Culture.....oh yeah, that!

I am on break and since being on break, I have taken to reading my many books that my friends and loved ones recommend to me.  I have procured a new cookbook written by Julia Child's collaborator and bosom buddy, Simca.  Since I love reading about food and the various adventures Simca had, I was thrilled to start reading about her life, her stories and how food has played a major part in all of it.

 For those who do not know the background, Simca had a marvelous idea. She thought to compose a book of French recipes for the Americans who wanted to learn how to cook French.  This is where her trouble began. Much like many of my students, Simca labored under the illusion that what is good for one, must be good for the other.  The Americans are just like the French, we eat, they eat. The ingredients are the same, the attitude toward food is the same. She tried to get her first cookbook published by an American publishing house and received a flat refusal.  Why? Too detailed, too complicated and not enough knowledge of how Americans REALLY cook.  She was stumped, what could possibly be so different in America?

Enter Julia Child. Simca met Julia through a fellow friend and it was through Julia that she realized what many of my students do not. Culture is omni-present, it is in everything we think, do and act out. It is in our food, how we prepare our food, how we think about food and why we think in that particular manner.  Julia helped Simca to realize that Americans do not approach food as the French do. The ingredients are different, they eat at different times, they would never even know were to purchase creme fraiche, let alone learn how to pronounce it.  Simca was amazed and realized that she had been foolish.  Culture matters, even in the kitchen, with such a simple act as making a cookie or home roasting coffee, culture seeps into every aspect of the actions and the outcomes.

Reading Simca's account made me think about how bamboozled we are when faced with the actuality that other people in other countries simply do not do what we do. We travel to other countries and insist on carrying on in our own little cultural pods of behavior and thought, not realizing we are pissing everyone else around us off. 

In conclusion, as we move through 2012 and continue to travel, write, compose, create, and in general move about with our fabulous lives, it is always important to think about our cultural expectations and just how odd they may seem to others! Happy New Year to all! May your new year be filled with cultural adventures, good food, great conversations, and fabulous books!