I will be traveling to India for my Fall semester of 2015. During this trip I would like to look into the food of different regions and what it says about Indian culture. Growing up my father owned a natural and organic wholesale distribution company. This has influenced my life in being able to try a lot of different foods as well as have a concern for where they come from and how they affect one’s body.
One other aspect of this research that I do not know a lot about but would like to look into is the notion of Ayurvedic cooking. I have been interested in the concept of taste and how it is defined through one’s sense of themselves as well as what they eat I have a cookbook explaining how Indian cooking is based upon ancient Ayurvedic principles which are able to help people understand their physical body, even being able to trace diseases and illness through to their eating patterns. There is an element of healing which occurs within Indian cooking which I would possibly like to compare and contrast to the American diet as well.
As our group will be traveling across India this will allow me to be able to get a broader understanding of many different places across India as well as hopefully to be able to talk with people about their diets and possibly learn how to make a few dishes. I know that we will be staying with host families during part of our trip which will allow me to be able to learn from people living in India and observe their customs in regards to food.
Annotated bibliography
The Ayurvedic Cookbook
Morningstar, Amadea
1990 Lotus Press
The Ayurvedic Cookbook gives over 250 different recipes related towards nutrition and balance within one’s life. Food is related to one’s chakras as well as the current season. I feel that there is a disconnect between one’s food and themselves within Western culture, something that has been shifting towards a more conscious perspective but does not have the same historical and religious authority as it might in India. It will be interesting to compare and contrast what I learn from the recipes and general history of Ayurvedic cooking and be able to see how it plays out within Indian culture.
Physical Space, Social Space and Habitus
Bourdieu, P.
1995 University of Oslo: 7-22
I will use Bourdieu’s concept of habitus as something that is both creates and enforces culturally and symbolical interactions. These social norms are important to be able to separate into how one carries themselves through their daily lives as well as seen as structurally imposed. These dispositions are not fixed or static beliefs but instead constantly being reaffirmed or changed through different social encounters and situations. I hope to be able to connect this concept towards my beliefs on the culture of food in India as people are constantly shifting through one’s actions and behaviors while confronting social institutions and spaces. I do not have a lot of knowledge on the caste system but believe that it would be informative to look into how this system of segregation could be interrelated with concepts of food as well.