FOOD RITUALS: AN ENTREE INTO MULTIRACIAL FAMILY CULTURE

A Thesis submitted to the faculty of San Francisco State University

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the Degree

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Master of Arts

In

Ethnics Studies

by

Nicole Evelyn Leopardo

San Francisco, California

May 2016

Copyright by Nicole Evelyn Leopardo

2016

CERTIFICATION OF APPROVAL

I certify that I have read Food Rituals: An Entree into Multiracial Family Culture by Nicole

Evelyn Leopardo, and that in my opinion this work meets the criteria for approving a thesis

submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree Master of Arts in Ethnic

Studies at San Francisco State University.

Melissa Nelson, Ph.D.Professor of American Indian Studies

FOOD RITUALS: AN ENTREE INTO MULTIRACIAL FAMILY CULTURE

Nicole Evelyn Leopardo San Francisco, California

2016

The meanings of food rituals among ethnic groups have become scholarly areas to

explore using Sociological and Anthropological approaches. However, still missing in

this analysis is what these rituals mean to self-identified multiracial families. Using

cultural understandings of food rituals and theoretical concepts in Mixed Race Studies

literature. This research seeks to answer the following questions: What function do food

rituals play in multiracial families? How do these rituals help to create a sense of

common culture in a multiracial family? Using focus groups of three multiracial families

in the San Francisco Bay Area, the researcher found that food rituals function as a tool of

cultural continuity and adaptation, and serve to challenge established gender roles.

resentation of the content of this thesis.

Ethnic Studies and Mixed Race Studies literature, this research project weaves together

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my appreciation to my graduate thesis committee, Dr. Andrew

Jolivette (chair), and Dr. Melissa Nelson who have given me their generous support in

completing this project. Thank you to my Ethnic Studies professors at San Francisco State

University for challenging me academically as well to my undergraduate advisors and

friends at University of California, Santa Barbara. To Daryn for all your love and

willingness to help in any way that you can. To the families that have shared their time,

homes, and delicious food with me. Last but not least, to my family: my parents Holly and

Ken, siblings Angelina and Vincent who always remind me that I can do whatever I set my

mind to. Thank you to my ancestors who have paved the way for me to complete this

degree.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures...........................................................................................................................ix

List of Appendices.................................................................................................................... x

The Lucky Bean and Black Licorice: Introduction................................................................. 1

Regional Significance of Topic...................................................................................5

Academic Context.........................................................................................................7

Thesis Overview......................................................................................................... 12

“The Kids are Going to Have a Tough Time on This One”: Literature Review.................14

Literature on Multiraciality........................................................................................ 14

Literature on Food Rituals.........................................................................................21

Cultural Blending........................................................................................................40

“Talking and Hanging out with Mom in the Kitchen”: Methodology................................ 47

Possible Limitations...................................................................................... 51

Insider/Outsider Identity............................................................................................ 53

Multiracial Literature................................................................................................. 53

An Alternative Recipe: Focus Groups and Mixed Race Studies............................59

The Significance of the Family Home.................................... 61

“Marinade it Nicely to Seal in Moisture and You’ll Have a Nice Chicken Breast”: Data and Results...............................................................................................................................64

List of Tables......................................................................................................................... viii

What are Food Rituals?. 66

“When You Feel That Culture”: Results..................................................................73

Food & Cultural Representation............................................................................... 76

Parent and Family Recipes.........................................................................................78

Child Desires to Continue on Cultural Recipes....................................................... 81

Shopping for Food......................................................................................................84

Food Bringing the Family Together......................................................................... 87

Cultural Adaptation.................................................................................................... 90

“Half salmon Half trout...that Tastes Really Good”: Analysis.......................................... 94

Theoretical Frameworks............................................................................................95

Meet the Foodie Families......................................................................................... 101

Initial Observations...................................................................................................104

What Function do Food Rituals Play in Self-Identified Multiracial Families?... 106

I. Cultural Continuity: Recipes and Senses as Ancestor’s Voices........................106

II. Cultural Adaptation............................................................................................. 110

III. Resistance to Gender Binaries...........................................................................115

“Bringing it all together”: Conclusion.................................................................................123

References.............................................................................................................................. 127

Appendices............................................................................................................................. 134

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Table 1: Participant Families.................................................................................48

2. Table 2: Summary of Thematic Analysis.............................................................74

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures Page

1. Bay Area Total Percentage Multiracial..................................................................6

ix

LIST OF APPENDICES

Appendix Page

1. Focus Group Questions..............................................................................................134

x

1

The Lucky Bean and Black Licorice: Introduction

I am multiracial. Black, Swedish, and Italian, to be exact. Therefore, certain

flavors— like salty and sweet black licorice that sticks to your back teeth or that slight

spice of collard greens-- are intimately sewn into my identity. These flavors are not only

part of my identity, but they also weave me into certain racialized and cultural

experiences. For example, knowledge of my mother cooking black eyed peas on New

Year’s Eve for luck ties my family into the Black American experience. Further, that

small black dot connects my family to the many cultures in Western Africa who, like my

mother, consider that dot to be very lucky (Harris, 2011, p. 18). Thus, for me, beans and

especially black eyed peas tie me into the Black experience, and specifically to the

rainbow of dark and light skin tones that are my mother’s family.

My father’s annual Christmas feast serves to connect me to the Swedish ethnic

identity. During this feast, he cooks plenty of proteins including the Swedish ham,

meatballs, and sausages. We also always drink liquor—either a dark Northern California

beer or a shot of vodka with our pickled herring. This annual food ritual connects me to

the experience of rural Swedish farmers, who mark important life passages and holidays

by cooking various meats and drinking alcohol (Poe, 1999, p. 123). These poor farmers

were able to break up their usual meals of dark rye bread, potatoes, and salted fish with

these large feasts. My family’s access to Swedish middle and upper class foods

characterize us as Swedish Americans, since our foods reflect middle class access,

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abundance, and variety that were not accessible by rural farmers in Sweden (Poe, 1999, p.

121). Thus, these food rituals serve to connect me to a very specific rural Swedish

immigrant experience.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, the space of the kitchen was passed

between my parents, depending on who was working or what holiday we were

celebrating. The kitchen goes beyond mom’s usual domain during our conjoined

celebration of Swedish Christmas and “American” Christmas rituals. During these

holidays, the kitchen becomes my father’s as well for the purposes of our specific cultural

practices that according to him, “run deep”. While there is no doubt that there are

“preconceived ideological gender implications that define a kitchen as a woman’s place”,

my family’s story is significant because my parents have shared the kitchen as a space in

order to maintain their cultural food traditions (Abarca, 2006, p.8). This has occurred

either physically (through actually cooking in this space) and/or ideologically (by

suggesting recipes or ingredient additions). In this way, the performance of cooking and

the kitchen have been converted into arenas in which cultural goods and rituals can be

rearticulated by both my mother and my father.

Food is more than fuel for the body. The preparation, consumption and

experiences with food can signal socioeconomic, historical, cultural and ethnic

affiliations, and because of this, food is central to our identity. My research interest in

food rituals stems from my personal background as a multiracial individual and growing

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up in a multiracial family that loves to eat. As a result of these identities, I feel that I have

firsthand knowledge that has prepared me to examine this topic. This project seeks to

explore the following research questions: What function do food rituals play in self-

identified multiracial families? How do these rituals help to create a sense of common

culture in a multiracial family?

In this project, I understand the human body and the senses as a center of cultural

knowledge. That is, the senses are a trigger for bodily memory, whether this is of our

childhood or of our cultural practices; from these memories we can teach others about our

cultures and our identity (Frank, 2011, p. 155). Thus, acknowledging different ways of

teaching and knowing holds true to a decolonial framework which challenges Western

intellectual superiority and values knowledge held by those who have been marginalized.

By de-centering Western interpretations of knowledge, we begin to trust our own people

and the innate knowledges that they possess; they will teach us about their cultures in the

ways that they deem best. In addition to this, research that utilizes the body adheres to a

decolonial framework since knowledge production is accessible to those outside of the

academy.

Eating cultural foods and hearing the stories behind the dishes allowed for me, as

a researcher, to gain insight to cultural values, characteristics and histories that were not

in a text book, but in the minds, bodies and spirits of these families. Participants in this

project understood their bodies as a center of cultural knowledge by adhering to this idea

4

that they just “feel it” when they cook. In addition to this, food stories became the

introduction to family histories and stories, especially for the women in this project.

Societal “common sense” and policies such as the one drop rule created a

situation in which multiracial individuals were not able to fully embrace their multiracial

identity or claim relationships with certain family members. However, since anti­

miscegenation laws were repealed, multiracial individuals have been able to establish

relationships with their families in ways that they couldn’t before (DaCosta, 2007). Since

multiracial families are able to legally exist contemporarily, gathering the oral histories of

these families allows for voices that have been historically excluded to tell their stories.

This is significant since this gives these families the power to “control” and “define” how

they are seen and therefore, gives the impression of “truth” (Smith, 2012, p.37). Thus,

multiracial families have the power of representation and the ability to construct their

own lived realities.

In order to collect oral history narratives, I arranged focus group meetings for

three self-identified multiracial families during the winter of 2015-2016.1 was generously

invited into the homes of these families, fed, and provided with valuable information that

provided further illumination on this topic. My status as both an insider and outsider

within the field of Ethnic Studies and Mixed Race Studies help to inform my research

questions, as well as the methodological approaches taken. That is, I am an insider

5

because I am a multiracial woman, yet my status as a researcher might position me as an

outsider.

This project uses the term “multiracial” as a pan ethnicity instead of focusing on a

particular racial or ethnic experience because I am focused on the experiential food

rituals within these families, as opposed to specific racialized experiences. In the case of

the multiracial movement, the creation of the term “multiracial” is “part of an attempt to

persuade others that the group exists in the way activist describe” in order to push

forward the political agenda of the check multiple boxes option in the US census

(DaCosta, 2007, p. 7). Just as DaCosta intended to describe a process of group formation

using Sociological analysis, I intend to describe the familial process of cultural

maintenance and adaptation using the term multiracial.

Regional Significance of Topic

The San Francisco Bay Area region is significant to this project for a few reasons.

First, the state of California, at 4.7% multiracial, has almost two times the population of

multiracial individuals than the United States, at 2.4 % multiracial (Park, J., Myers, D., &

Wei, L., 2001). Further, the San Francisco Bay Area is included in what is known as the

“multiracial belt”, which is known as having a “concentration of the highest percent

multiracial in the center of the state”, according to findings from the Race Contours 2000

6

study (see figure 1) (Park, J., Myers, D., & Wei, L., 2001, p.l). The multiracial

population is substantial in this region and is projected to grow over time, making this

research relevant over time, as well as contemporarily. That is, there is a high population

of multiracial families and individuals that might see their personal experiences reflected

in this research.

Bay Area Total Percent Multiracial, 2000

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b*BAY AREA COUNTY

Figure 1: Bay Area Total Percent Multiracial. The bottom horizontal line indicates the percentage multiracial in the United States and the top line indicates the percentage multiracial in California.

Lastly, the San Francisco Bay Area is significant to the culinary world because

some believe it is the region in which ‘California Cuisine” was invented. California

cuisine is characterized by fresh, local ingredients, as well as fusion cuisine. Alice Waters

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“formulated the original ‘California Cuisine’” in Berkeley, California, and is “often

credited with single-handedly creating a culinary revolution in the United States”

(although let’s not forget the influences of various Ethnic groups within California)

(Frank, 2011, p. 48). This had the effect of furthering the “culinary roots” in the US,

which had been dominated by Italian and French males in the past (Frank, 2011, p. 48).

In addition to California Cuisine, American Indian cuisine, which is a product of pre­

contact indigenous foods as well as the influences of colonization and government

commodity foods, is contributing to the culinary world, challenging this idea that only

Italian or French foods can be considered “cuisine”. This cuisine has intertribal

characteristics and contains properties from different historical periods.

Academic Context

Anthropology and Sociology scholars such as Carole M. Counihan, Sidney Mintz,

Tracy N. Poe, Josephine Beoku-Betts, Kate Kane, Penny Van Esterik and Louis Ellen

Frank have approached the topic of food rituals by looking at micro and macro meanings

of food rituals for ethnic groups, families and women. Mixed Race studies and

Psychology scholars such as Maria M. Root, Andrew Jolivette, Wei Ming Dariotis,

Teresa Williams, Kim DaCosta, and Paul Spickard have looked at questions of mixed

race identity, culture, authenticity, and positive psychology. Since the field of Ethnic

Studies is interdisciplinary, both of these fields merge together to inform this research

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project. That is, through an Ethnic Studies lens, I intend to expand and join these

discussions to create a new conversation on multiracial identity, culture and of course,

food rituals.

