Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia

by Lucy M. Long

Overview

Ethnic American Food Today introduces readers to the myriad ethnic food cultures in the U.S. today. Entries are organized alphabetically by nation and present the background and history of each food culture along with explorations of the place of that food in mainstream American society today. Many of the entries draw upon ethnographic research and personal experience, giving insights into the meanings of various ethnic food traditions as well as into what, how, and why people of different ethnicities are actually eating today. The entries look at foodways—the network of activities surrounding food itself—as well as the beliefs and aesthetics surrounding that food, and the changes that have occurred over time and place. They also address stereotypes of that food culture and the culture’s influence on American eating habits and menus, describing foodways practices in both private and public contexts, such as restaurants, groceries, social organizations, and the contemporary world of culinary arts. Recipes of representative or iconic dishes are included. This timely two-volume encyclopedia addresses the complexity—and richness—of both ethnicity and food in America today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442227309
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	07/17/2015
Series:	Rowman & Littlefield Studies in Food and Gastronomy
Edition description:	2 Volumes
Pages:	760
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 10.30(h) x 2.20(d)

About the Author

Lucy M. Long is the author of Culinary Tourism (2004), Regional American Food Culture (2009), and numerous articles on foodways. She has a PhD in Folklore and Folklife (University of Pennsylvania 1995), an M.A. in Ethnomusicology (University of Maryland, 1985) and has worked in academia as well as in museums and local arts organizations. She has worked with food demonstrations at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival as well as other public programs and earned a certificate in Interpretation. She began developing food studies courses in the mid-1990s when she was teaching folklore and popular culture at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. She continued teaching food-related materials in departments of American Culture Studies, International Studies, and Tourism and Leisure, affirming the usefulness of food as a medium for exploring a variety of disciplines and acquiring critical thinking skills. She also established a non-profit Center for Food and Culture specifically to promote a deeper understanding of food as a significant domain of meaning-making experiences.

LUCY M. LONG is an Instructor in Internation Studies and American Cultures Studies at Bowling Green State University. She is the editor of Culinary Tourism: Eating and Otherness (2004) and has written on food and folklore.

Editorial Reviews

Food is much more than something edible—food encompasses memory, culture, tradition. This encyclopedia offers an overview of ethnic and immigrant food cultures found in contemporary mainstream American society. The entries in this work recognize and honor food as more than just nourishment for the body. More than 200 nations and cultures are represented across the two volumes, including Afghanistan, Amish, Central Asia, Cook Islands, Gypsy, Isle of Man, Puerto Rico, and Yemen. Each signed entry follows the same format, which includes the cultural background and brief immigration history of the associated ethnic group, a description of traditional 'foodways'—the activities surrounding the food or eating—and a discussion of the place of those foods in the current American food scene, including noted restaurants and chefs, as necessary. Recipes representing iconic foods are given in most entries. As would be expected, entries range in length (e.g., 1 page for Azerbaijan; 10 pages for Italy) and end with notes and selections for further reading. Navigational matter includes a list of nations by continent, a list of maps, and an index. There are no photographs. This would be an excellent addition to academic and larger public libraries, especially those where there is an interest in food and ethnic culture.” —Booklist

“Folklorist Long, founder and director of the Center for Food and Culture, has edited this two-volume encyclopedia that draws together approximately 260 essays from 124 contributors who represent a wide swath of disciplines, professions, and backgrounds. The work captures the depth and variety of multiethnic American foodways in a single text, contributing a focused perspective on the growing body of reference resources that have lately addressed the cultural connections of US food traditions. . . .Each volume's front matter includes a listing of entries arranged alphabetically and by geographic region. Entries are titled to reveal nationality or cultural identity, and each gives background information on the group, describes its associated foodways and place in American culture, and identifies notable restaurants and further readings (some listing multiple sources). Sections following discussion of foodways may also offer details on foodstuffs, procurement and preparation, representative recipes, meal systems, and holiday feasts. Contributors' treatments vary in length from a paragraph to multiple pages, reflecting the impact of a group's influence on American culture and the size of the body of related literature. This set will be a useful resource for students and those beginning research on the cultural history of food, not only those enrolled in culinary programs but also those from a range of social-science disciplines. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of students; general readers.” —Choice Reviews

