Growing up I experienced foods from various cultures but primarily ate American and Korean food. My mother made a lot of Korean dishes for dinner but for lunch I would often bring or even buy a typical American-style lunch. Therefore I wasn’t necessarily overwhelmed with only one type of cuisine and I enjoyed most foods because I loved eating. However, as I got older, I started to stay away from meaty products and favored vegetables and fruits. Freshman year of high school I stopped eating red meat but I still consumed chicken and seafood. After choosing not to eat red meats, a lot of food from the Korean diet was removed. This made things somewhat difficult for me because the rest of my family enjoyed red meats. I often just ate the rice with the vegetables, or my mom would make me something entirely different, but I am quite happy eating something as simple as rice, with butter and soy sauce. To my family, some of my Asian-American friends, and extended family this combination was very strange. I definitely had a diet reflective o the typical American pop culture. I enjoyed salads, garden burgers, pastas, wraps, etc. and when I moved out of my house it was really the only type of food I started eating because it was easier to have access to while living in the dorms. I still ate some Korean foods, especially when I went home but I don’t go crazy if I don’t have it for long periods of time, like some of my cousins and friends do. I get frightened by the mere thought of eating certain animals or animal parts so I tend to stay away from them. A lot of that may be due to the fact that I have grown up in a society where we do tend to refrain from eating things like pig’s feet. Yet, I understand that it is an important part of other cultures.
· Ishige, Naomichi. The history and culture of Japanese food. London: Kegan Paul, 2001.
Call number: GT2853.J3 I83 2001
Location: Haggard3-Books
· Roberts, J. A. G. China to Chinatown : Chinese food in the West. London: Reaktion, 2002.
Location: Haggard3-Books
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