Food related norms, practices and ideas are at the very core of our identities and

serve as a social signifier. Thus, looking at culinary practices as a result of these blended

experiences is important. This is because the norms that are practiced signal power

relations, negotiations, and cultural affiliations. Practicing our culture is also a way we

aid in our culture’s survival. Along with this, it is important to note the fluidity of culture;

any understanding of culture that is static has the ability to discredit past and future

contributions that are deemed “inauthentic”. This is problematic because it gives an

individual or group the authority to decide what is authentic and renders other

experiences invisible. In addition to this, adding one’s own “twist” or as Meredith Abarca

calls it, chiste, has the power to add a specific knowledge to a dish, to allow for creative

expression, and to assert one’s agency (Abarca, 2004, p. 4). Thus, cultural food practices

are always changing and allow for self-expression of those marginalized or with

differential life experiences. If culture is not static and remains fluid, the blending of

culinary practices as a result of interracial relations cannot be seen as unnatural. This is

because cultural foods have changed historically (as a result of assimilation, colonialism

and/or immigration) and will continue to change over time.

9

This project serves as a conversation starter on an academic gap that exists: while

Ethnic Studies scholars have written about the multiracial experience, there is no

discussion of food rituals and the power that these rituals can hold for these families of

color. This is especially important since this data can advise work on health and nutrition

for families of color and/or multiracial families from a less hierarchical and colonized

standpoint. That is, this project pushes for understanding the roles and meanings behind

food rituals and acknowledges that these rituals are deeply tied to one’s identity. Thus to

take away one’s food is to take away their identity.

This thesis can provide a model for simple dietary changes that each family can

make without compromising their identity and generational knowledge. For example, the

Japanese-White Grohl family now only eat brown rice instead of white rice because they

consider brown rice to be more nutritious. The Locatelli family serves their fried chicken

breast over a salad instead of having what is understood as “traditional” Black Southern

sides like mac and cheese. These examples are not taking away people’s cultural foods,

but instead allowing for small yet impactful health related changes.

I define “rituals” for the purposes of this project as an established, formal, and

symbolic behavior (Possick, 2008). Cooking, meals, and the act of eating meet this

definition; these activities tend to create order out of potential chaos. Therefore, food

preparation and consumption is a type of ritualized activity. For example, I was speaking

casually to my brother about our family’s daily dinner ritual, which includes all sitting at

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the dinner table together and eating a homemade meal. He mentioned that even though

times were tough, we had food on the table and we were all together. This gave him a

sense of security and love. That is, the message of solidarity and love was illustrated by

our family sitting at the kitchen table and scraping together a meal. The act of my parents

trying to keep our food rituals alive amidst what felt like chaos (the 2008 recession)

illustrates the importance of food rituals in giving order, but also the power of radical

love.

According to Ethnic Studies scholar Andrew Jolivette, radical love is one of the

pillars of critical mixed race pedagogy, along with social justice, self-determination and

cross-ethnic and transnational solidarity, and will be the basis for this project (Jolivette,

2012, p.217). Radical love is defined as loving without condition and about loving

through vulnerability. It is about speaking up and “exposing the erasures that society has

created to have us believe that we are bom to be enemies” (Jolivette, 2012, p.220).

Overall, this project supports a mission of solidarity between various groups, but also

self-love and positive identity development of multiracial individuals. That is, the process

in which self-identified multiracial families practice their cultures can demonstrate self-

love and set the tone for positive identity formation for the individual.

This investigation of multiracial families presents the focus groups of three

families in the San Francisco Bay Area who practice food rituals daily, as told through

their own lived-experiences. The data indicates clearly that food rituals are sites of

11

generational and cultural “knowledge and empowerment” (Abarca, p.5,2006). In the

field of American Indian, oral traditions serve to reclaim the past and cultural identities of

indigenous people in the face of an oppressive colonial past. Similar to the usage of oral

history in American Indian studies, multiracial families in this study use their oral

histories as a form of resistance to the racial projects of hypodescent and

antimiscegenation, which have historically defined and oppressed these families. Both of

these projects would both support the claim that multiracial families do not exist at all, let

alone in healthy and functional ways. These food related oral histories and recipes also

serve to remind these families of who they are, where they come from, and what they

value.

DaCosta states that conditions that allow for the creation of the “family” are “only

possible under certain social conditions” such as a “shared residence and legal

relationship” (DaCosta, 2007, p. 89). If these conditions do not exist for certain groups,

the privileges associated with family membership do not exist either. These can be

understood as family names (which indicates a legacy), as well as economic, social and

cultural capital (DaCosta, 2007, p. 89). While I understand the importance of economic

and social capital in both celebrating and legitimizing multiracial families, (and how

communities of color have been historically denied these forms of capital and wealth),

my focus is on the cultural survival of multiracial families. Cultural survival comes about

by maintaining cultural practices through telling stories, sharing recipes, learning, eating,

and cooking together.

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I want to be clear that multiracial people are not new, but the way some

multiracial individuals are identifying is new. The sociological text Making Multiracials

(2007), conveys that multiracial families exist, but also that they are further legitimized

by the “formation of collective organizations for multiracial families” (DaCosta, p. 189,

2007). It is not enough to say that multiracial families exist. I aim to further the field of

Ethnic Studies by looking at the ways in which they exist, practice their food rituals, what

these rituals mean to these families.

Thesis Overview

In this chapter, I have outlined my personal connection to this topic, my research

questions, and finally, my justification for pursuing this research topic in the field of

Ethnic Studies. In chapter two, “The Kids are Going to Have a Tough Time on This

One”: Literature Review, I explore literature relating to the themes of food rituals through

the approach of analyzing what scholars have said about multiracial individuals and

culture, and the role of food rituals in various contexts. This approach allows for the

reader to understand the context on this issue, but also to shape the type of analysis that

this project adheres to. Chapter three, “Talking and Hanging out with Mom in the

Kitchen”: Methodology”, discusses the methodological approaches utilized in this

project, ways that scholars have approached research on multiraciality, and the

justification for utilizing focus groups as an instrument. Chapter four, “Marinade it

13

Nicely to Seal in Moisture and You’ll Have a Nice Chicken Breast”: Data and Results,

presents the data and results of this project, and breaks the data into six categories for

discussion: Food & Cultural Representation, Parents and Family Recipes, Child Desires

to Continue on Cultural Recipes, Shopping for Food, Food Bringing the Family Together,

and Cultural Adaptation. Chapter five, “Half salmon Half trout... that Tastes Really

Good”: Analysis, relays theoretical approaches used in this project, an in-depth

discussion about research participants, and attempts to answer the initial research

questions. I found that food rituals serve to provide a tool for cultural continuity, cultural

adaptation, and resistance to gender binaries in the kitchen. Chapter six, “Bringing it all

together”: Conclusion, brings together the points articulated in this thesis. This chapter

also asserts that multiracial family practices are radical, decolonial and transgressive.

Thus, multiracial families are important to continue to include and expand on in the field

of Ethnic Studies.

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“The Kids are Going to Have a Tough Time on This One”: Literature Review

Scholars have understood multiracial families and individuals a range of ways

which have been dependent on the historical, political and social contexts in which these

groups have existed. While this project seeks to look at the functions that food rituals

play in multiracial families specifically, it is important to first look briefly at how

scholars have depicted multiracial individuals and families in order to understand the

ways in which the multiracial experience has been framed over time. This literature

review will be framed by questions that connect food, culture, and multiraciality, and will

be organized into two sections. Part I will map historical and contemporary literature on

multiracial families and how scholars have understood this group. Part II of this literature

review will focus on the various functions of food rituals and will address the following

sub-headings: The Function of Food Rituals in the Family, the Role of Food in Cultural

Identity, Food and the Preservation of Cultural Identity, and Food Rituals and Familial

Negotiations.

Literature on Multiraciality

Interracial unions have been policed through political, social and cultural

institutions in the US. Legislative factors, such as anti-miscegenation laws, the US racial

classification schema and the one drop rule have historically worked to create a culture in

which interracial unions are seen as unnatural. Anti-miscegenation legislation of 1880

15

made it so that interracial relations between whites and minority groups could not legally

occur, making racial boundaries between groups seem inherent. Thus the “multiracial

family” is a more recent creation because of the past political and social barriers that have

existed historically for these families (DaCosta, 2007, p. 88).

Because interracial unions require crossing deep set racial boundaries, the

multiracial children that exist as a result were understood as unnatural. That is, mixed

race children suffer biologically, mentally, emotionally, physically and culturally as a

result of their “marginal status”. Early scholarship on multiracial individuals and

families include depictions of what Cynthia Nakashima calls “The Creation of a

Multiracial Mythology”, which depicts the negative, marginal status of multiracial

individuals (Nakashima, 1992, p. 164). Biologically, multiracial individuals were

understood as “genetically inferior to both (or all) of their parent races” by prominent

eugenics scholars W. Castle, W. Krauss, and Charles Davenport (Nakashima, 1992,

p. 165). Later, these ideas shifted to sociocultural arguments put forward by Stonequist in

his Marginal Man Theory. Stonequist asserted that the multiracial individual is a prime

example of a “marginal” person “doomed to a life of conflicting cultures and the

unfulfilled desire to be ‘one or the other’ neither fitting in nor gaining acceptance in any

group...” (Nakashima, 1992, p. 165). Thus, this “marginal” person has no real culture or

concept of positive identity.

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Maria Root Anthologies Racially Mixed People in America and The Multiracial

Experience: Racial Borders as the New Frontier, as well as several doctoral dissertations

from the 1980s and 1990s provided foundational scholarship that challenged problematic

frameworks were put forth by earlier scholarship (Daniel, Kina, Dariotis & Fojas, 2014).

Racially Mixed People in America edited by Psychologist Maria Root tackles issues of

multiraciality by challenging the validity of race and “way it is abused” in the United

States (Root, 1992, p. 9). In addition to this, Root discusses the implications of these set

racial boundaries for multiracial families and individuals. This work empowers

multiracial individuals and families to define themselves on their own terms.

In Blood Quantum: Native American Mixed Bloods, Historian and Ethnic Studies

scholar Terry P. Wilson points to ways that Native American “mixed bloods” challenge

traditional frameworks that use blood quantum to indicate Native American identity and

authenticity. Wilson states that there is no “rational means to certify by blood quantum

that one is Native American— ‘traditional’, ‘acculturated,’ or whatever” (Wilson, 1992, p.

124). That is, blood quantum measures do not determine how “Native” one is; holding on

to this type of measurement implies that American Indians lose culture by mixing,

alluding to a static notion of both the concept of culture, but also of American Indians as

a group.

Instead of adhering to these static notions, Wilson suggests that racial mixing

“provided a means of maintaining Indian Identity”, challenging assumptions that

17

miscegenation dilutes culture (Wilson, 1992, p. 113). Wilson asserts that mixed bloods

are a type of cultural ambassadors who are not any less culturally Native American

because they are mixed, but that racial mixing has provided a means for culture to

survive.

Wilson suggests that American Indian identity can be understood in terms of the

cultural practices that are carried on regardless of “blood” measurements. Cultural

practices and rituals are not visible phenotypically, but are visible in households and daily

practices. Wilson’s work discusses ways that culture changes, transforms, and continues

over time, as well as the question of who provides the labor of cultural continuation.

Further, this work looks at the extent to which these families create their own culture and

family identity out of resistance to ideas that they are culturally void.

Prism Lives: Identity o f Binational Amerasians by Asian American Studies and

Sociology scholar Teresa Kay Williams discusses multiracial and multicultural

paradigms using the terminology “third” culture. This refers to the “intercultural”

meeting or blending of the two parental cultures (Williams, 1992, p. 282). Williams

interviews both Eurasian and Afroasian individuals and finds that the “immediate

families often provided a foundation for a positive (or negative) ethnic identity

development” (Williams, 1992, p. 287). Further, Williams states that “parents often

provided a positive foundation of acceptance and affirmation for their children by

articulating their blended heritage to them and encouraging them to embrace the other

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parent’s background” (Williams, 1992, p. 287). This alludes to the importance of the

familial unit for multiracial individuals and their role in articulating this “blended”

heritage. In addition to this, this asserts that instead of having no culture, multiracial

families are engaged in a type of blended culture that they should be proud of. What are

the physical, emotional and verbal aspects of this cultural expression? How do verbal

discussions look? How do non-verbal cultural communications look?

In addition to this, Williams engages in a conversation on what they understand

as an Amerasian bicultural mindset (Williams, 1992, p. 302). Instead of Amerasians

having a cultural deficit, Williams asserts that these individuals have a rich blended

culture that is expressed both linguistically and culturally, and supported in a positive

way by the family unit. This scholarship brings up questions of ways that multiracial

biculturalism is developed individually and in the family. In addition to this, the extent to

which knowing a language helps cultural knowledge. To what extent does knowledge of

certain personal cultural cues (such as names of food or traditional dishes) help to

develop a multicultural mindset and identity? How does this occur in an environment that

is less supportive then the one Williams describes? What role do cultural foods play in

the development of a double cultural consciousness?

The Developmental Process o f Asserting a Biracial, Bicultural Identity by

Psychologist George Kitahara Kich discusses the stages of multiracial identity

development. Kich states that “self-acceptance and the assertion of a biracial identity are

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the third and continuing processes of a lifelong task”, which demonstrates that identity

development is fluid process that changes over time for multiracial individuals (Kich,

2002, p. 316). Further, parents play a foundational role in multiracial individual identity

development as they are “crucial facilitators of the biracial person’s self-acceptance”

(Kich, 2002, p. 317). That is if parents are open to conversations on race and ethnicity,

then family can play a key role in an individual’s acceptance of a multiracial identity.