“This 700-page set, written by over 120 contributors, explores the food from scores of countries—its origin, its arrival in America, its place and importance in today’s culture and society—from simple dining at home to ceremonial meals (holidays, weddings, etc.). An interesting element of these accounts is the adaptation of immigrants’ cooking to a new set of conditions, particularly the availability of ingredients. Articles range from two to nine pages, based on the importance of the particular cuisine within the entire foodways of the United States. Articles range from France and India to Cornwall and the Comoros Islands. Some entries may include recipes of typical dishes. Most articles include sources for further reading…. [T]his is a rich resource for anyone interested in a broad look at the culinary world in the United States. Public libraries, high school libraries, and college libraries should consider it for their collections.” —American Reference Books Annual

“[T]his is a useful and interesting encyclopedia. It will be a joy to food-lovers and a good starting point for many cultural researchers. It is suitable for the circulating collections in most public and many academic libraries.” —Reference Reviews

“Popular and academic audiences alike can use this collection, as the entries are informative and not encumbered by scholarly jargon. K-12 and college classrooms can also utilize this encyclopedia as a resource for research on food and culture, and learn how thoroughly ethnicity has been woven into American culture. . . . I recommend this text—it was informative and enjoyable to read. It gave me another way of looking at diverse narratives in terms of how traditions and forms of knowledge are produced and perpetuated. This volume reveals how food traditions are shaped by geography, culture, and factors such as immigration, colonization, types of cooking, ingredients, gender, effects of adaptation, and histories of prejudice and discrimination. Long’s collection is a mirror of American food culture.” —Western Folklore

“From Albanian rose-scented sherbet recipes to the gamey, flavorfulness of Ugandan tripe and sweetbreads casserole, Ethnic American Food Today demonstrates, in powerful detail, how migrant cuisines have shaped the way contemporary Americans view, prepare, and consume food and drink. This book is poised to be the definitive resource for readers interested in contemporary ethnic foodways in the United States. Capturing shifting American perspectives on diet and taste, the volume is both the most authoritative and the most current reference work on American ethnic cuisine, giving us a much-needed overview of a global world of food within a national context.” —Tulasi Srinivas, Emerson College; Author of the award winning Curried Cultures: Globalization, Food and South Asia

“Extraordinarily diverse and comprehensive, this encyclopedia provides expertly researched facts about the food culture of ethnic groups that have been well documented, as well as those about which little has been published previously. Authors of entries hail from multiple disciplines (history, folkloristics, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and others). They draw upon varied sources including their own ethnographic research and collaborations with members of ethnic groups. Authoritative, interesting, and accessible to experts and the general reader alike, entries provide background on each group’s immigration and then delve deeply into its foodways: the staples, resources, preparation of food with sample recipes, holiday and ritual meals, and the place of the group’s culinary practices in American culture evident in cookbooks, the mass media, and notable restaurants and chefs. This unique compendium is a must-have for anyone interested in the foods and food related traditions of ethnic groups in contemporary America.” —Michael Owen Jones, Professor Emeritus, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Folklore Studies Concentration, University of California, Los Angeles

“Lucy Long’s two-volume encyclopedia, Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia, and the companion cookbook, Ethnic American Cooking: Recipes for Living in a New World, represent an enormous amount of collaborative and multi-disciplinary work. The fascination and respect for the relationship of food and culture is clear on every page. Enthusiastic cooks and students of culture can immerse themselves in the wealth of details and insider knowledge collected from scholars and cooks around the world. . . . The books emphasize the connection of the head to the heart, and the minority to the majority, and throughout both texts Long never over-simplifies ethnicity and economic and social power struggles.” —Digest: A Journal of Foodways & Culture

From the Publisher

Folklorist Long, founder and director of the Center for Food and Culture, has edited this two-volume encyclopedia that draws together approximately 260 essays from 124 contributors who represent a wide swath of disciplines, professions, and backgrounds. The work captures the depth and variety of multiethnic American foodways in a single text, contributing a focused perspective on the growing body of reference resources that have lately addressed the cultural connections of US food traditions.. . .Each volume's front matter includes a listing of entries arranged alphabetically and by geographic region. Entries are titled to reveal nationality or cultural identity, and each gives background information on the group, describes its associated foodways and place in American culture, and identifies notable restaurants and further readings (some listing multiple sources). Sections following discussion of foodways may also offer details on foodstuffs, procurement and preparation, representative recipes, meal systems, and holiday feasts. Contributors' treatments vary in length from a paragraph to multiple pages, reflecting the impact of a group's influence on American culture and the size of the body of related literature. This set will be a useful resource for students and those beginning research on the cultural history of food, not only those enrolled in culinary programs but also those from a range of social-science disciplines. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of students; general readers.

