WHY FOOD?: AN INVESTIGATION INTO PASSION AND INTEREST

A Muse Bouche | Jordan Fee

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As I close in on the end of my term as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Musings, I am beginning to reflect on just what it is about food that fascinates me. Over the course of the past two years, my thoughts and opinions on the relationship between food and museums have varied greatly. Now, at the end of my time in the Museum Studies program, I am struggling to understand how I might go on preaching about the social, political and educational value of food to groups of people who might not share the same degree of passion and interest.

When I began thinking about food and museums, it was mainly on a sensory level. While museums are generally defined by the act of looking – and in some cases, touching – I was fascinated by the concept of a multi-sensory museological experience, one that included senses like smell and taste. Local iSchool Professor Irina Miahalache’s book, Food and Museums, provided me with a great amount of reading material on this subject, and inspired me to consider how individuals outside of the museum, such as chefs and community members, could form new approaches for exhibition and interpretation. Reading about the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SOFAB) in New Orleans and the ElBulli Foundation in Spain, my eyes were opened to an entirely new mode of thinking.

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum (Source)

Following this initial fascination with multi-sensory museum experiences, I began to notice how the educational aspects of museums can, in some ways, mirror food industry. While working at my job at a local butcher-shop, I had unique interaction with some customers that made me realize that the meanings that we assign to objects in museums are often somewhat arbitrary, and how important it is to let visitors develop their own relationships with these objects without too much intervention.

A local butcher shop in Spain (Source)

Later, I began to consider how contemporary and historic cookbooks could be used as a means for companionship and understanding between individuals, which I would argue is also one of the core tenants of contemporary museology. Since beginning my internship in the Publications department at the Art Gallery of Ontario, I have thought more and more about how art books – those fancy codices that accompany museum exhibitions – resemble cook books in their format and content. Since then,  I have since learned about companies like Figure 1 Publishing, a firm based in Vancouver which designs cook books and art books exclusively.

If you’ve read some of the more recent articles that I’ve published on Musings, you’ll have seen that my focus has not necessarily been on how to get food into the museum. There are already many individuals working hard to accomplish this task. Rather, I have been trying to show how food and reflect all aspects of our culture, from generational knowledge, to intangible heritage.

Of course, this is not to say that I don’t want to see a more literal crossover between food and museums. In my opinion, some of the most interesting museum displays in the world are food-related, such as Julia Child’s kitchen at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum for American History. Furthermore, I believe that art can serve food in the way that it challenges our modes of perception and thinking about the world around us. 

Julia Childs Kitchen in the Smithsonian Museum of American History (Source)

Ultimately, I believe that food and museums are important to me because they point outwards. When I serve food to my friends, I am thinking not only of what is on a plate, but also about where this food came from, how it got to me, and who was affected by this process. This is something that I find myself doing whenever I am strolling around a museum; wondering where these objects came from, how they got there, and who might have played a part in this process. Unfortunately in both cases, the process may or may not be very clear, and sometimes, many individuals have been taken advantage of along the way. Still, I can’t help but seeing food and museums as vast networks of connections and relationships that extend across the globe.

While it may be cliché to say, many of us today are stuck in a culture of self-gratification. I, myself am implicated in this. However, I believe that both food and museums force us to look outwards, into the world around us, and understand that we form part of something larger. When you look at an object in a museum, try to think about all of the other objects that were not put on display, or that were sent to a different museum by a different collector. When you eat a piece of food, try to not only think about how it might taste, but also about all of the people who made it so. Focus not only on what is present, but also on what is absent. In this way, we can all become more empathetic towards both people and objects, which can only help us to become better professionals.

MAIZE AND MEXICAN HERITAGE: AN EVENING AT THE DEPANNEUR WITH IVÁN WADGYMAR

A Muse Bouche | Jordan Fee

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In the final weeks of 2019, just days before we all sunk into holiday-hibernation, a friend and I took a leisurely stroll to an unknown location. That is to say, my friend knew where we were going but I did not. The entire night had been set up as an end-of-semester surprise, and I had no serious expectations as to what we were getting into.