This assertion plays on the power of multiracial families, since Kich’s findings can

empower families to be active agents of dialogue and storytelling. As we move forward

with discussions on Mixed Race and Ethnic Studies, it is helpful to question what types

of dialogue are important. What is it about talking about race or ethnicity that creates

positive identity formation for an individual? Moreover, are there types of conversations

that are more valued over others? Which are overlooked, but can potentially be just as

powerful to promote self-acceptance? What role do creative expression and tradition play

in these dialogues?

Sociologist Kim DaCosta looks at the formation of the “multiracial” category and

the multiracial activist community (DaCosta, 2007, p. 12). Using both historical and

qualitative analysis, DaCosta looks at multiracial families and their ability to resist and

cross static notions of the color line. Further, DaCosta asserts that multiracial group status

is not only about celebration of multiracial families, but also is “intended to legitimize the

very idea of interracial families” in the face of policies that “prevented the creation of

families across racial lines” (DaCosta, 2007, p. 17 & p. 87). Thus, this topic is as personal

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as it is political for these families. This brings up questions of the extent to which

multiracial families not involved in any multiracial organizations exist as a political

vehicle. In addition to this, to what degree do multiracial families adopt rituals in order to

legitimize and/or normalize themselves as a unit?

Becoming Mexipino: Multiethnic Identities and Communities in San Diego by

Historian and Asian Pacific-American studies scholar Rudy Guevarra addresses the

development of Mexican-Filipino multiracial identity in San Diego, California. Guevarra

states that “one of the largest indicators of how Mexipinos identified both their Filipino

and Mexican cultures was through food. The fact that they literally consumed their

cultures was their way of connecting with both of their identities” (Guevarra, 2012, p.

156). Food played an important role in this multiracial group connecting with their

culture, but also brought their families together. Moreover, combinations of both

Mexican and Filipino foods served in daily meals or family get-togethers “reinforced”

their multiethnic backgrounds, as these occasions displayed blended cultural traditions

(Guevarra, 2012). Is this finding consistent for all multiracial groups? How are parents

contributing to a blended culture? How are gender roles challenged with regard to who

cooks and contributes to family meals in a multicultural home?

Now that I have presented literature on the multiracial experience, this literature

review will discuss sociological and anthropological understandings of the meanings of

food rituals in the family context. The implications of scholarly work in this area will be

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understood through an Ethnic Studies lens, with the goal of understanding how this

literature might apply to the multiracial experience. This literature review takes the

approach of surveying what scholars have said about the topics at hand, and opening up

dialogue on the topic of multiracial families and food rituals.

Literature on Food Rituals

In order to explore the research questions: what function do food rituals play in

multiracial families? How do these rituals help to create a sense of common culture in a

multiracial family? This section will take a cultural approach to understanding food,

drawing upon four regions of inquiry and connecting these regions to the field of mixed

race studies. Literature on the function of food rituals specifically in self-identified

multiracial families is limited, and requires the weaving together of cultural

understandings of food, but also Sociological, Anthropological, Psychological, and

Ethnological literature. The regions of inquiry explored in this literature review are: The

Function of Food Rituals in the Family, the Role of Food in Cultural Identity, Food and

the Preservation of Cultural Identity, and Food Rituals and Familial Negotiations.

There are multiple ways that scholars have approached the study of food and

culinary spaces. Nutritional/sociobiological approaches are interested in health and bodily

functions, and explain food preferences as both genetic and “culturally structured

preferences” (Lupton, 1996, p.6-7). In contrast to this, Sociological and Anthropological

approaches —which sometimes overlap with regard to the study of food— are more

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concerned with the symbolic aspects of food and eating practices. The culturalist

approach to food is interested in “bounded spaces which contain these dramas of

microdomination and microresistance” (Ashley, Hollows, Jones, & Aylor, 2004, p. 13).

Bonded spaces in the context can be restaurants, bars, social gatherings, or family meals.

For the purposes of this research project, I will be taking a cultural approach and drawing

on Anthropological and Sociological scholarly work.

The Function o f Food Rituals in the Family

First, this literature review will discuss the function and meanings of food rituals

in the familial context. Sociologist Deborah Lupton asserts that the family meal is an

important site for the creation of the contemporary ‘family’ in western societies. The

family meal also helps to create and shape power structures within the family, as well as

socialize children into how to behave during mealtimes (Lupton, 1996, p. 38).

Anthropological scholar Mary Douglas understood the consumption of food as ritualistic

in nature, as meals are structured activities that create order out of potential disorder

(Lupton, 1996, p. 9). There is a general Sociological understanding that family meals

strengthen family ties, and therefore, these meals can provide resistance to racial projects

that seek to project families of color as dysfunctional. The role of the family meal ritual

can further expand discussions of familial social support in communities of color as well.

Psychologist and family therapy scholar Chaya Possick (2008) approaches the

meanings of food rituals from the Jewish perspective. Possick defines the family meal as

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a ritual that can function to express ethnic and cultural identity in different contexts

beyond just the nightly family meal. The different contexts in which meals can occur

supports the idea that there are multiple types of food related rituals that serve various

functions within the family. In addition to this, Possick argues that the family meal also

serves as a “vertical connection between past, present and future generations” (Possick,

2008, p.268). For self-identified multiracial people, connections to various generations

translate to multiple cultural, racial and/or ethnic experiences within the same family.

Thus, food rituals in the multiracial contexts can function as border crossings since they

embody multiple experiences and cultures. Specifically, meals that draw on various

cultural experiences can be seen as “experiencing, negotiating, and reconstructing the

borders between races”, which has the effect of holding on to and respecting multiple

perspectives at once (Root, 1996, p. xxi). This creates a more complete image of a

multiracial individual, as opposed to a fractioned understanding.

Anthropologist Janet Siskind explores the role of the ritual of Thanksgiving in the

micro (family) and macro (American society story of nation) perspectives. On the macro

level, Siskind states that Thanksgiving is a “ritual affirmation of what Americans believe

was the Pilgrim experience” (Siskind, 2002, p.43). This ritual serves to transform

immigrants into Americans by drawing a parallel between the pilgrim experience and the

contemporary immigrant experience, as well as emphasizing that we, as Americans

always have been and continue to be a “nation of immigrants” (Siskind, 2002, p.42).

Thus, at the level of nationhood, the Thanksgiving ritual adheres to notions of

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“community, familial solidarity, and Christian prayer”, all of which help in the

development of a sense of a certain type of nationality (Siskind, 2002, p.48). Of course,

this level of nationhood comes with the agenda of illustrating who is an acceptable type

of immigrant, while erasing American Indians from this “imagined” community of

immigrants (Siskind, 2002, p.49). By creating a dominant narrative on Thanksgiving and

privileging certain types of immigrant identities closest to whiteness, the ritual of

Thanksgiving serves as a colorblind, mythological ritual that claims togetherness through

the process of creating and sharing a meal. Similar to this, scholars in the field of mixed

race studies have been critical of conceptions of racial mixing being the “solution” to

racism. This mythological meal between American Indians and “pilgrims” does not rid

the imagined community of power relations. In fact, using the term “Indian” essentializes

American Indian identity, but also defines this community in terms of its uses and

purpose to the dominant Anglo-American community (Siskind, 2002, p.48). Thus, the

Thanksgiving holiday meal fits into the “common sense” of the culture- further

perpetuated by schools and media- which helps individuals to adhere to hegemonic

understanding of racial roles, actions, and an imagined community.

The meaning of the Thanksgiving ritual for the familial unit is centered on the

idea of “family togetherness” and the “emotions of homecoming” (Siskind, 2002, p.54).

Looking at the meanings of Thanksgiving at the micro level, Siskind explains that the

“joys and tensions, pleasures and pains of family life are activated in the preparations and

joined participation of the feast” (Siskind, 2002, p.54). The preparation of the meal is

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gendered and power relations play out in the cooking, cutting, and cleaning of the turkey.

These processes are normalized by a common sense. That is, if you are participating in

these activities, then you are part of the American nation. However, if the Thanksgiving

holiday meal fits into the “common sense” of American culture, then what does this

notion of a cultural “common sense” mean for families of color? For multiracial families

of multiple cultural and ethnic backgrounds? To what extent do multiracial families feel

they fit into this imagined community, given that the existence of multiracial families

contradicts the underpinnings of deep-seated color lines?

The Thanksgiving family ritual meal not only defines who is supposed to be part

of it, but also how one is supposed to spend their time during this holiday, based on their

age, gender, and race. However, to understand the family unit as simply following this

formula doesn’t allow for the acknowledgement of resistance against hegemonic

structures. While there is no doubt that families in some ways adhere to hegemonic

notions of nation building, I challenge the idea that families entirely adhere to this. From

a culturalist perspective, food spaces, even if they in some ways have connections to

hegemony, can be sites of resistance. This is true because the overlapping of national and

family rituals excludes some people from this imagined community, and so those people

have to re-imagine themselves in these rituals or create communities of their own. This

brings up questions of the extent to which multiracial families create their own imagined

communities through food rituals in resistance to American cultural “common sense”.

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How are these imagined communities understood culturally based on the multiracial

nature of a family?

Parallel to these notions of “home” and “homecoming”, Ethnic Studies scholar

Espiritu’s text (2003) puts forth the assertion that “home” can stand for a safe place and

for “community”, but can also be “problematic” and “provisional” because the concept of

home is “inseparable from power relations”, and therefore, can be an oppressive space

(Espiritu, 2003, p. 15). While Espirutu’s text is focusing on analysis of the home of

Filipino immigrants, the reality is that multiracial homes are spaces for these power

relations as well, but they play out in other ways because of the existence of differing

racialized bodies and the privileges that they hold.

Outside of the Thanksgiving ritual, women of color resist dominant

interpretations of the kitchen as a women’s space every day. Meredith Abarca’s text

examines everyday cooking practices of Mexican American women in the space of the

kitchen. The kitchen has been oppressively deemed as a woman’s “place”, yet these

women reclaim the kitchen, making it their own space to perform their rituals and create

art. Anthropologist Brett Williams looks at Tejano migrant women and their role as

“tamale makers” in the family. Williams asserts that it is possible that the actions and

decisions of families of lower socioeconomic statuses are closely tied to economics, and

so “oppression”, i.e. women in the kitchen cooking, in this context might look differently

for these women. That is, the meanings of cooking in the kitchen go beyond the fact that

the kitchen is understood as a women’s place; cooking tamales is means of survival and

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protection, provides routine, and also provide human affirmation. Williams asserts that in

rituals, “migrants give food special significance” (Brown & Mussell, 1984, p. 120).

While certain rituals with extended family and friends might seem “wasteful” and showy

since they require a plethora of food, gifts, and other visuals, these rituals allow for the

humanization of this population, as the rituals help migrants to “defy the degrading ‘total

institutions’ in which they spend half their lives: the monotonous surroundings and

crowded, unsanitary conditions which tacitly proclaim their worthlessness” (Brown &

Mussell, 1984, p. 120). In the Africana context, Williams-Forson’s work looks at how

Black women occupied the gendered position of cooking for the household and these

women used these spaces to cook in order to express Black culture and provide economic

stability for themselves, resisting the narrative that they were powerless (Williams-

Forson, 2006). All of this literature suggests an empowering and humanizing aspect to

the ritual creation of cultural foods. In addition to this, socioeconomic status plays a key

role in the meanings of food rituals. While multiracial families are more likely to exist in

middle class settings, to what degree does the socioeconomic status of family or extended

family members influence the practices of food rituals? In what ways can food rituals in

multiracial families serve as a source of humanization and empowerment?

The scope of this literature suggests that the function of food rituals vary

depending on the status socioeconomic and racialized nature of the family. Food rituals

function to provide adherence, but also resistance to a hegemonic “common sense”

cultural practices. Food rituals also function as an expression of values in the family,

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generational connections to the past, present and future. But how do these types of

cultural food rituals fit into the context of multiracial families? To what extent should we

be concerned with how the racialized nature of the multiracial family affects the types of

food rituals that are practiced? The next section in this literature review will explore the

role of food in cultural identity.

The Role o f Food in Cultural Identity

Literature on the role of food in cultural identity helps us to understand why a

cultural group might insist on continuing their rituals, even when it conflicts with national

and/or cultural standards of a region. Historian Harvey Levenstein looks at how Italian

Americans resisted pressure to Americanize their food, and now Italian food—

understood as hybrid in nature due to immigration patterns— is considered one of the few

ethnic foods to become an American staple (Levenstein, 2002). Italians resisted “general

reformers and social workers” attempts to Americanize their foods because the

preparation and eating of Italian food played “important roles in Italian family life”, but

also because Italian homes were not easily infiltrated by those trying to change their diets

(Levenstein, 2002, p.80). This resistance allowed Italians to use their cultural foods as

markers of ethnicity, as well as sources of ethnic pride among families. This text points

out that the family food rituals, as well as culinary spaces used, played a role in keeping

these traditions alive. That is, these sites are spaces of resistance to dominant culture.

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This historical example not only points to how intricately woven family, Italian

food, and Italian identity are, but also points to the family unit as resistant to hegemony.

