Planet on a Plate: Soul Food, Spring Rolls and Sofrito: Did you know that watermelon is native to Africa, its seeds brought to America woven into the hair of West African women? Or that the fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco by a Japanese immigrant to attract tourists to his tea house? And that tacos were transportable sustenance for Mexican silver miners? Join us as we bite into the origins and influences of Southern/Soul; Latin American and Asian food, and contemplate the question, “Is there a true American cuisine?” This course will broaden your understanding about how migration, immigration and slavery have and continue to influence what we eat. Our study will be fed by contemporary essays, podcasts, film and TV travel/food programs plus texts Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America and The Cuban Sandwich: A History in Layers. You will write daily reflective pieces throughout the course and the culminating research presentation is on the origins and influence of a single recipe. Yes, there will be food, plus the writing of messages to stuff into homemade fortune cookies.
- Teacher: Janet Keeler