Dr. Afsana: Are We Holding On To The Deep Roots of Our Own Food Traditions?

Our Diverse- Yet Constricted Traditional Cuisine Roots.

Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian food can be found in many places throughout the world, particularly in the United States. In fact, you probably already tasted Bangladeshi food, and don't even know it! Maybe you stumbled upon some Bengali food in an Indian restaurant and didn't perceive it to be from this country. Apparently, the vast majority, about 95%, Indian restaurants are owned by Bengalis- according to New York Times.  That being said, personally, I feel as if my Bengali food culture and traditions are proudly quite strong and definitely is upheld, at least in small Bengali communities and families, despite being undermined by the popular ethnic food cultures.

Yet surprisingly, the same cannot be said about general Modern American citizens. I can't speak for everybody, but from personal experiences and from daily sights of Americans and the food they eat, I barely see a dish that I do not know that is international or is not a fast food product. In fact, do you see many restaurants that cling to traditional cuisine dishes excluding those of Asian and Hispanic nationality? Thus, I believe that in general, modern Americans do not have strong food traditions, while some minority cultures in fact hold on to theirs, coming from different nationalities.

Bangladeshi Cuisine

    

Bengali Lamb Curry

Sorse Bata Ilishe Mash

My family is of Bangladeshi descent  and we are sub- countries of India. Though, some of our foods are similar in appearance and taste to India, after our independence from Pakistan in 1972, and despite the history of British colonization, we have created a new whole distinguishable line of Bengali cuisine and an array of Bengali dish. We inherited it with little changes throughout the decades. Our cuisine consists of many dishes such as those shown in the pictures ( though of course, not limited too)

Egg Fried Rice

Roshmalai ( A traditional sweet)

Chingri Malai curry

And of course, Biriyani!

Bangladeshi Agriculture- Its Impact on Food Traditions

In Bangladesh, even to this day, we locally raise our crops and eat them by our own hands. Yes, there are restaurants and markets, however Bengalis usually go there for special occasions or if they live in the city (like how we live in N.Y). Those like my parents, whose mother homeland consists of their own small villages;

An example of my mother's or dad's village.

have their own farms and ponds, each to their own family.
These villages or lands like how many Americans own acres of land, are very special and traditional for us to maintain and keep. Unless in dire circumstances, we never usually sell them, just past them down generation to generation. Thus, many of our food cultures and traditions are passed down generation to generation also. We eat with our right hands, use our own utensils to cook, and eat on a floor mat rather than tables to maintain this Bengali culture. On the topic of our agricultural aspects; on our ponds, swim many fish that we hunt and gather to eat such as salmon, cat fish, zebrafish, carps, garfish, and much, much more. We believe that those caught from our own ponds and rivers are the most delicious, with no chemicals, preservatives, or pesticides to harm it.  On our farms, we have many cattle such as cows, goats, chickens, and lambs. We also grow crops such as rice and wheat and have our own gardens and plants. Because of these environments my family and many others grew in, we know most of our traditional roots and preserve them in order to sustain and enrich our own culture.


My Personal Traditional Roots

Do I hold on to my traditional food roots? Absolutely. Sometimes it's not even a sign of patriotism to my own country, or even pride. I always ate traditional foods at home with my family from what I can remember, and even when I go to school, the lunch that I bring is usually Bengali food. However, my family has adopted American food as well, and sometimes we combine the both, to make new delicious recipes! Nonetheless, I find Bengali food more delicious than fast foods or those at some restaurants since it is in most circumstances healthier, and  I have a very sensitive stomach so I usually can have stomach aches when eating foods from those vendors. Plus, the added unique spices and flavoring to our foods cannot be tasted in other cultures, and is truly mouth-savoring!


Have Americans Lost Their Food Traditions, as Micheal Pollan Said?

This is a very hard question to answer. Mostly because, there is no right answer and every individual is different to their connections with traditional cuisine. I, my family, and many Bengali communities have upheld our food traditions and cultures, but I don't know about others. And yeah, we're Americans too (I was born here).  Not only Bengalis, but many Chinese, and Hispanics have kept their traditions at hand too. I mean the proof, is all around us! Go to Chinatown, or a Mexican Restaurant- they will be thriving with rich, delicious cultural foods.

Though, on the other hand,  many Americans do not keep their food traditions for a number of reasons. They go to fast food restaurants or delis because either they enjoy those food better, money reasons, or because they don't have time to cook.  I don't blame them, I have to do that sometimes too. At the end of the day, your situation and your beliefs can answer this question.

Furthermore, on those against this saying we have lost food tradition, I can understand their viewpoint also. As Michael Pollan says, "In the past, people knew about food because they grew it themselves. They learned about food from their parents or grandparents (like me!). Modern Americans don't have strong food traditions. Instead we have a dozen different "experts" who give us lots of different advice about what to eat and what not to eat." This is a very valid perspective. We take advice from doctors, nutritionists, and secondary sources about what to eat or simply read a label to choose an appetite. We don't really rely on our heritage, or food culture to decide what's our next meal.

As America is developing, our food choices are changing also. As the economy is becoming tougher, as land is being seized, and as time is being spent too fast, we don't have time to even think about where our own local foods come from, nonetheless focusing on our own food traditions. Environment is a major actor in our food choices- so is availability.  It's true on both ends that some Americans keep their roots, while other sheds them off. At the end of the day though, I believe we should keep our food traditions while having a healthy balance of adopting new ones too. This can lead for us to have a closer relationship with nature, create more diversity, and bind us all together in ways we thought would be unimaginable and improbable.  The author of the famous series, Lord of the Rings once said, “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." - J.R.R Tolkien. And I guess it would, if you really thought about it.