Sociologist Kim DaCosta’s argues that multiracial families are agents of resistance

against racial projects because they diminish the “presumed distance across racial

categories” (DaCosta, 2007, p. 187). For example, parenting a child beyond their “circle”

of ethnic origins, creates a situation that DaCosta refers to as embracing the “other”

(DaCosta, 2007, p. 187). This embracing of the other allows for further understandings

that racial boundaries are artificial and constructed. In addition to parents potentially

embracing the “other”, to what extent are the cultural practices of the “other” also

embraced? In the familial unit, how does this play out?

While literature is limited on the experience of multiracial families, food, and

identity, some authors have briefly approached this topic in the form of short narratives

or in the afterthought of a study. DaCosta mentions that the multiracial experience does

not lie in a “specific set of traditions but in the ambiguity and blending of cultural

traditions”, such as the foods “sushi and grits” (DaCosta, 2007, p. 140). The blending of

these two seem unnatural, yet this is someone’s lived reality, making the social distance

between these foods seem less so. Thus, the blending of the cultural traditions creates a

relatable multiracial experience that is shared amongst various multiracial individuals,

regardless of the racial/ethnic make-up of the individual.

In the collection of writings What are you? Voices o f Mixed Race Young People,

Jeff Yoshimi, a self-identified Hapa describes the process of making sushi with his

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Japanese/European American parents, which the author claims looks different from

traditional or “authentic” sushi. Nonetheless, he concludes by fusing together his cultural

foods without hesitation not only because he wants to eat, but also because this food is a

way he signals his identity. Analysis of short stories such as Yoshimi’s can provide

Ethnic Studies scholars with examples of the lived realities of multiracial people of color

that can potentially be addressed in research or university courses.

Tracy N. Poe uses a historical analysis to trace the beginnings of African

American food, which was later articulated as soul food in the 1960s. The emergence of

this food also illustrated class, regional, urban, and rural tensions within the Black

community in urban areas. These tensions were based on questions of authenticity, but

also respectability. That is, southern Black food was considered not respectable, and was

“backwards” in urban Black contexts until southern culture was integrated into “urban

African American consciousness” (Poe, 2002, p. 105).

Soul food reflected a collective urban and southern Black identity for a few

reasons. First, soul food unified Black northern and southern people in that this food

symbolized the shared heritage as “Africans, slaves, sharecroppers, and industrial

workers” (Poe, 2002, p.92). These historical memories brought urban and rural Blacks

together to understand their legacy, but also the importance of Southern cooking and

ritual to Black culture and identity. In addition to this, the rituals of large Sunday and

holiday dinners were traced back to a communal style of eating, which is “central to life

in African villages” (Poe, 2002, p.92). Although this understanding of the “African”

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village essentializes African identity, this observation serves to explain that it is not just

the food that shapes identity, but it is also the way that we eat it, and who we eat with, as

well as the social perceptions of this food.

A cultural approach to literature on food rituals requires comprehensive

understandings of the function of this food in the family, but also ways that families have

adopted and/or changed the rituals as a result of socioeconomic status, race, and

geography. By approaching this literature in more comprehensive and complex ways (e.g.

asking questions on what food rituals occur, what these rituals involve historically and

contemporarily, and how are these rituals practiced in various spaces), and understanding

that culture changes in groups over time, this eliminates a static representation of cultural

practices and questions of authentic behavior become less relevant. This process is

especially critical for multiracial individuals, whom have problematically been

understood as in authentic simply because they are mixed. As cultural food rituals change

over time as part of a natural process, how does the blending/re-working/changing of

cultures in the context of a multiracial individual or family differ? Why would cultural

blending lead to an in-authentic identity when culture is not static to begin with?

This literature is also significant because it emphasizes what it took to bring

people together to realize a common identity. In the multiracial experience, similar

educational and class experiences bring people of “different” racial groups together to

create interracial unions and multiracial families. In addition to this, it is possible that

similar food rituals or ways to eat food can bring people together as well, as common

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values can create bridges between life experiences. However, it is also true that the

“preference for another’s cuisine does not necessarily translate into egalitarian attitudes

or even empathy” (Ruiz, 2008, p. 6). This literature suggests the importance of the

communal meal, and the values surrounding this meal, as a tool of unification. Thus, the

actual food consumed might not be as important as the rituals, histories, and stories

surrounding the food. I now turn to a discussion on the extent to which food rituals help

to preserve cultural identity.

Food and the Preservation o f Cultural Identity

Anthropologist Lois Ellen Frank asserts that American Indian cooks and chefs see

culinary spaces and food rituals as mediums that serve to “keep the culinary traditions of

the past alive, and move these food practices into the future” (Frank, 2011, p. 22). For

American Indian cooks and chefs, food is “associated with local knowledge and cultural

expression” (Frank, 2011, p. 23). Therefore, access to food also requires knowledge of

how specific places were used for culinary purposes by ancestors; this also requires

access to these specific places in order to practice these rituals. Together these foods,

places, and practices shape American Indian identity in various ways, depending on the

specific region or tribe. That is, food and place are interwoven so tightly that membership

to a cultural group depends on this knowledge even more than phenotypical and blood

quantum considerations, which is used in government sponsored definitions of who is

American Indian and who is not. Thus, this knowledge can serve as resistance to narrow

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definitions of American Indians, as well as empty notions of “authentic” characteristics

for this group.

The push for ethnic groups to assimilate to Anglo food practices can have the

result of simultaneously erasing cultural practices. Scholars Tracy Poe and Christiana

Miewald argue that “foodways can be a form of resistance to erasure”, (Counihan, 2002,

p.6). The colonization of American Indian food has had negative health implications.

However, reclaiming these Native methods of gathering and cooking cultural foods have

led to an awareness of their cultural and nutritional importance. For example, the role of

the traditional Omaha foods depend on the past and present uses, availability, cultural

uses, and acceptability (Miewald, 2002, p. 120). Some foods, such as bison, may be

brought back through individual or tribal production (Miewald, 2002, p. 120). Other

foods may be used to teach about the Omaha cultural heritage. These foods have multiple

implications, all of which aid in preventing the erasure of these practices, and therefore,

making it so that Omaha culture can be practiced, but also passed on to future

generations.

Historian Robert Orsi states that through memory, people can construct

understandings of their identity. Although Anglo culture and colonialism may attempt to

erase cultural memories, the ability to create a common “memory in the group provides

the foundation for establishing membership and continuity of that group” (Beoku-Betts,

2002, p.285). Thus, individual and group identity rely on the development and

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reenactment of a common historical memory. Symbols, which can be “objects, acts,

concepts, or linguistic formations”, can all stand for different meanings, but the ways in

which these symbols are used in “activities like ceremonial, ritual, gift exchange,

prescribed forms of joking, taking an oath, eating and drinking together” can create

meanings, whether these meanings intend for an action, emotion, or a combination of the

two (Brown & Mussel, 1984, p.44). The ways that symbols are connected to activities is

how we understand group membership; without a special meaning the symbol is just an

object. Thinking about this concept brings up questions of the extent to which the

overlapping or differing usage of symbols within a group might change the meanings

associated with this symbol. What types of negotiations occur? Are these negotiations

hierarchical, laden with power relations? Are there critical instances in which these

negotiations occur?

Sociology and Women’s Studies scholar Josephine Beoku-Betts argues that the

Gullah women maintain and continue their West African and Gullah cultural traditions

through food practices that require thinking about the historical and symbolic memories

attached to the food. More specifically, Beoku-Betts’ study indicates that Gullah women

have specific rituals used in the preparation of rice that must be followed exactly. This

includes washing it vigorously (even if packaged rice claims to be pre-washed), cooking

the rice in the way most fitting to the specific rice grain, and resisting the dominant

culture’s (such as the media or nutritionists) understandings of when it is appropriate to

eat rice. For the Gullah, a meal is not complete without rice (Beoku-Betts, 2002).

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Rice is the cultural symbol that aids in the continuity of the Gullah/West African

cultural identity. This is not only true with regard to cooking and eating practices, but

also since stories and folktales are intimately connected to their rice culture. Beoku-Betts

mentions that Gullah women pass down stories and dances about making and utilizing

rice for health (Beoku-Betts, 2002, p.284). Not only does this illustrate the centrality of

rice to the diet, but it also shows the connection of rice to spiritual and healing elements,

which give insight to the epistemological components of the Gullah culture. These acts

serve to contextualize the experiences of the Gullah in order to create memories and

cultural identity that can be passed on to the next generations.

Similar to Beoku-Betts work on Gullah women, family therapist/psychologist Bea

Wehrly emphasizes the importance of learning one’s history in order to establish group

membership; learning one’s history has positive mental health implications according to

Wehrly. Drawing upon work by Maria Root, Wehrly argues that the familial “nurturing”

of all of the child’s racial heritages results in a positive multiracial identity (Wehrly,

1996, p. 158). Wehrly suggests that positive feelings about racial heritages can develop

by learning more about the individual’s familial history and ancestors (Wehrly, 1996, p.

158). This can be in the form of family trees or cultural practices. In the case of

multiracial individuals, to what extent can learning about, preparing, and consuming,

ethnic/cultural foods help multiracial individuals positively connect to their cultures?

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Social Anthropologist Frederik Barth argues that cultural features and people

within a group can change “without damaging boundary maintenance”, but in order for

ethnic groups to differentiate themselves from other groups they need signals (and

manipulation of symbols), but also to adhere to “rules that govern inter-ethnic relations”

(Brown & Mussell, 1984, p.45). Thus, differing symbols and meanings are key to

establishing group identity. Over all, literature in this section provides a discussion on the

ways in which food rituals allow individuals to establish group membership, boundaries,

and continue on their culture. However, it is unclear which individuals “count” as being

able to move within a group without damaging boundary maintenance. How do we

understand the term “damaging”? What is the difference between “damaging” and

“expanding” or “stretching” group boundaries? In addition to this, who can decide on

how group boundaries are adapted?

Food Rituals and Familial Negotiations

The Cross and Gilly 2014 business article Consumption Compromises:

Negotiation and Unification within Contemporary Families addresses the type of

consumption compromises that bi-ethnic families make regarding food. Specifically, they

look at the impact of cultural differences in the household “using a pantry study and

interviews” (Cross & Gilly, 2014, p. 449). Researchers found that couples with dietary

variations put these to the side in order to eat the same things. That is couples “relinquish

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part of their personal cultural identities to gain a synergistic cultural identity at the family

level” (Cross & Gilly, 2014, p. 449). In addition to this, findings indicate that food

decisions can be a way of negotiating and maintaining both the collective and individual

identity in the household (Cross & Gilly, 2014, p. 449). But how do these negotiations

look in the household? What role does gender play in these negotiations? In what ways

do these negotiations affect what children learn about their multiple cultures?

The Geography scholar Gill Valentine study Eating in: Home, Consumption and

Identity focuses (1999) on the consumption of food in the home and how this relates to

identity formation. Valentine’s article emphasizes how shared meals both unify the

family and also help to shape family identity in a range of diverse families, including

non-nuclear ones (Valentine, 1999, p. 493). Valentine finds that “consumption practices

are negotiated and contested by different household members to produce a shared family

meal” and how the consumption of particular foods help to construct a shared identity,

whether these be class, political, gender or culture related (Valentine, 1999, p. 520-521).

It is clear that this negotiation is part of a cultural or identity related value, whether this

be nationality or region.

The Devine, Sobal, Bisogni, & Connors (1999) study Food Choices in Three

Ethnic Groups: Interactions o f ideals, Identities, and Roles place white, Black and Latino

ethnicities at the center of analysis with regard to food choices. The most significant

finding was that ideals, identities, and roles interacted with each other, the food, and

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eating in “reciprocal and dynamic ways to influence food choice” (Devine, Sobal,

Bisogni, & Connors, 1999, p. 86). Pushing these findings further, ethnic parents with

young children in the household had more of a concern for maintaining ethnic food

traditions, as well a nutritional standards. Thus, we can gather that it is the role of the

parent to maintain ethnic knowledge and pass it on to the children. Not only is it the role

of the parents, but it is expected across ethnic boundaries.

That is, ethnicity is “demonstrated” when individuals act as “heads” of the

household or key food decision makers (Devine, Sobal, Bisogni, & Connors, 1999, p.

90). Women were more likely to take on the food decision maker role (or manager role),

but some men also participated by shopping or cooking (Devine, Sobal, Bisogni, &

Connors, 1999, p. 90). Researchers find that ethnic ideas and food roles become

significant considerations to navigate when there are multiple ethnic traditions in one

household, since the “food manager” has to negotiate their own preferences along with

other’s preferences in various contexts. It also becomes significant because the “head” of

the household must learn to incorporate various tastes, seasonings and/or cooking styles

successfully. This finding has implications for the understandings of power dynamics in

families and how these dynamics play out. However, does every family have just one

“head” of the household? Or are there multiple? Can this role transition seasonally? How

much power does this head of household have?

