Exotic Food Kick, Er, Kitsch

Have you noticed that food and food preparation is becoming, well, kitsch?
I know we all have mixed feelings about this new
cultural development, and I do realize that something must be done about
obesity; no one can live productively on fastfood alone--
so I've heard a billion-gazillion times in the past 2 months.

However, I am becoming more and more interested
in how "we" talk about food(s).
What kinds of foods do we talk about eating? or making?
Which foods do we proudly proclaim/ashamedly hide?
Which foods hold a cultural "coding" of, frankly, class?
How do we casually use food to create social hierarchies?

Ok, so I am having trouble expressing this fuzzy thought,
and I know the way food works in culture,
particularly the way food is used as an indicator of social status,
is nothing really "new," but I can't help feeling a bit mashed

over the way "tater tots" are bashed
in the film _Napoleon Dynomite_.
The mise-en-scene of this film is ripe with allusions to _Gilbert Grape_ . . .
and the mid-western culture of lower-middle class situations.
What does that suggest of people who, gulp, do occasionally eat such foods?

Although I appreciated the establishing sequence of table-top delicacies
as a commentary on the film itself,
dare I say,
the tater tot scene pissed me off?

Not that I would ever admit to eating tater tots, either.
Of course not.
Not even here in cyberspace.
I am simply speaking for those who may want to.

btw. Here's a little something I am whipping up for dinner tonight:

Prawn Patia
Ingredients:
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp crushed dried red chillies
4 tbs groundnut oil
1 capsicum, chopped small
2 large onions, sliced
1/2" ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 fresh chillies, finely chopped
1 lb prawns, peeled
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 14oz tin of plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
water


Heat the salt, cumin and dried chillies in a heavy frying pan over a high heat for 1 minute. Keep the spices moving. Add the oil. Lower the heat and add the onion and capsicum. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Add the ginger, garlic and chillies. Stir for another minute. Add prawns, turmeric and tomatoes. If the mixture is too thick add a little water. Simmer until prawns are cooked through.

With:

Vegetable Bajia
Contributed by Lalitha Iyer

Ingredients:
2 cups of cut vegetables of your choice such as cabbage,peas, capsicum cut in thin strips
1 cup of onion cut in to thin strips
2 teaspoons red chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon oil/ghee
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 green chilli finely chopped (optional)
1 cup of finely chopped corainder leaves
1 teapoon cumin seed/powder
2 cups of besan/gram flour
1/2 cup rice powder

Preparation :

Mix all the vegetables and spices. Then add this mixture to a mix of the besan and rice powder and mix well using as little water as possible. Heat oil in a pan . Drop the mixture in the oil with the help of a teaspoon to avoid mess! Fry till golden brown. Serve hot with tomato ketchup or chutney. This can be even eaten by keeping in between two bread slices with tomato ketchup. The onion and coriander increases the taste of the bajia and smells nice too!!!

Afterward, if we are feeling frisky,
I may whip up:

Frozen Bikinis to drink! Yum yum.


What are you having for dinner tonight?