Rotten tomatoes, rotten reubens

I peeked through the bathroom window as my sister ran across the yard, shrieking, with a sparkler in hand. A blur of blue and red. I glanced back down at the toilet bowl feeling queasy as I stared at the vegetable soup...for the second time today. Would I eat again? Crackers, Gatorade, broth, and tea. This is my prescription after my diagnosis, "salmonella."

"Salmonella? I never ate salmon", my 10-year-old self exclaimed.

 As the doctor explained the causes of salmonella I retraced my food journeys and landed back in a small sandwich shop in Tampa, Florida. The smell of melted cheese, deli meat, and warm bread permeated the air. I sat in a hard, wooden chair as I stared at the thousand island dressing cloaked the pink corned beef. The Reuben. My mouth watered and my skin tingled. I knew the restaurant looked dirty and the meat smelled bad. I may have even seen a rat scurry across the floor.

With a a wave of nausea and unsound judgment, I pegged the culprit! I promised myself I would never eat a Reuben sandwich again. 

The reuben

The problem with 'bad' food

This foul food experience is one many can relate to recalling new, unfamiliar, and sometimes painful food memories. It is during events like this where we may ask,

"Who prepared this ? What about food safety? Where was it invented?"

By searching for the answer to these questions I target much more than the tainted Reuben itself, but human beings of various demographics, the origin food is consumed and produced, and food history. In other words, I disconnect from these cultural variables and the people involved to limit my future vulnerability.

As humans, this is natural. We fear the unknown, especially when the unknown has the potential to hurt or even kill us. The most common and intimate way we expose ourselves to this vulnerability is by eating food prepared by others. We consume food along with race, gender, religion, age, socioeconomic status, and other social components of those nourishing us within a particular environment.

Victory over social constructions

Samurai Gourmet

Samurai Gourmet, a Netflix original series, is a Japanese food comedy about Takeshi Kashumi's restaurant food adventures. Episode 2, The Demoness's Ramen, highlights a similar story of disgust and presents the notion of "eating the other."
Takeshi's alter ego, a samurai warrior, conquers these restaurant food adventures resulting in philosophical revelations. We also have our own inner samurai that we must train to overcome our own cultural incompetencies and therefore our food insecurities. If not, our previous experiences segregate ourselves from our future understanding of the people, history, and origin of our food.

My bout with salmonella and Samurai Gourmet teach us 2 things:

•  What appears physically 'normal' affects our taste and willingness to try it or to try it again. In The Demoness's Ramen, Takeshi searches for a ramen lunch in Japan, but enters a vacant Chinese restaurant after all the popular Japanese restaurants are busy. This episode depicts Takeshi's cultural anxieties about Chinese culture including their hygiene, dress, food preparation, and ability to perfect ramen. 

As Takeshi touches the sticky salt shaker, he thinks, "There is always a reason for a restaurant to be this empty."

Although food safety is crucial, our minds are tainted by the assumptions that certain groups and preparation methods are unsanitary. We hear stories, we see pictures, and granted some of which may be true. However, our readiness to translate our disgust for food to our disgust with others is problematic.

• What is authentic cuisine? Does authentic mean food origin or most popular recipe? Most popular recipe to whom? America, France, Australia?? To what social groups? It is arguable that all foods and no foods are authentic. What might be authentic to one person is not authentic to another, therefore our expectations of food are always shaped and recreated to expand our cultural palate.

By considering these 2 points, we will accept food in a way that embraces its uniqueness and those who create it. May we strive to respectfully learn and expand beyond social norms using food as the delicious medium.

Resources and related articles here: 

• Black Looks: Race and Representation, Ch. 2- Eating the Other by Bell Hooks
• Savoring Disgust: The Foul and Fair in Aesthetics, Chapter 10-Delightful, Delicious, Disgusting by Carolyn Korsmeyer
• Samurai Gourmet, Episode 2-The Demoness's Ramen by Netflix