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Along with this understanding of power and the role head of the household (or the

“food manager”), power relations can play out with regard to the level assimilation in an

interracial relationship. Maria Root’s Love’s Revolution asserts that assimilation in

interracial contexts can be a “two-way process”. That is, the first process can be

understood as people of color aiming to blend in to white, European based culture at the

expense of their own cultural practices. The second perspective, specific to interracial

relations, is that assimilation can also be understood as “white persons trying to

assimilate into minority communities” by being involved in community activities and

“efforts to learn about the culture, food, music of the partner’s native culture were

common on the part of those persons attempting to blend in” (Root, 2001, p.68).

Motivations for this assimilation vary from an individual’s personal connections to the

culture, to the desire to make things “less confusing to the children”, to seeking

acceptance from their partner’s family (Root, 2001, p.68). Thus, it is clear that personal,

family related, and regional experiences influence the level of assimilation that occurs for

each individual and family. Do the decision makers in each family support this type of

cultural assimilation? How do the children react to these decisions if they seemingly have

less power? What role does assimilation play in if and how cultural practices are blended

in each family?

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Cultural Blending

The blending of cultures can be seen in various contexts and historical periods,

from interracial marriage in Hawaii, which resulted in European, Japanese and

Indigenous cultural blending, to the American Indian culinary experiences of combining

of ancestral foods with foods that resulted from European “first” contact, as well as

commodity food items provided by the Food Distribution Program on Indian

Reservations (Frank, 2011). With regard to the American Indian experience, the fusing

together of these culinary experiences from different historical periods—therefore

“weaving together ingredients from the past with the present”— has resulted in what

Frank considers the new Native American cuisine (Frank, 2011, p. 102). Frank tells the

story of various foods that are blended in this way, from the traditional red chile stew that

is made in “both Native American and Hispano communities of Northern New Mexico”

to the iconic Indian taco, which is characterized by the “creative use of foods that were

distributed to Native people during the Reservation period” (Frank, 2011, p.96). These

foods are examples of the hybridity and interactions between different cultures, regions,

and time periods. They signify the fluidity and non-static nature of culture, but also the

agency associated with re-creating culinary practices based on individual and group

experiences, oppressionary or not.

The exploration of the blending of the foods in the multiracial experience,

regardless of the ethnic or racial groups presented, speaks to a process that multiracial

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people can understand. That is, the blending of cultures represents a type of “mixed kin-

aesthetic” or multiracial story that resonates with others (Dariotis, 2012). Wei Ming

Dariotis argues that the blending of cultures of multiracial people do not represent a post-

racial existence, but instead represents a “complex blended identity” that keeps “their

ethnic identities intact” (Dariotis, 2012, p. 137). I would agree with this notion. Adhering

to a cultural formation approach instead of a racial formation approach allows for the

consideration that multiracial communities, such as Creoles, do not organize themselves

simply around physical or biological notions (as government agencies do), but instead

“organize themselves around community and culture” (Jolivette, 2007, p. 103). Thus

through this lens, practicing culture can signal group identity without discussions of

blood-quantum or fractions, which have the effect of basing group membership on

phenotypical or biological notions that can be fractionalized and understood numerically.

Thus, through cultural practice, the cultural identity remains intact and becomes a means

of group membership and cultural continuity that can hold value outside of static notions

of racial categories. Discussions of ethnic food rituals connect symbols with group

performance to create these group boundaries. Again, this analysis breaks down the

seemingly “simple” topic of food into a layered approach, in which one must not only

analyze the food, but also performances and expectations tied to the food and the rituals

involved.

A cultural analysis of food and food rituals lend to the field of Ethnic

Studies in that it expands the field to consider how everyday “mundane” activities (as

42

described by multiple food scholars) can represent power relations at play, but also

resistance to these power structures. The spaces, food, or the actions surrounding food

rituals may be sights of resistance, but also might adhere to hegemonic notions at the

same time, especially in a multiracial family in which there are differing hierarchical

roles that have to do with culture, race, gender and class.

DaCosta’s text exploring the “organized movement of self-identified mixed race

people” DaCosta looks at the commonalities among multiracial individuals in her study,

and one important factor she discovers is that the respondents understand mixed identity

through cultural understandings (DaCosta, 2007, p. 7 & 140). DaCosta explains “the

salient dimensions of that cultural experience lay not in a specific set of traditions but in

the ambiguity and blending of cultural traditions” and she goes on to mention

combinations of foods described by respondents, such as ‘sushi and grits’ (DaCosta,

2007, p. 140). This text challenges early notions of the Marginal Man theory because

DaCosta asserts that multiracial people do in fact have cultural practices. This blending of

the culture not only challenges the Marginal Man theory, but also provides a possible

example of a universal multiracial experience. As the reader will see in the following

section, Data and Analysis, this blending of these cultures is a very real reality that does

not take away from away from either culture practiced, but instead follows the natural

flow of culture in general. That is, culture is not static and is always changing,

transforming, and innovating. This is true for multiracial or monoracial individuals,

families, and communities.

43

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Devine, C. M., Sobal, J., Bisogni, C. A., & Connors, M. (1999). Food choices in three ethnic groups: Interactions of ideals, identities, and roles. Journal o f Nutrition Education. 31(2), 86-93.

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Gibbs, J. T., & Hines, A. M. (1992). Negotiating ethnic identity: Issues for Black-White biracial adolescents. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), The multiracial experience: Racial borders as the new frontier, 223-238. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Guevarra, R. (2012). Becoming Mexipino: Multiethnic Identities and Communities in San Diego. Piscataway, NJ, USA: Rutgers University Press.

Jolivette, A. (Ed.). (2012). Obama and the biracial factor. Chicago, IL: The Policy Press.

Kich, G. (1992). The development process of asserting a biracial, bicultural identity. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), Racially mixed people in America, (3-11). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Ku, R. J., Manalansan, M. F., & Mannur, A. (Eds.). (2013). Eating Asian America: a food studies reader. New York, NY: New York University Press.

Levenstein, H. (2002). The American response to Italian food, 1880-1930. In C.Counihan (Ed.), Food in the USA: a reader (75-90). New York, NY: Routledge.

Lupton, D. (1996). Food, the body and the self Thousand Oaks: CA. Sage publications.

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Miewald, C. (2002). The nutritional impact of European contact on the Omaha:continuing legacy. In C. Counihan (Ed.), Food in the USA: a reader (109-122). New York, NY: Routledge.

Nakashima, C. (1992). The invisible monster: the creation and denial of mixed-race people in America. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), Racially mixed people in America, (162-178). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Poe, T. (1999). Food, culture, and entrepreneurship among African-Americans, Italians, and Swedes in Chicago. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations Publishing (9935879).

Poe, T. (2002). The origins of soul food in Black urban identity: Chicago, 1915-1947. In C. Counihan (Ed.), Food in the USA: a reader (91-108). New York, NY: Routledge.

Possick, C. (2008). The family meal: An exploration of normative and therapeutic ritual from an ethnic perspective. Journal o f Family Psychotherapy, 19(3), 259-276.

Root, M.P.P. (2001). Love’s Revolution. Philadelphia. PA: Temple University Press.

Root, M.P.P. (Ed.). (2006). The multiracial experience: racial borders as the new frontier. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Root, M. P. P. (1992). Within, between, and beyond race. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), Racially mixed people in America, 3-11. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Root, M. P. P. (Ed.). (1992). Racially mixed people in America. Newbury Park, CA:Sage.

Root, M. P. P. (1996). A bill of rights for racially mixed people. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), The multiracial experience: racial borders as the new frontier, 3-14. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ruiz, V. (2008). Citizen restaurant: American imaginaries, American communities. American Quarterly, 60(1), 1-21.

Shih, M., & Sanchez, D. T. (2005). Perspectives and research on the positive andnegative implications of having multiple racial identities. Psychological Bulletin. 131,569-591.

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Siskind, J. (2002). The Invention of Thanksgiving: A Ritual of American Nationality. In C. Counihan (Ed.), Food in the USA: a reader (41-58). New York, NY: Routledge.

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47

“Talking and Hanging out with Mom in the Kitchen”: Methodology

Arthur Locatelli, the only son in the Locatelli family, stated the quote above.

Arthur was talking about how he has learned to cook from hanging out and talking to his

mother in the kitchen; this is a visual and social activity for Arthur. Similar to Arthur’s

method for gathering knowledge, I learned a lot from hanging out and talking to the

families in this project, whether dialogues took place in the kitchens or at the dining room

tables. Therefore, I found it fitting to title this chapter after what I felt that I was

practicing methodologically for the purposes of this research project.

Food Rituals: an Entree into Multiracial Family Culture presents the oral

histories of three families in the San Francisco Bay Area who practice culturally relevant

food rituals in their homes. I utilized family focus groups facilitated by myself in order to

gather data. The three family focus groups lasted 2-3 hours each, for a total of 6-9 hours

of focus groups. This time was needed to gather information on the themes of food rituals

including: identity, blended culture, cooking rituals in the house, cultural foods, and

ethnic specific food shopping. Focus groups were video-recorded with the permission of

each participant for the purposes of transcription, as well as observation. In order to

analyze the data, I personally transcribed the focus groups, paying attention to body

language and facial expressions. Then I began to look for reoccurring themes and patterns

in the data; I also looked for irregularities and contradictions. I chose quotes from the

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focus groups that clearly illustrated certain trends and/or contradictions. In addition to

this, I also counted certain words such as “American” or “Pakistani” that appeared

frequently. In order to protect the privacy of my participants, each individual was given a

pseudo name and will be addressed with this name throughout this entire thesis. Table 1

(below) shows participating families’ selected pseudonyms, their age in parentheses, and

the dish that they shared during the focus group interviews.

Table 1: Participant Families

Family (Age) Racial/Ethnic Identity Dish Shared

Etta Locatelli (50)

Joseph Locatelli (52)

Mari Locatelli (11)

Arthur Locatelli (20)

African-American/Mixed

White/Swedish/American

Swedish & African American

Mixed Race

Fried chicken salad and sparkling wine

Anam Hamid-Gonzales (55)

Roberto Hamid-Gonzales (50)

Alexandra Hamid-Gonzales (25)

Jr. Hamid-Gonzales (16)

Pakistani

Latino/Mexican American

Mexican and Pakistani

Mexican and Pakistani

Chicken curry, lentils, basmati rice and roti bread; sweetened Sooji for dessert

Miku Grohl (39)

Tim Grohl (53)

Nori Grohl (16)

Hiro Grohl (13)

Asian/Japanese

White

Biracial/ Japanese & white

Japanese & white

Brown rice, broiled, salmon, ratatouille and Japanese Macrobiotic quinoa salad; grapes and tea for dessert

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Recruitment procedures varied for each family. Since I am related to the Locatelli

family and Alexandra Hamid-Gonzales is a childhood friend of mine, recruitment in

these cases included casual emails and text messages. There was a certain level of trust

between these families and myself because our relationship that had been cultivated over

two decades. I recruited the Grohl family through my academic network at San Francisco

State University. While I didn’t know the Grohl’s before this project, they were very

comfortable in sharing information about their family.

Volunteer families came from diverse backgrounds: the Hamid-Gonzales family

identified as Indian-Pakistani and Mexican-American, Locatellis Black, Swedish-

American and Italian-American, and Grohls as Japanese and European American. It is

also important to point out that all three families had one immigrant parent. This factor

could possibly indicate that this parent has closer ties to cultural practices from their

country of origin, depending on how the immigrant experience has been accepted by

society at large, as well as how the immigrant has culturally transitioned and

acculturated. Because of this, the cultural knowledge and practices might closer reflect

country of origin in these families because children are present for first generation

cultural transition and acculturation patterns.

While some might think that this diversity is a limitation of data, I disagree. I am

focusing on the experiential element of multiracial families, and so having a similar racial

or ethnic background is not necessary. By doing this, I am adhering to an understanding

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put forward by Mixed Race Scholar Maria Root, but also by those in the multiracial

movement. That is, there are theoretical and experiential “parallels across different

mixtures” (Root, 1992, p. xx). Because of the parallels between various mixed

experiences, it is methodologically sound to incorporate volunteers of differing racial and

ethnic backgrounds. In this project, multiracial identity is a type of pan-ethnicity with

specific interests and group goals. Thus, diverse participants was not a limitation because

I did not focus on the specific racialized experience of each individual, but instead on the

general food ritual practices, which each family utilized to communicate a type of

blended culture.

However, I am aware that different racialized and immigration experiences affect

food rituals in various ways because of differential access to goods that affect the re­

production of cultural practices in the United States. Keeping this in mind is important

for dialogues on community inclusivity, privilege and the “othering” of certain racialized

experiences. However, for the purposes of this research project, which is more

exploratory in nature, I focus on the practices, routines and cultural interactions among

these families. By focusing on these cultural interactions, and at the same time

acknowledging which cultural materials are accessible in the region in which participants

live, I intend to address the potential limitations of having a diverse sample.

In order to look at issues of accessibility, I did not assume that all cultural foods

were available to participants. This acknowledgement prompted questions such as

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“describe the stores you go to for the purposes of gathering ingredients for cooking (e.g.

super markets, health food stores, ethnic specific, liquor/comer stores)” and “what are

some cooking ingredients that are difficult to find? If you can’t find an ingredient, what

do you do?” This allowed for me to examine which ethnic goods were perceived as

having a higher market demand, further illustrating whether or not certain identities were

understood to be part of a particular community. For example, Joseph could not find most

Swedish specialty goods at markets close to him. Thus, Joseph’s ethnic identity is not

considered by local markets to be profitable enough to include in store inventory, making

accessibility of ingredient, but also establishing a Swedish American community

difficult.