Around 6pm, we arrived at our destination: The Depanneur, which is located at 1033 College Street, just a few blocks west of Ossington Avenue. Lovingly referred to by patrons and owners as “The Dep”, this space is one-part kitchen, one-part restaurant, and one part-forum. As I write this article, I find it quite difficult to define just what is The Depanneur. Perhaps, it is best to simply refer to their website, where the space is described as “a place where interesting food things happen.”

Inside of The Depanneur (Source)

The event attended by my friend and I was part of a larger Table Talk series. For each of these events, the owner of the Depanneur, Len Senater, invites a local culinary personality to speak to guests about a topic that is of particular interest to them. The talk is then accompanied by a series of plates and dishes that reflect the ideas and themes found within the talk.

The personality invited to speak at this particular event was Iván Wadgymar, who is the owner of a tortelleria (ie. a place where tortillas are made) called Maizal. Originally a restaurant, Maizal has scaled down to become a one-stop shop for hand-made tortillas and totopos (think the best chips you’ve ever had). Although hard to find, the business is located on Ossington Avenue, in the kitchen space behind the bar Baby Huey. 

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#ActFast TUE Dec 3 — Table Talk: Iván Wadgymar on The Past and Future of Maize Maize, the staple grain of many pre-Colombian civilizations, is now one of the most widely cultivated crops on Earth. But along the way, so much of what made corn culturally central and sacred is under threat of being erased by the soulless commodity products flooding the global market. Artisanal producers like Iván Wadgymar are returning to the heritage varietals and traditional processing techniques, along with zero-waste agricultural practices. This produces a higher quality, more authentic, and far more delicious product that honours this precious gift of nature and culture. ----- Dinner by Len Senater This menu showcases the versatility of maize in Mexican cuisine Tostadas – crispy tortillas topped with squash, beans, chorizo (optional) & garnishes Pozole Verde – a pre-colombian soup of whole nixtamal corn (hominy) in a green chicken broth w/ tomatillos, green chiles, cilantro and pepitas Tamales Dulces – festive dessert tamales filled with dried fruit and garnished with cajeta caramel Chocolate Atole – a cornflour thickened beverage with vanilla and Mexican cacao. #GF #vegan options available ----- Doors open at 6pm, talk starts at 7pm Includes dinner and coffee or tea. $35 (includes HST) BOOK NOW https://thedepanneur.ca/event/table-talk-ivan-wadgymar-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-maize/ This Table Talk is presented in collaboration with Artery Every space is a stage. Artery lets anyone bring creative experiences to life, in places you may not expect. ----- Iván Wadgymar is a tortillero and molinero who runs Maizal, a tortilleria that evolved from a Mexican restaurant into an end-to-end producer of artisanal corn masa, tortillas & totopos. They grow heritage maize locally, nixtamalize it in traditional ways and produce products that seek to reconnect to centuries of cultural tradition and wisdom. ----- Every month The Depanneur invites a local food personality to talk about something that interests them while Dep founder Len Senater cooks dinner for everyone. Find out more on Table Talks at The Depanneur https://thedepanneur.ca/table-talk/

A post shared by Len Senater (@thedepanneur) on Nov 25, 2019 at 11:36am PST

Originally, hailing from Mexico, Wadgymar was careful to emphasize the importance of what is known as maize to Mexican culture and heritage. Although corn and maize are both varieties of the same species Zea Mays, the corn that we consume in North America today is generally prized for its high-sugar content, whereas maize is much more prized for its starch. This means that maize holds greater potential health benefits than corn, and that it can sustain humans for a longer period of time.

However, Wadgymar explained that one cannot simply eat maize like you would a piece of corn-on-the-cob. Instead, maize needs to be dried and then boiled in an alkaline solution (most commonly water and limestone). This solution breaks down the cellular structure of the corn and produces a thick porridge called nixtamal, which is highly nutritious in nature. This can in turn be used to make masa, which is the dough that can be made into those tortillas and totopos that I mentioned before.

A Traditional Tortelleria (Source)

According to Wadgymar, both nixtamal and masa have integral to the agri(cultural) history of Mexico for thousands and thousands of years. In fact, the process of nixtamalization (ie. the process through which dried maize is turned into nixtamal) has been dated back to 1500 B.C. This means that this process could have been just as important for pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican societies as it is to people like Wadgymar today.

