Food and Culture: A Reader by Carole Counihan & Penny van Esterik

Author:Carole Counihan & Penny van Esterik
Language: eng
Format: azw3, mobi, epub
Tags: Sociology, Social Science, Cooking, General, Anthropology, Customs & Traditions, Agriculture & Food
ISBN: 0415521033
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2012-12-07T00:00:00+00:00

Figure 21.1 Georgia Vourneli.

Figure 21.2 Pouring oil into the flour hole.

Figure 21.3 Measuring the vinegar.

Figure 21.4 Rolling the Phyllo.

Michael: “How do you know when the Phyllo is done?”

Georgia: “When it happens, not worry, I can tell.”

Michael: “It is the thinness...”

Georgia: “not worry, I know. If I had my own roller, the dough would be better.

Michael: “How do you know if the Phyllo is thin enough?”

Georgia: “You can tell. You can feel that it is right.”

Georgia complains that she does not have her own rolling pin. And yet the rolling pin she uses is the same “traditional” type as the one she has at home. A conventional, “modern” rolling pin (i.e., the ultra-smooth model with low-friction ball bearings, and a larger, heavier dowel) is eschewed in this case for a smooth stick, which allows one to feel every nuance of the rolling action and its effect on the elasticity of the dough. In contrast the “modern” rolling pin construction disconnects the cook from the dough by being designed to produce uniform strokes. The “traditional” type of rolling pin allows Georgia once again to “feel” when the dough is right (without being able to verbalize the process), since this type of roller is once again a simple extension of the hands, not a tool meant to achieve the rolling process with minimal human effort. At one point she cast her eyes around her son’s apartment, and her gaze fell on his wooden-handled broom. Deciding that this was the right width for the task, she asked her son to cut up the broom to create a proper rolling pin. Once again, improvisation, the importance of responding to the problem of the moment rather than executing a preestablished plan, seems to be a thread running through Georgia’s cooking practices and her explicit philosophy, where tradition isn’t static, but rather constantly adaptable.9 Clearly Georgia illustrates many aspects of the relationship to tool use described by Ingold, in which tools of production simply extend the body and the senses into the environment. Georgia’s case also shows that such practices can exist alongside a self-conscious modernity that characterizes Georgia’s relationship to other aspects of her life, such as home decoration and female body-image. In part this may reflect the fact that contemporary Greek discourse on food, reflecting perhaps global trends, places a high value on the “authentic” (see, for example, Gefou-Madianou 1999; Wilk 2006).

Jane Adams also learned to cook from her mother. But, unlike Georgia, who did not encounter any of the modernizing discourses discussed above, Jane also learned to cook in 4-H classes, where they would learn to follow recipes and create menus. Jane notes, “My mother was very modern and I learned from her the use of measurements. She would convert recipes she did by ‘feel’ into measurements: V tsp. thyme, x h tsp. oregano, etc. And she was a stickler about using level measurements for cakes and other similar baked goods.” Jane also notes that since her mother was working outside of the home,

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