Possible Limitations

There were several methodological limitations that were presented over the course

of data collection. Focus group conversations were my main source of data collection,

and this allowed for the general limitations of a focus group methodology to occur. First,

in every focus group, there was an individual that spoke more than others. Usually, this

was either the oldest child or one of the parents. Therefore, it is possible that the opinions

of these individuals weigh heavy in the data. However, when I noticed a dominating

individual during the focus groups, I used strategies that would allow for more quiet

individuals to speak, such as asking them individually what they think about the topic at

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hand. I deliberately created youth focused questions which served the purpose of

protecting against a single older, or physically louder family member from dominating

the conversation. Youth specific questions were of high value since they allowed for

children’s voices to be heard during the focus groups.

Another limitation of focus groups could be parental influence over children’s

responses. This can occur because parents are in a position of power and therefore, can

influence children’s responses during the focus groups. However, I paid close attention to

body language and where children looked when answering questions in order to

determine how authentic and honest their answers were. Most children interestingly

looked at their siblings when responding to questions, also illustrating a type of sibling

power dynamic or agreement at play. Overall, children seemed outspoken and willing to

correct their parents if the parent said something incorrect. If I decide to expand on this

research further in the future, I intend to conduct individual interviews with children as

well as focus groups. However, the time and resource constraints of completing this type

of project in a Master’s program did not allow for the additional methodological practices

other than these three focus groups.

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Insider/Outsider Identity

As a Black/European American woman, I consider myself both an insider and

outsider with regard to participants. To position myself as an insider, I shared my

multiracial identity, favorite cultural foods, and regional familiarity with participants.

Some family members, upon finding out that I am multiracial, specifically wanted to

know about my family and culture. However, when I began video-recording and asking

questions, I still remained a partial outsider to each family unit. The social signifier of

race granted me partial insider status, but other signifiers such as education, status as a

researcher, and appearance could have propelled me into outsider status (Khanna, 2011).

Multiracial Literature

Psychologist Maria Root’s collection of essays in Racially Mixed People in

America provides foundational examples for how researchers have methodologically

approached research on multiracial identity. Old bodies of research on the multiracial

experience are heavily tinged by the “marginal” status of multiracial individuals, as well

as pathological understandings of this identity (Root, 1992, p. 181). Newer bodies of

research aim to understand the experiences of multiracial families and individuals, and

the contexts in which they live. More contemporary research is mostly generated by

multiracial scholars themselves, as there is a type of personal connection to this work that

54

aids in the quality of data collected. This is because multiracial researchers are personally

sensitive to the complexities of the multiracial experience and therefore, can speak to

these complexities through their work.

Sociologists, psychologists and Ethnic Studies scholars of Mixed Race Studies

have approached the topic of multiraciality by and large through individual interviews.

Qualitative methods have been characterized by either semistructured interviews, in

which “general questions and topic areas are explored, and structured interviews, in

which specific questions are asked” (Root, 1992, p. 186). Semistructured interviews

allow for the researcher to develop further hypotheses and research questions from

conclusions gathered in these interviews instead of being guided by a specific hypothesis.

This research project has taken the semi-structured group interview approach as the topic

of food rituals, multiracial family, and culture is a topic that is currently more exploratory

in nature due to the intellectual gap that exists with regard to these topics.

The article Prism Lives: Identity o f Binational Amerasians by Teresa Kay

Williams uses individual interviews with 43 Amerasians in order to examine the

experiences of this group. Williams finds this group to be characterized by a bi-cultural

mindset and bi-lingual skills, as well as the ability to serve as bridges of both American

and Japanese cultural worlds. Because Williams was studying the process of individual

identity development, it is logical that they would use the method of in-depth individual

interviews. However, it would have been particularly interesting to see how the parents of

55

these children understand and practice this “third culture”, and whether or not they were

conscious of the development of this particular perspective.

Williams’ methodology is valuable while looking at the individual unit and how

the individual understands themselves in a bicultural context. The individual unit of

analysis provides insight to the individual’s interpretation of events that unfold, but can

only provide one-dimensional insight and context for the influence of the family on

identity formation. I argue that examining the family unit provides unique insight into

various actors at play (i.e. parents from differing racial and ethnic backgrounds) and their

cultural influences. In addition to this, the family unit provides insight into the flow of

culture, dialogue, and performance that in turn influences the individual’s multicultural

experience. This is because the family unit is the primary source of cultural transmission

for multiracial individuals: literature suggests that racial and cultural identity construction

of multiracial individuals is formed through parental introduction to culture and networks

(Samuels, 2010; Bamaca, Gonzalez, and Taylor’s, 2006). Thus, it seems essential to

speak to parents about how individuals were introduced to their culture, how these

interactions are framed by parents, and what children take away from these interactions.

In my research project, a multi-unit level of analysis has provided examples of parents

exposing their children to their cultures in various ways, as well as the child’s reactions to

these decisions. This has provided insight into the types of practices, negotiations, and

exchanges that take place as children are learning and growing into their identity. Thus, if

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we understand that the family unit is a key part of socialization, then it is important to

include the family in data collection methods.

The Developmental Process o f Asserting a Biracial, Bicultural Identity by George

Kitahara Kich used “extensive semi-structured interviews” of 15 biracial White and

Japanese adults ages 17-60 in order to explore multiracial identity development and

culture (Kich, 1992, p. 305). Kich looked at each “subject’s sense of self over his or her

lifespan”, which gave insight into the stages of biracial identity development (Root, 1992,

p. 305). These interviews allow for in-depth knowledge of how these individuals make

sense of self, their experiences growing up, and their society at large. For example, the

degree of “dissonance” or “differentness” from society that a multiracial individual feels

might correlate to parental and/or familial influences, as well personal life experiences.

Research that allows for these families to come together and discuss these issues,

especially on healthy identity development, are just as important the individual

multiracial experience. If families have helped their children to circumvent negative

feelings about themselves, this not only dispels pathological stereotypes about multiracial

individuals and their families, but also treats multiracial families as a source of

knowledge for positive identity development. In line with Ethnic Studies theoretical

foundations, we need to think about “what constitutes knowledge, and who the knowers

and producers of intellectual value are” (Shiva, 2010, p.224). That is, our communities,

ancestors and families are vital sources of knowledge even though they might not reflect

57

Western, hierarchical sources of knowledge. Thus, I argue that multiracial families that

have produced children that adhere to healthy identity options (expressing a biracial or

multiracial identity) has the potential to provide valuable sources of knowledge for

counseling multiracial families and individuals.

DaCosta (2007) approached the topic of multiraciality through separate individual

interviews and observations with multiracial children and parents. Initially, DaCosta

verbally interviewed participants, and then administered a written survey. The written

survey included questions about where participants grew up, their childhood, their

parents, income, education, etc. However, DaCosta decided to verbally ask the survey

questions after she realized that asking these questions prompted important stories and

reflections to come up. DaCosta states that “talking about these questions became part of

the interview itself’ since they were able to provide more information on formative years,

and family life (DaCosta, 2007, p. 200). That is, these contextual stories became

important to the overall story of the individual, and a valued part of data.

Like DaCosta, I realized how essential contextual questions and conversations

were, as they sparked stories that provided rich details on the upbringing of multiracial

children in each family. I found that family focus groups allowed these memories and

conversations to occur naturally. The group setting prompted multiple conversations and

reflections, such as the homemade, smelly cheese that Roberto and Jr. bring back in their

suitcases from Mexico that only the boys will eat. These contextual family stories are like

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the flour to Etta’s fried chicken batter—without these stories, the data would lack the

savory favor and crispy coating that is needed to inform this research project. The focus

group was an essential tool because family members prompted each other on details that

made pictures of their family experience complete.

Families were also able to verify each other’s statements during the focus groups.

For example, I was able to find out how often grandma’s apple pie is really made or

which ethnic markets mom goes to, yet forgets to mention herself because of the fact that

shopping is so routine to her. Family focus groups allowed for me to gather how food

rituals looked for each family, but also see firsthand what the transmission of culture

through stories looked like. This occurred as Etta explained that her grandparents were

farmers to 11 year old Mari, whom is disconnected from this lifestyle, yet remains

connected to the idea of consuming fresh vegetables because it is part of her family

narrative. In some situations, parents in this project were in the process of passing on

cultural knowledge to their children during the focus groups.

I found the flexibility of semi-structured group interviews the best method to

delve into a relatively unexplored topic. The combination of a semi-structured approach

and the group interviews really allowed for the true characters of each family to show

through, such as the goofy dad that everyone likes to pick on, or the child that makes

their parents proud every time they speak. Although the study of multiracial individuals

has been dominated by individual in-depth interviews, the interwoven stories,

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interactions, and most of all, the love that shines through in family focus groups made

incorporating families in interviews key to sharing the holistic family experiences.

Family love and multiculturalism shined through when white-Japanese, Black Lives

Matter supporter Nori cuddled up to her white dad while talking about Japanese snacks.

Or when 11 year-old Mari said, “Give me a kiss on my lips!” to her mom while

discussing how to make her family’s traditional fried chicken recipe healthier. It’s these

moments that give the holistic picture of the daily realities of multiracial families and I

was lucky to be invited into such a sacred space.

An Alternative Recipe: Focus Groups and Mixed Race Studies

The discipline of Ethnic Studies is highly interdisciplinary by design,

allowing for a vast number of approaches to gathering data, both qualitative and

quantitative. Therefore, it is only logical that the methodological practices of Ethnic

Studies are “interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary” (Yang, 2000, p. 25). Because of the

flexibility of the field of Ethnic Studies, I was able to utilize focus groups to gather

qualitative data.

While focus groups are closely associated with marketing research strategies, they

are an important aspect of Social Science research as well. Sociologist Bogardus’ (1926)

group interviews on individuals’ willingness to interact with people of diverse

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backgrounds provides an early example of the ways that focus groups have been used in

the Social Sciences (Morgan, 1997, p. 4). In the Social Science context, group interviews

also played a vital role in gathering information on “propaganda efforts and the

effectiveness of training materials for the troops” (Morgan, 1997, p. 4). Thus, focus

groups were used as reliable sources by the United States government to gather the

opinions of individuals initially during war times. Around this same time, focus groups

emerged as a tool for marketing research, which took a more structured approach. In

contrast to this, the usage of focus groups in the Social Sciences is associated with a less

structured approach in which “participants are encouraged to talk to each other instead of

answering the moderator’s questions” (Liamputtong, 2011, p.2). Focus groups start a

conversation, and it is the moderator’s responsibility to guide the conversation certain

ways, but also to allow for natural flow of conversation to reveal important data. In

addition to this, the usage of focus group allowed for me to “bring a number of different

perspectives into contact”; these different perspectives were related to varied

interpretations of reality by parents and/or children (Morgan, 1997, p.46).

Focus groups also have roots in revolutionary, anti-oppression research. Focus

groups are able to “provide collective power to marginalized people” because this method

brings people together with similar life experiences and gives them the opportunity to

collectively dialogue (Liamputtong, 2011, p.2). Paulo Freire in Pedagogy o f the

Oppressed (1968) establishes a type of study circle/focus group in his work in order to

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collectively dialogue and generate knowledge. Freire says that dialogue is necessary in a

revolution:

“The dialogue which is radically necessary to revolution corresponds with another radical need: that of women and men as beings who cannot be truly human apart from communication, for they are essentially communicative creatures. To impede communication is to reduce men to the status of ‘things’—and this is a job for oppressors, not for revolutionaries” (Freire, 1970, p. 128)

Group dialogue can be transformative for people. Freire notes that it is human nature to

dialogue with one another; if we are stripped of this right, we become mere objects. As a

researcher, it is possible to fall into the status as an oppressor by not empowering

individuals to speak to their experiences, or if a researcher were to speak for participants.

As an Ethnic Studies researcher, it was important for me to promote dialogue and learn

from these families. This is especially important since this research was very personal,

and tied to my identity as a researcher. Thus, I needed the power of the focus groups to

both challenge and support the meanings that food rituals held for me as a multiracial

individual. In this way, my personal experiences would not overshadow the experiences

of the participating families.

The Significance of the Family Home

In order to gather the data needed to answer my research question, focus groups

were facilitated in the individual homes of each family. This decision brought me to

62

various places in the San Francisco Bay Area: Berkeley, San Mateo and Belmont.

Initially, I wanted to conduct the focus groups in volunteer homes in order to make

participation convenient for all members of the family. In addition to this, being the food

lover that I am, I realized that families would be more likely to share their homemade

food with me if I went to their home, given that transporting food is messy and

undesirable.

I realized through the interview process, however, that going into the homes and

kitchens, tables also gave me a methodological advantage. That is, it gave me the ability

to see what food preparation looked like in the kitchen and what tools were used often in

each case. Which utensils are used? How are proteins cooked? Who boils the food? Who

grills it? For example, the Locatelli family had a salad spinner out on the cabinet,

alluding to the regular washing of vegetables and fruits; the Hamid-Gonzales family had

large cooking pots and unlabeled zip-locks of brown and yellow powders, alluding to the

cooking of large quantities of curries for weekly meals.