In keeping with this extensive tradition, Wadgymar has travelled to Mexico to collect indigenous species of maize and brought them back to Canada to be cultivated here. Much of the maize grown for Wadgymar’s tortelleria is produced on a farm north of Toronto, and he is very careful to follow the steps taken by his predecessors to produce the highest quality masa possible. 

More recently, Wadgymar has also taken the opportunity to plant varieties of corn that are indigenous to North America, thereby constructing a bridge between the Mesoamerican cultures that relied on varieties of Zea Mays as a major food staple. He has even gone on to describe the food that he makes as “indigenous Mexican cuisine”, thereby embedding himself firmly in the traditions of his home country. 

When this talk began, I believed that I possessed a strong understanding of what the many varieties of corn represented in todays agricultural system. For many, corn is representative of some of the worst aspects of contemporary agriculture, from habitat destruction, to animal feed lots, to monocultures whose scale exceeds comprehension. However, Wadgymar’s talk revealed a completely different world, one that is defined by local communities, intangible cultural heritage and generational wisdom. In just a few short hours, Wadgymar flipped the script completely and showed each of the guests how maize can represent some of the strongest and most resilient aspects of food culture.

I would highly recommend that anyone reading this article check out the Depanneur’s website to see all of the exciting events that they have planned for the coming months (these are not limited to the Table Talk series!). Furthermore, if you want to taste the product of Wadgymar’s hard work, make sure to stop in at Maizal for some tortillas! I promise that you will not regret it.

Finally, if you’d like to find out what me and my friend ate on this wonderfully informative evening, follow this link: https://thedepanneur.ca/event/table-talk-ivan-wadgymar-on-the-past-present-and-future-of-maize/ to find out.

CULTURE(D): FOOD, MICROBIOLOGY AND INTANGIBLE HERITAGE

A Muse Bouche | Jordan Fee

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Since it has been a recurring topic in my past two articles, I thought it best to write my final piece for this semester on how some producers and distributors of food can function in similar ways to cultural institutions. However, while my last two articles dealt with the inherently human side of this question, my article today will be centred on something different, and quite microscopic: namely, bacteria.

One of the most popular topics in the world of food today is fermentation. While entire books have been written on this topic, fermentation can be defined simply as a biochemical process where certain compounds – sugars, in most cases – are broken down in an environment that is anaerobic (ie. free of oxygen). Fermentation is the process that produces alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer, but it is also integral to the production of dried meat products, as well as things like tofu, soya sauce and kombucha.

Chocolate is also fermented product! Here are some fermenting cocoa beans. (Source.)

So how exactly does the process of fermentation begin? Generally, there are two ways: one is to add what is known as starter culture to the mixture, which is essentially packaged bacteria that will help kickstart the process. The other, more traditional method is to let the mixture become inoculated with the natural yeasts and bacteria that exist in the air around us, which can be referred to as a low-intervention method. 

In either case, when the mixture is inoculated with these bacteria, it is referred to as being cultured. This open-access study, published in Frontiers in Microbiology, defines the distinction between two kinds of culture (ie. the one that we generally refer to in museums and the other microbial kind) as such:

"Every community in the world has distinct food culture including fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, symbolizing the heritage and socio-cultural aspects of the ethnicity. The word “culture” denotes food habits of ethnicity; another meaning for the same word “culture” is a cluster of microbial cells or inoculum, an essential biota for fermentation, often used in the microbiology."

These days, cultural institutions around the world are becoming more and more concerned with what is referred to as intangible cultural heritage. A fellow writer for A Muse Bouche wrote in 2018 about this topic in relation to the cultural practice of saving seeds, emphasizing how it sustains the traditions and memories of communities across the world. According to the website for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):

“Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.”

While this definition certainly covers a broad range of cultural practices, is it possible that this emphasis on intangible cultural heritage could be taken one step further, into the microscopic realm? Currently, UNESCO lists over 15 food-related practices on its list of intangible cultural heritage. While some, like the Washoku diet in Japan, are related to the spiritual beliefs of a particular culture, there are other traditions that require micro-biotic activity as well. Kimchi, for example, is a fermented cabbage product that is traditional to both North and South Korea. Each year, many communities come together in what is known as the Kimjang where kimchi is produced en masse in autumn to prepare for the harsh winter.

