Questions to keep in mind when you are writing the Comparison paper: What are they (the 2 texts) about? Did they originate

Beltran

Uriel Beltran

Professor De

Oct 16, 2018

Draft 1 Paper 2

The article “Grappling with race, Class, and Southern Foods: Great Debts of Pleasure” from NPRSalt and “Tex-Mex cooking: It’s not Mexican, and maybe that’s the point” by Pati Jinich both share important similarities. First, both articles focus on the roots and history of a certain type of cuisine and how they have evolved over time. Second, they recognize the current context and how immigration affected and continues to affect such cuisines, making them popular or “hipster.” Third, they both highlight the relevance and impact that culture has in the way that food is perceived and how they are unique in their own right. Lastly, both authors make an emphasis on how colonialism and its repercussions caused for distinct combinations of flavors to be possible.

Maria Godoy and Scot Simon interviewed John T. Edge, who is the author of The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South, Edge, about the evolution of “Southern food.” As mentioned by the authors, the influence of African-Americans in this cuisine dates back to the time when slavery was still permitted in the United States and was very much characteristic of the South. This influence evolved, allowing for rich flavors to transform the way that food was prepared and the ingredients that went along with it. Nowadays, it has been labelled as “comfort food,” which makes it attractive for many. Beyond being a matter of viewing as another “style” of food, it is a cultural one. Therefore, the relevant factors are the people who provided this cuisine with the flavor and tradition, which has kept essential elements and has incorporated more as diversity increased in the United States. Moreover, the arrival of colonialism to the Americas changed the way that Southern food would be forever. The different spices and crops that were brought into the country helped shape the future of Southern food.

On the other hand, Pati Jinich focuses on “Tex-Mex” food, which as the name suggests, is a fusion of Texan and Mexican food. The history of Tex-Mex is similar to that of the South not only in geographic terms, given that they both flourished in the United States, but also because of the great roles that colonialism and immigration played in their creation. In terms of the current context, it is true that this cuisine has increasingly incorporated more elements from Mexican traditional food, which again, signals the importance of “going back to the roots” and further understanding the history behind the dishes that people enjoy in their day to day. Furthermore, the author expresses how Tex-Mex is unique because of how it has found new ingredients and therefore flavors. In a sense, what the author tries to explain is that there is an inherent misunderstanding that it is Mexican food in Texas, while in reality, it is its own creation.