I was able to see what consumption spaces look like, how these spaces were

used, and by whom. Being a part of their space allowed me to see if each family member

had a specific space at the dinner table that was non-negotiable. In the Grohl family, the

fresh cut of lemon placed elegantly at the bottom of five glasses on the table told me that

this act was a routine preparation made by the mom to indicate that they would eat dinner

together at the same time, while the fruit was still fresh. My participation in this routine

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allowed me to be in sync with this family. Facilitating focus groups in these homes told

me whether or not families really ate together routinely. It gave me the ability to see who

played certain roles during mealtimes, and also what domestic labor looked like during

mealtimes. It showed me that in the Locatelli and Hamid-Gonzales families, the children

play a role in clean up. In the Locatelli family, you get served in the way that momma

Etta thinks is best, but in the Hamid-Gonzales and Grohl families, you serve yourself.

All of these observations are significant to an outsider looking in on the meanings of

these food routines.

In conclusion, focus groups are not used regularly in Mixed Race studies, as

individual interviews have dominated methodologically. In contrast to this, this research

project utilized focus groups in order to attempt to answer the research questions. This

chapter has discussed methodological approaches taken in this research project, common

methodological practices used in Mixed Race Studies, and justification for using focus

groups. The following chapter will outline data collected during focus groups and

observations.

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“Marinade it Nicely to Seal in Moisture and You’ll Have a Nice Chicken Breast”:Data and Results

During the Locatelli focus group, I was presented with a plate of golden and

crispy buttermilk fried chicken salad. Etta explained how the chicken was marinated “in

buttermilk, salt, pepper, a sprinkle of tarragon, crushed garlic” and was thrown in a bowl

to sit for two and a half hours. The result was delicious, crispy and savory fried chicken.

Similar to these delicious results, focus group conversations on culinary practices lead to

juicy data and results that don’t skimp on insight into the connection of food to family,

but also to race, ethnicity and region. Food centered life histories provided insight into

family history, group membership, identity, culture, gender, and class.

In the first part of this chapter, What are food rituals? I take a step back from my

initial research question to discuss how these families conceptualize food rituals. My

initial research question aimed to find the function of food rituals in these families and

how these rituals help to create a sense of common culture. However, it is important to

first understand what families consider food rituals to be. The focus group data suggests

that there are three common ingredients in food rituals: A.) Predictability, B.) Fun and

Mundane Rituals, and C.) Cross-Cultural Culinary Learning. Predictability refers to the

idea that food rituals must be aligned with a certain seasonal, weekly or daily occurrence

that participants look forward to, as well as prepare for. Fun and Mundane Rituals refers

to a discussion of the differentiation of daily cultural recipes and the more fun and

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cultural collective rituals. Cross-cultural culinary learning refers to the phenomena of

parents learning to cook and reproduce cultural specialties from their in-laws of another

racial and/or cultural background. Understanding what constitutes a food ritual is

important because this gives us a standard from which to begin conversation on this

topic. In addition to this, understanding what food rituals are to these families can provide

insight into how food rituals differ for self-identified multiracial families as opposed to

monoracial families. While literature can provide valuable insight into what constitutes a

food ritual, food ways of multiracial families is a less-known topic and therefore must be

explored in-depth.

The second part of this chapter, “ When you feel that culture Results, will

present thematic responses from each family focus group. Results are displayed in a table

(table 2) and present individual’s response to focus group questions, as opposed to just

the majority opinion in each family. Presenting the data this way avoids overlooking

individual experiences. Following this table, the data section will focus on six themes that

are particularly helpful in providing insight on the initial research questions. These

themes are: A.) Food & Cultural Representation, B.) Parents and Family Recipes, C.)

Child desires to pass on cultural recipes, D.) Food Shopping, E.) Cultural Adaptation and

F.) Food Bringing the Family Together. Each of these thematic responses are explained

in the sections that follow table 2.

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What are Food Rituals?

The initial research question explored was “what function do food rituals play in

multiracial families?” After conducting my focus groups, this was still a valid question.

However, when I began the data analysis, I realized that I needed to think about what the

families that I interviewed understood food rituals to be. The following sections will

discuss what constitutes a food ritual in the following order: A.) Predictability, B.) Fun

and Mundane Rituals, and C.) Cross-Cultural Culinary Learning.

Predictability and Frequency

All three families expressed that predictability and/or frequency are important

components of a family food ritual. Predictability refers to the idea that a food ritual that

is aligned with a weekly, monthly or annual pattern that is predictable to family members.

Frequency refers to the idea that a food must be prepared and consumed frequently by the

family in order to be considered a food ritual. The Locatelli family’s summer southem-

style barbeques occur three to four times a year; this illustrates an example of

predictability and frequency. Similarly, the Hamid-Gonzales’ Mexican food on Mondays

occur predictably and frequently, as Alexandria explains that, “My grandpa comes over

and so my mom cooks like mainly a Mexican dish but usually sometimes it’s

Americanized too like chicken or steak. But just so we kind of created a tradition where

my grandpa gets to come over”. Both of these culinary practices happen predictably (i.e.

seasonally and weekly), and have occurred many times, thus are familiar to the family.

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The Grohl family had an especially hard time thinking about what they considered

a food ritual since they expressed that some of their family recipes were not predictably

or frequently reproduced. During the focus group, this family set their own standard for

what should be considered a food ritual. During our conversation, Hiro asked if apple

pies would be an important food ritual, and his dad responded jokingly, “How many

apple pies did we ever make?” His daughter, Nori, is in agreement as she responds, “We

have made like 2”. Laughing at the few apple pies that they have baked, they decide that

this is not a family food ritual since it has not been made frequently enough. However,

pot sticker or gyoza making is considered a food ritual for the Grohl family because they

make this recipe a few times a year.

Understanding which rituals were predictable and frequent allowed for me to

understand which food rituals were important for each family. This also allows for insight

into family visiting patterns. That is, when participants will see their family, what types

of food- related traditions are expected, and who is in charge of reproducing these rituals.

The repetitive nature of food rituals allow the children to learn performance and timing of

these family rituals.

Fun Rituals and Mundane Rituals

It is very clear that there are multiple types of food rituals that are part of the lives

of these families. One of these rituals is the more regular routines that occur daily or

weekly (e.g. nightly dinner or Monday night weekly family meal). Another type of ritual

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is the more special and less regular rituals (e.g. summer barbeques or crawfish cook

outs). These rituals are tied to seasons and/or are so laborious that the families do not

have the capacity to participate in these rituals frequently. Food rituals can be understood

as occurring in multiple situations and capacities; this can shape the family’s feelings

towards the given ritual. Of course, rarity is understood as more special and unique, and

characterized by positive feelings of family unity and fun. In contrast to this, daily rituals

are seen as more mundane and daily labor to complete. Literature indicates that the daily

cooking mostly falls on the female in the home, and so the daily cooking, feeding and

cleaning become drudgery for most women. This point was also supported by focus

group data, although the daily drudgery wasn’t just experienced by women.

When asked about questions relating to cultural identity and pride, families

primarily and frequently brought up food rituals that were laborious, collective in nature

and fun. Because more labor was involved, husband, wife and child participation

occurred and tasks were often assigned to each family member. For example, Nori and

Hiro describe that when the family makes gyoza, it’s a type of assembly line in which the

children, regardless of gender, are helping to stuff and fold; this gyoza production and

consumption speaks to their Japanese heritage. Muki explains that making potstickers are

a “family ritual that we share. We have fun together you know coming together. And

sometimes her friends [points Nori] join in you know a few high school students”. The

Grohl family gets everyone involved, even friends that are visiting. Thus, it is clear that

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making gyoza is a community event. Because they make 200-300 gyoza each time, this is

a ritual that does not occur often, but it is clear that it is enjoyable fun for those involved.

Because fun, communal and laborious rituals were primarily brought up in focus

groups, it is clear that A. these are the rituals that stand out in the participant’s

experiences, and B. that they prompt a collective, cultural memory that is valued among

families. In addition to this, these types of rituals are tied to family collective memories

around foods, whether this is the Locatelli story about their child falling down a flight of

stairs at a family barbeque or that one time the Grohl family had to create a vegetarian

pot sticker for one of Nori’s friends that came over to eat.

The Locatelli family are the best example of fun being an important

component of family food rituals. Etta describes her family’s southern style barbeque

ritual:

“I think the thing that I have added to my end of it as far as like the American or Southern or African American or whatever you want to call it is to have fun with it. That’s definitely what I do. And I definitely enjoy spirits. I think because it’s all a part of the experience and it’s fun and I enjoy it. There’s so much misery with daily with work and stuff that when you can finally find a chance to have fun with something you can do then you should do it.”

The seasonal Locatelli barbeque is collective in nature since everyone is involved in

different capacities: women are inside preparing food, while the men are outside at the

grill. It is clear that they not only have fun together as a family, but that a good time is

expected and part of breaking up the daily mundane. Etta is quick to add that you should

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know what you are doing in the kitchen before you drink too much, as it is not about

being unsafe or creating bad food—it is about fun and a little bit of creative freedom.

Making these food rituals more fun illustrate cultural change within a family towards a

more light-hearted lifestyle, as opposed to Etta’s parents, who were depicted as more

anxiety-ridden.

The Hamid-Gonzales family, unlike the other two families, do not describe their

food ritual of Mexican Monday as using the word “fun”. Instead, this day is described by

the parents and children as a chance for the family to get together, with the addition of

Roberto’s father and sister. This tradition happened after Roberto’s mother died in 1997

and can possibly be seen as a service to the grandfather for the purpose of his wellness, as

well as a time for the family to get together. Because of busy schedules, Mondays

provide a day for family gathering. Everyone knows that they will be consuming

Mexican food with their family, cooked by Pakistani-Indian Anam. This leads me to the

next point about what constitutes a food ritual for families in this project: cross cultural

culinary learning.

Cross-cultural Culinary Learning

Cross-cultural culinary learning can be understood as a parent learning one or

more cultural culinary practices from their partner or partner’s family, and then re­

producing this performance in the family. Because each parent is a carrier of one or more

cultural practices, each parent is responsible for bringing these cultural backgrounds into

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the family. When older generations sought to pass on culinary traditions, it seems that

gender was the main consideration that indicated whether or not a food should be passed

on. That is, learning and teaching occur along gendered lines. An example of this is seen

in the Hamid-Gonzales family. Cross-cultural learning occurred between Roberto’s

Mexican American mother and Anam:

“I used to help her [Roberto’s mom] too I used to watch her. I used to always go to her house and just go in the kitchen and help her out. And I would watch what she was doing and I would ask questions. What did you put in? And then she would tell me and then I would watch her and from that she told me what to do and so I learned that way some of the Mexican foods”

In this situation, it was female to female cross-cultural interaction and learning. This

perhaps adheres to the notion that women are supposed to carry the culture and this

specific type of stove-top cooking. In this case, Anam is tasked with carrying and passing

on the Pakistani Indian culture, but also the Mexican American culture through food

production.

In line with male affinity for cooking outdoors, Etta’s father, Marc Brown, taught

Joseph how to perform southern style barbeque, a skill that the Locatelli family takes

great pride in. Joseph explains that “with barbeque, I use the techniques that Mr. Brown

helped me with”. This illustrates cross-cultural learning because this is not a skill that

Joseph was familiar with before Mr. Brown’s help. Overall, the Locatelli family asserts

that Joseph has mastered the art of southern barbeque because of Mr. Brown’s teachings;

even Etta’s brother feels that Joseph has mastered barbeque techniques. Even though

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Joseph does not carry a lineage associated with the Black Southern experience, his

smoking and tenderizing techniques reflect Black American foodways.

As for the Grohl family, it is less clear whether or not similar types of cross-

cultural learning took place. Tim lived in Japan for 2.5 years before meeting Miku and

was “acclimated to the food” which he “loved almost across the border”. Over the course

of the focus group, it became clear that while Tim understood that he is white, he has

Japanese cultural traits. This is because of Tim’s time in Japan, appreciation for the

culture, and the fact that his partner and children are Japanese. It is possible that cross-

cultural learning has occurred gradually and as a consequence of environmental

considerations.

Similarly, Miku does not express that there has been a direct learning of

“American” cultural food, although she helps to make specific sides during the

Thanksgiving holiday. Hiro explains that his mom sometimes cooks sides for

Thanksgiving, like mashed potatoes and green beans. However, Miku feels that she

“should start learning” the full traditional Thanksgiving. Miku feels an obligation to learn

some of these more traditional American foods, as they are connected to Tim’s family

traditions. This obligation can be seen as a response to the gendered roles that occur in

her mother in law’s kitchen, with women re-producing the Thanksgiving meal.

It is clear that family food rituals are characterized by cross-cultural and

intergenerational learning. This learning adhere to notions of gendered responsibility,

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regardless of an individual’s racial background. Because individuals are coming from

different racial backgrounds, this cross-cultural learning is an important, as it aids in the

continuation of culture in these families.

