home to many international businesses. The centrally located neighborhood in which I live is heralded for its traditional market, taquerías, and restaurants; it is also home to a pho restaurant, multiple sushi outlets, pizza franchises, and stores stocking kombucha and quinoa. As choice has increased, what changes, if any, do residents perceive in their own food-related practices? What connections do they make between shifts in food preferences and the changing flavor of the city?
Paper short abstract:
Palestinian home-food restaurants in Israel are multi-sensory socio-political spaces that on the one hand contain messages of homeliness and intimacy, while on the other hand messages of Palestinian nationalism that sometimes divide.
Paper long abstract:
One of the most well-known phenomena in Israel is the visit of Israeli Jews to restaurants in Palestinian villages within Israel (20% of Israel's citizens are Palestinian). In the proposed paper I argue that the Israeli-Palestinian restaurant provides a multi-sensory experience that contains contradictory socio-political messages. I will demonstrate how the messages conveyed through flavors and odors of the food are also reflected through the visual aspects of the restaurant - the design and the images on the wall.
Allen Shelton (1990) argues that the restaurant space is similar to a theater where tastes, words and objects turn to codes of social structure. Pierre Bourdieu (1970) examines the reciprocal relations between private and public space. He argues that sociopolitical systems are replicated into the home; he suggests examining the connection between the design of the domestic space and the culture outside of it. In his view, a critical analysis of objects and images at home may give a glimpse into the array of power relations, both in the private and public spheres.
I found that Palestinian home-food restaurants in Israel are multi-sensory socio-political spaces that on the one hand contain messages of homeliness and intimacy, while on the other hand messages of Palestinian nationalism that sometimes divide. These messages can be passed on to the Jewish diners by the Palestinian restaurateurs due to the unique characteristics of food. The discussion is based on findings from fieldwork conducted on 2013-2018 in two restaurants in a small Palestinian community in northern Israel.