Portioning Kimchi at a Kimjang celebration in Seoul, South Korea. (Source.)

According to the report linked earlier, Kimchi has been found to contain up to 17 different kinds of bacteria, and several other kinds of naturally-occurring yeasts. Each of these microscopic organisms contributes to the development of flavour and texture in the kimchi, breaking down the contents into a sweet, spicy, funky and tangy product (can you tell that I like kimchi?)

In any case, what I find so fascinating about this tradition is that it relies on both kinds of culture. The participants in Kimjang help to form the macroscopic culture that we in museums know so well, while the bacteria form the microscopic culture that helps to produce these unique food products that help to define a particular country, region or town.

In a lecture published in 2015, David Chang – owner of the Momofuku restaurant group and star of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious – spoke on what he referred to as “microbial terroir”. The word terroir is used most commonly to describe the characteristics of wine, generally in relation to the soil that the grapevines are grown in. However, in this lecture, Chang makes the argument that this terroir – the unique set of geographic characteristics that determine the taste of foods around the world – exists on a scale that is invisible to the human eye.

While I won’t get too far into it, Chang highlights two different kinds of yeasts – aspergillus orzyae and pichia. He speaks about how the former (which is also known as koji) is traditionally used in Japan to create products like soya sauce. He then goes on to tell a story about how, in an attempt to inoculate a certain food product with koji, he actually ended up producing a different kind, the aforementioned pichia. This led to the realization that because he was in New York, "using New York ingredients in New York air", that the naturally occurring yeast would of course be different from the ones that occur naturally in places like Japan. This essentially means that each region in the world has its own microscopic culture that is unique. This variation is also reflected in the article published in Frontiers of Microbiology!

It it would of course be difficult to officially designate these yeasts and bacteria as manifestations of intangible heritage. Still, I think it is something very interesting to think about. Museums today are having to readjust their practices to allow for new modes of cultural expression, and I believe that these microscopic cultures should be included in that discussion, even if it is only theoretical.

To quote Stuart Hall: ““theory is always a detour on the way to something more important.”

"WHERE DOES THIS COME FROM?": PONDERING PROVENANCE IN THE GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN

A Muse Bouche | Jordan Fee

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Whether you’re a visitor seeing a new object or a collections assistant assessing a donation, there is one universal question being asked by all: where does this thing come from? Of course, the first question might be “What is this thing?”, but that is often quickly resolved by a two-second glance at the accompanying label or conditions report. The question of origin, on the other hand, is sometimes more difficult to answer. Questions of war, colonization, economic hardship, political and even familial disruption can all play a role in determining the provenance of an artefact, and in some cases the provenance of a particular object might be entirely unknown.

(Source)

I’ve been thinking lately about the ways in which restaurants resemble museums. I mentioned in one of my last article's that the theatricality of the restaurant can in some cases play out in a manner that is similar to the movement of visitors and staff through a museum. Increasingly, chefs and restauranteurs are also seeking ways to be more socially engaged with the communities that they serve, much like museums. Although it may not be a priority for every restaurant, social engagement is now part of what people serve, and who they serve it to.

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For the past few years we have had the priveledge of being a part of Pepperdine's Step Forward Volunteer Day; a day where students, staff, faculty, alumni and friends come together to engage with one another and to serve the community. On behalf of South LA and our community, thank you @pepperdine for all your hard work in weeding, aerating, watering trees and beautifying our walkways! Please check out all the great things they are doing https://buff.ly/2ZQRsDm⠀ .⠀ .⠀ .⠀ #withlovemarketandcafe #conamor #withlovefamily #community #communityprogram #communityspace #communityovercompetition #communityfirst #communitylove #comunidad #comunidadsaludable #dofoodjustice #freeclass #financialfreedom #financialliteracy #financetips #financegoals #finanzas #loveyourcommunity #nonprofit #shoplocal #socialenterprise #california #picounion #LosAngeles #usc #westadams #pepperdine #stepforwardday

A post shared by With Love Market & Café (@withlovela_) on Sep 12, 2019 at 8:47pm PDT

This notion of provenance is yet another way in which restaurants and museums resemble one another. The questions of where and how are becoming, in many people’s minds, equal to the question of what. While these questions are in no way new for museums or restaurants, they are occupying much larger areas of the public discourse surrounding both culture and food. Farmers markets serve as perfect examples of our obsession with food provenance, where each vendor has a specific origin story about their products. Furthermore, knowing that a restaurant serves local produce helps to justify the choices of a consumer, especially in these times, when every decision seems to be characterized by its impact on the planet.

Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington. (Source)

The provenance of food is oftentimes very difficult to ascertain. As in the case of some museums objects, food provenance can be spotty, and the origins of a particular food item may be somewhat difficult to track down. Furthermore, food fraud – where a low-cost item is intentionally mislabelled to increase its price – is quite common, especially when it comes to fish and other seafood. Due to an extremely complicated supply-chain, some foods are simply difficult to track.

These muddled supply-chains does not only apply to protein-based products like meat or fish. Other items of produce are routinely shipped around the world, often ending up right back where they started. Recently, I read an anecdote in a book titled Burn the Ice: The American Culinary Revolution and its End, where a chef from Oregon had mushrooms shipped from France, only to find out that they had actually been grown in Oregon. What’s more disheartening is that these confusing practices are often done intentionally.

Just a few days ago, Transparency International published a brief overview of corruption in the food supply chain, showing how companies practice general obscurantism in hopes of hiding the origins – and in some cases the biological make-up – of their products. The food chain is rife with shell companies, bribery and corrupted officials, often resulting in a low level of dependency when it comes to the average consumer. Throughout this chain, from beginning to end, people are being taken advantage of, much of the time at the benefit of massive, multinational producers.

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Today is #WorldFoodDay 🥑 . In a globalised world 🌎, food supply chains are often very long and many products travel halfway across the globe before they reach your dinner table. Along this chain, there are various corruption 😡 risks. This World Food Day, we take a look at the many ways #corruption affects this basic human necessity. . It starts at the very origin of food — land. 🌽 #Landcorruption has a huge impact on farming and thus on food security, especially of the communities living on and around the land in question. . But there are numerous corruption risks further down the food supply chain, too. The problem is secrecy. Unscrupulous people are often able to pass off products that aren’t what they say they are along complex supply chains that use 🕵️ shell companies. . Sometimes, food processing companies are able to operate outside the law simply because they are so big and influential, and are protected by their corrupt networks. . Corruption can affect the supply chain in many ways, and often impedes people’s access to proper food 🥕. Strong government institutions are a first step to avoid this, but integrity in global supply chains is the responsibility of private sector companies, too. . Together, they need to ensure that rules and regulations are kept and that information about business practices is made accessible. Transparency is the first step towards accountability and improvement. . Photo by Joao Marcelo Marques on Unsplash.

A post shared by Transparency International (@transparency_international) on Oct 16, 2019 at 9:07am PDT

Although food and agriculture are for-profit industries, I believe that they have just as much of a responsibility to provenance as non-profit institutions. Many people have a strong interest in where their food comes from, the food industry is much further behind than the museum sector. While it is far from complete, the conversation surrounding provenance is taking centre stage in many cultural institutions. Conversely, the notion of provenance in the food industry is mostly relegated to luxury products and fine-dining.

Unfortunately, the fact is that private companies are not held to the same standards as public-facing (and public-serving) institutions like museums. While some individuals, companies and governments are concerned with transparency in the food and agricultural sectors, the desire for clarity is not quite as universal. I would like to believe that the industries surrounding the production, distribution and consumption of food are as commendable as those surrounding the consumption of culture, but it is quite difficult to do so. Governments – and the individuals that comprise them – are often at the behest of massive corporations, many of which actively try to obscure and maintain global inequalities.

As you can probably tell, I am not one for blind optimism. However, writing this article has made me realize that, while provenance is important in both the museum and food sectors, it does not receive the same amount of attention in both. Even though many museums across the globe receive government funding, they are nevertheless seen as spaces for social and cultural reflection. They are hotbeds for questions. Furthermore, the public perception of museums maintains their responsibility towards transparency and social engagement. Restaurants and other food-related businesses are working to be more dependable, but there is still a long way to go.