Choice Reviews

Lucy Long’s two-volume encyclopedia, Ethnic American Food Today: A Cultural Encyclopedia, and the companion cookbook, Ethnic American Cooking: Recipes for Living in a New World, represent an enormous amount of collaborative and multi-disciplinary work. The fascination and respect for the relationship of food and culture is clear on every page. Enthusiastic cooks and students of culture can immerse themselves in the wealth of details and insider knowledge collected from scholars and cooks around the world.. .. The books emphasize the connection of the head to the heart, and the minority to the majority, and throughout both texts Long never over-simplifies ethnicity and economic and social power struggles.

Digest: A Journal of Foodways & Culture

[T]his is a useful and interesting encyclopedia. It will be a joy to food-lovers and a good starting point for many cultural researchers. It is suitable for the circulating collections in most public and many academic libraries.

Reference Reviews

This 700-page set, written by over 120 contributors, explores the food from scores of countries—its origin, its arrival in America, its place and importance in today’s culture and society—from simple dining at home to ceremonial meals (holidays, weddings, etc.). An interesting element of these accounts is the adaptation of immigrants’ cooking to a new set of conditions, particularly the availability of ingredients. Articles range from two to nine pages, based on the importance of the particular cuisine within the entire foodways of the United States. Articles range from France and India to Cornwall and the Comoros Islands. Some entries may include recipes of typical dishes. Most articles include sources for further reading…. [T]his is a rich resource for anyone interested in a broad look at the culinary world in the United States. Public libraries, high school libraries, and college libraries should consider it for their collections.

American Reference Books Annual

Food is much more than something edible—food encompasses memory, culture, tradition. This encyclopedia offers an overview of ethnic and immigrant food cultures found in contemporary mainstream American society. The entries in this work recognize and honor food as more than just nourishment for the body. More than 200 nations and cultures are represented across the two volumes, including Afghanistan, Amish, Central Asia, Cook Islands, Gypsy, Isle of Man, Puerto Rico, and Yemen. Each signed entry follows the same format, which includes the cultural background and brief immigration history of the associated ethnic group, a description of traditional 'foodways'—the activities surrounding the food or eating—and a discussion of the place of those foods in the current American food scene, including noted restaurants and chefs, as necessary. Recipes representing iconic foods are given in most entries. As would be expected, entries range in length (e.g., 1 page for Azerbaijan; 10 pages for Italy) and end with notes and selections for further reading. Navigational matter includes a list of nations by continent, a list of maps, and an index. There are no photographs. This would be an excellent addition to academic and larger public libraries, especially those where there is an interest in food and ethnic culture.

Booklist

Extraordinarily diverse and comprehensive, this encyclopedia provides expertly researched facts about the food culture of ethnic groups that have been well documented, as well as those about which little has been published previously. Authors of entries hail from multiple disciplines (history, folkloristics, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and others). They draw upon varied sources including their own ethnographic research and collaborations with members of ethnic groups. Authoritative, interesting, and accessible to experts and the general reader alike, entries provide background on each group’s immigration and then delve deeply into its foodways: the staples, resources, preparation of food with sample recipes, holiday and ritual meals, and the place of the group’s culinary practices in American culture evident in cookbooks, the mass media, and notable restaurants and chefs. This unique compendium is a must-have for anyone interested in the foods and food related traditions of ethnic groups in contemporary America.

Michael Owen Jones

Popular and academic audiences alike can use this collection, as the entries are informative and not encumbered by scholarly jargon. K-12 and college classrooms can also utilize this encyclopedia as a resource for research on food and culture, and learn how thoroughly ethnicity has been woven into American culture.. .. I recommend this text—it was informative and enjoyable to read. It gave me another way of looking at diverse narratives in terms of how traditions and forms of knowledge are produced and perpetuated. This volume reveals how food traditions are shaped by geography, culture, and factors such as immigration, colonization, types of cooking, ingredients, gender, effects of adaptation, and histories of prejudice and discrimination. Long’s collection is a mirror of American food culture.

Western Folklore

From Albanian rose-scented sherbet recipes to the gamey, flavorfulness of Ugandan tripe and sweetbreads casserole, Ethnic American Food Today demonstrates, in powerful detail, how migrant cuisines have shaped the way contemporary Americans view, prepare, and consume food and drink. This book is poised to be the definitive resource for readers interested in contemporary ethnic foodways in the United States. Capturing shifting American perspectives on diet and taste, the volume is both the most authoritative and the most current reference work on American ethnic cuisine, giving us a much-needed overview of a global world of food within a national context.

Tulasi Srinivas

Folklorist Long, founder and director of the Center for Food and Culture, has edited this two-volume encyclopedia that draws together approximately 260 essays from 124 contributors who represent a wide swath of disciplines, professions, and backgrounds. The work captures the depth and variety of multiethnic American foodways in a single text, contributing a focused perspective on the growing body of reference resources that have lately addressed the cultural connections of US food traditions.. . .Each volume's front matter includes a listing of entries arranged alphabetically and by geographic region. Entries are titled to reveal nationality or cultural identity, and each gives background information on the group, describes its associated foodways and place in American culture, and identifies notable restaurants and further readings (some listing multiple sources). Sections following discussion of foodways may also offer details on foodstuffs, procurement and preparation, representative recipes, meal systems, and holiday feasts. Contributors' treatments vary in length from a paragraph to multiple pages, reflecting the impact of a group's influence on American culture and the size of the body of related literature. This set will be a useful resource for students and those beginning research on the cultural history of food, not only those enrolled in culinary programs but also those from a range of social-science disciplines. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of students; general readers.

Choice

[T]his is a useful and interesting encyclopedia. It will be a joy to food-lovers and a good starting point for many cultural researchers. It is suitable for the circulating collections in most public and many academic libraries.

"American Reference Books Annual"

[T]his is a useful and interesting encyclopedia. It will be a joy to food-lovers and a good starting point for many cultural researchers. It is suitable for the circulating collections in most public and many academic libraries.

s

Food is much more than something edible—food encompasses memory, culture, tradition. This encyclopedia offers an overview of ethnic and immigrant food cultures found in contemporary mainstream American society. The entries in this work recognize and honor food as more than just nourishment for the body. More than 200 nations and cultures are represented across the two volumes, including Afghanistan, Amish, Central Asia, Cook Islands, Gypsy, Isle of Man, Puerto Rico, and Yemen. Each signed entry follows the same format, which includes the cultural background and brief immigration history of the associated ethnic group, a description of traditional 'foodways'—the activities surrounding the food or eating—and a discussion of the place of those foods in the current American food scene, including noted restaurants and chefs, as necessary. Recipes representing iconic foods are given in most entries. As would be expected, entries range in length (e.g., 1 page for Azerbaijan; 10 pages for Italy) and end with notes and selections for further reading. Navigational matter includes a list of nations by continent, a list of maps, and an index. There are no photographs. This would be an excellent addition to academic and larger public libraries, especially those where there is an interest in food and ethnic culture.

Booklist

Folklorist Long, founder and director of the Center for Food and Culture, has edited this two-volume encyclopedia that draws together approximately 260 essays from 124 contributors who represent a wide swath of disciplines, professions, and backgrounds. The work captures the depth and variety of multiethnic American foodways in a single text, contributing a focused perspective on the growing body of reference resources that have lately addressed the cultural connections of US food traditions. . . .Each volume's front matter includes a listing of entries arranged alphabetically and by geographic region. Entries are titled to reveal nationality or cultural identity, and each gives background information on the group, describes its associated foodways and place in American culture, and identifies notable restaurants and further readings (some listing multiple sources). Sections following discussion of foodways may also offer details on foodstuffs, procurement and preparation, representative recipes, meal systems, and holiday feasts. Contributors' treatments vary in length from a paragraph to multiple pages, reflecting the impact of a group's influence on American culture and the size of the body of related literature. This set will be a useful resource for students and those beginning research on the cultural history of food, not only those enrolled in culinary programs but also those from a range of social-science disciplines. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of students; general readers.

CHOICE