“When You Feel That Culture”: Results

This section will outline responses to questions asked during the focus groups.

While focus group questions were standardized across families, the experiences, stories

and conversations that family members discussed were not. Thus, some of the data is

outlined in table 2 is reflective of statements that are not connected to a specific prompted

question. Following this table, I will focus on six themes that are particularly helpful in

providing insight on the research questions. The themes explored are: A.) Food &

Cultural Representation, B.) Parents and Family Recipes, C.) Child desires to pass on

cultural recipes, D.) Food Shopping, E.) Cultural Adaptation and F.) Food Bringing the

Family Together. Each of these thematic responses are explained in the sections that

follow the results table.

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Table 2: Summary of Thematic Analysis

Aspect of Food Rituals Responses Number of Responses

Racial Identity of Parents • Monoracial Identity 4• Multiracial/Biracial/Multicultural Identity 2

Racial Identity of Children • Multiracial/Biracial/Multicultural Identity 6

Main Food Shopper/Cook • Mother 6in the Home • Shared duty between father and mother 3

Food represent any specific • Shared or blended/multicultural 8culture • Regional culture 3

Topic of race come up in • Only in media/political contexts; not 10the home personally

Definition of Culture • A combination of who you are, your experiences, what you do, what you see and how you think (more individualistic understanding)

• Background, heritage, traditions (food or

7

music) 7Parents and Family • Utilize written family recipes 2Recipes • Utilize online or book recipes 3

• Use “senses” instead of following recipes 3

How children learn about • Travel 9their cultures • Language 3

• Food 3• dialogue 2

Holidays celebrated • Combination of both “traditional” American and Ethnic specific holidays

• Foods eaten during the holidays are

12

multicultural and blended 5Child desires to pass on • Pass on a single cultural dish 2cultural recipes • Pass on multiple dishes/culinary practices 4

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Table 2: Summary of Thematic Analysis, Continued

Aspect of Food Rituals

Responses Number of Responses

Shopping for Food • Utilize both ethnic specific 7markets and corporatesupermarkets in foodshopping routine

Foods that make • Food mentioned is associated 7respondents feel with racial or ethnic identityproud of identity • Food mentioned is not

associated with racial or 1ethnic identity

Holiday/tradition • Holidays 6that makes you • Traveling to heritage land 2feel most • Doing activities with family 1connected to yourfamily

Food Brings • Yes because everyone is busy 7Family Together and a meal provides a space

where family can be together• Provides a connection to 4

culture- Evokes sharedmemories

Cultural • Change recipes due to health 4Adaptation awareness

• Change recipes due topersonal preference 2

• Change recipe due toexperimentation with flavor 4

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Food & Cultural Representation

The family members in this study provided two different responses for whether or

not food cooked and eaten represented a certain culture. Their answers include that the

food cooked represents a type of blended culture, and that food cooked reflects the region

in which they live (i.e., California and San Francisco Bay Area). Both of these responses

are outlined in the sections that follow.

Family Foods as Culturally Blended

Eight of the participants indicated that they understood the foods that they cook

and consume to be reflected of a blended culture. The expression of a blended culture

indicates multiple cultural influences that are expressed through food. Further, food is a

component in asserting and communicating this multiracial family identity. For example,

some of the family members who expressed this view are:

“It’s a combination for me when I get in the kitchen, I’m kind of combining everything that I grew up with and what I was exposed to” (Etta)

“I think also we kind of just like make up our own kind of culture in a way because we’re very Americanized as well it’s not quite exactly as like the authentic Latinos may be in a house or exactly how a Pakistani family may be in a house. We kind of do bring in those two cultures but yet we create our own by being—because we’re American” (Alexandria)

“I would say it’ kind of a shared culture I guess like the two you know Mexican Hispanic and Pakistani or Indian as far as when we talk about certain holidays either one” (Roberto)

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This type of blended food culture is communicated in a few different ways verbally. Etta

uses the term “combination”, while Alexandria sees the joining of her two cultures as a

creation of a new culture. Alexandria’s father describes their family cultures as shared,

whereas the Grohl family indicates their culture in percentages, stating that they are about

60% Japanese and 40% European American. Overall, it is clear that culinary experiences

contain representation from multiple cultural practices, and this comes across as a sense

of pride for these families. The term blended did not come up, but many similar terms

did, indicating that families also make up their own terminology to describe their

experiences. This self-designation ties into Maria Root’s literature on border language:

participant’s self-designations have been coined to positively describe themselves (Root,

1996, p.xxii). These self-designations serve to empower these families and to dictate how

multiracial families are viewed in society.

Family, Food and Region

Three participants thought the foods cooked in their family reflects the region in

which they reside: California and the San Francisco Bay Area (also understood as

“California Cuisine”. Factoring in the influence of region allows for more a holistic, fluid

approach to understanding culinary practices; external and internal factors influence what

and how we eat. For example, some of the family members who expressed this view are:

On her cooking style: “ ...it’s got definitely a healthier spin to it than the southern because I have lived in California for so long that I use a lot of fresh ingredients” (Etta)

His food culturally represents “What we’re given agriculturally” (Arthur)

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“I feel like Japan has such a distinct cuisine that just by the trappings of buying the stuff and preparing it you’re automatically immersed in the at least the Bay Area’s version of Japanese culture” (Tim)

While not every participant indicated that their food reflected the California

region, the individuals that did were passionate about this. The Bay Area is understood as

a diverse region that has fresh and local ingredients. Families seem to understand that

recipes are supposed to adapt to agricultural production and season, an idea that indicates

knowledge of the connection of land, season, and region to food.

Parent and Family Recipes

Families members in this project were asked to discuss the sources of the recipes

they utilized regularly; this varied for each family and individual. Participant recipe

sources include written-down family recipes, online and/or book recipes, and utilizing

personal “senses” to cook. Family recipes were understood as multigenerational and

cultural, but also as creative and personal works of art.

Written Down Family Recipes

When asked about the source of family recipes, two parents interviewed stated

that they utilized family recipes that are written down. Recipes were written down by the

participant themselves and/or a family member. Written recipes are a type of informal

“textbook” since they provide culinary guidance. This phenomena indicates a written

down, visual medium tool through which culture can be expressed. For example, Joseph

utilizes recipes written down by his mother:

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“Well I had some recipes that were written down by my mom and then I have the cook book and I couldn’t find the book this year so I used another cook book for all of it [Swedish Christmas]” (Joseph)

Joseph indicates that he uses the recipes his mother wrote down, but if he cannot find that

booklet, he uses a cook book. This indicates that Joseph is less experienced with cooking,

but also that he places a certain value on re-creating his mother’s recipes. Thus by

adhering to his mother’s understanding of how to make Swedish holiday foods, Joseph

reflects the understanding that mother knows best in the kitchen. In addition to this,

Swedish foodways research indicates that women were primarily responsible for re­

producing holiday feasts. However, Locatelli’s food rituals contrast this gendered

understanding, since he is a man who is re-articulating historical understandings of

Swedish meal production so that his family can experience their cultural foods.

Online or Book Recipes

Three parents indicated that they utilize online and/or book sources to create

cultural dishes. Men used books and online sources more than women, as women (as

discussed later) indicated a more sensual and experiential knowledge of cooking that did

not require the usage of recipe books. Below are some example of respondents that use

online recipes and/or books when they cook:

“Me because I am lame. I usually look online go ‘oh that’s way too much blah blah blah’. I would say 50% of the time I use recipes” (Tim)

They [Ikea store] have a little pamphlet I bought 12,13 years ago with the basic Christmas food recipes so I use that” (Joseph)

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These two men, while indicating that they are familiar with the recipes they are cooking,

indicate that recipe sources are used regularly. It is clear that these men play unique roles

in the kitchen. They are attempting to re-create traditional foodways the best they can—

while seeking guidance from printed sources. Tim expresses a sense of shame in using

recipes, as he is comparing himself to his wife, who depends on her senses and

experience to prepare foods. However, Tim still assets a type of expert status with

Japanese cuisine since he rejects some suggestions provided by online sources. This

reflects the ways in which recipes cooked in families can mirror specific characteristics

of each family. In this sense, cultural recipes are communal and leave space for a type of

resistance to “experts” that claim to have an “authentic” knowledge of how to cook

certain cultural foods; claims of authenticity often do not leave space for the changing

nature of culture, nor do they allow for various experiences to shine through in food.

Thus, Tim is adding his own chiste, or twist, as Meredith Abarca would say, which in

turn allows for his knowledge, creative expression, and his identity as a white American

with a Japanese family to shine through (Abarca, 2004, p.4). In addition to this, Tim’s

actions represent a moment in which he is able to assert his agency through cooking.

Using Senses to Cook

Three female participants indicated that they primarily use their own bodily

senses to cook. This indicates a level of experienced cooking that has been engrained in

them over time. The mothers made key statements about this phenomena including the

following:

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“That’s what I was going to say to you I feel like that’s how I cook. Even in Mexican foods that’s how I feel it and I use my own [points to head] judgement on the recipes” (Anam)

“I wish that I could write it down but I can’t. I have been doing this for so long I just do it. In my mind, they’re [the recipes] here. It might be better to write them down and talk about them so that other people can have them. But I don’t have anything written down, it’s just from experience” (Etta)

Anam and Etta explain that they use their experiential and bodily knowledge to cook; this

includes an understanding and a trust in their bodies as a source of knowledge. In this

situation, food rituals have played a role in cementing certain culinary practices in the

bodies and minds of these women for them to share with their families. Interestingly,

Anam is not Mexican but has been cooking Mexican food for over 20 years and is now

considered an expert in cooking Mexican cultural foods. Etta indicates the potential

importance of writing recipes down, but at the same time, is unsure of whether or not this

knowledge can be written down. It seems that Etta values sensory knowledge, which

contrasts to Western epistemology which only values knowledge that is written down.

That is, instead of adhering to written language to share knowledge, Etta is dependent on

her sense of smell, touch, and taste to re-create recipes.

Child Desires to Continue on Cultural Recipes

Children were asked if they would like to pass on any cultural dishes to their

potential families, and if so, which ones. Every child in this study expressed desire to

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pass on a dish from their family, even though some children were more experienced than

others with cooking. Children either wanted to pass on a single dish or multiple dishes. In

addition to this, some children expressed that they wanted to pass on certain dishes, but

wanted alter these dishes in some way.

Desire to Pass on a Single Dish

Two children expressed desire to pass on a single cultural dish. It is clear that a

type of familiarity and love for their family’s food is part of the reason that children

expressed the desire to pass on the dish. Below are some of the comments that illustrate

this view:

“I guess my mom’s curry like those are pretty good the way that she makes them and I guess that I would want to bring that into my home when I have a family to share that with my kids” (Alexandra)

“I would like to pass on curry because it’s good and not everyone can make it”(Jr)

These children intend to learn to cook and pass on their mother’s curries because they

clearly enjoy eating them, but also because this type of cuisine cannot be reproduced by

just anyone. Interestingly, both children choose Pakistani cuisine and don’t mention

passing on their father’s Mexican cuisine, even though it is clear throughout the interview

that Jr really likes Mexican food. It is possible that Jr.’s response might have replicated

his sister’s, but it is hard to say since Jr.’s reasoning for wanting to learn to make curry is

because the knowledge is rare, a reason that is different from his older sister’s.

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Desire to Pass on Multiple Dishes

Four children revealed that they would like to learn how to cook and pass on

multiple culinary traditions; this indicates a possible affiliation towards multiple cultural

traditions. Below are some of the children’s comments that illustrate this view:

“I would want to pass on lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs” (Mari)

“I would want to pass on everything that they [his parents] do now. Bringing it all together probably not maintaining strict recipes the ways that you guys follow it to the T. Some of the things like the [fried] chicken tonight” (Arthur)

Both the children in the Locatelli family want to pass on multiple cultural foods. Mari’s

desire to pass on Italian food indicates not only that she enjoys this type of food, but that

Italian food has been a staple in their household for her to enjoy. It seems that the Italian

identity has been passed on through food solely, as this identity is not verbally expressed

in this family during the focus group. In addition to this, Etta enjoys cooking Italian food

and makes it a point to cook it regularly.

Arthur’s response shows an affinity towards multiple cultural foods that both

parents have introduced him to. Perhaps these traditions have worked together to

influence his identity as an aspiring chef in San Francisco. Arthur believes that his

parents adhere to strict recipes, which he finds both positive and negative. Arthur sees

following some recipes strictly as positive, since doing so will allow for certain foods,

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like fried chicken, to turn out similar to his mother’s. On the other hand, following the

recipes so closely doesn’t give space for Arthur’s self-expression or creativity. This

indicates Arthur’s desire to learn these recipes, but also his ability to differentiate which

recipes will stay the same and which will transform.

Shopping for Food

When asked shopping routines, the family members in this study agreed on a few

points. First, they unanimously agreed that living in the San Francisco Bay area provides

access to ethnic markets that allow them to shop for important cultural ingredients.

Second, families acknowledged that they routinely utilized both ethnic specific and

corporate supermarkets for groceries. These points about shopping are outlined in the

sections that follow.

Ethnic Markets and the San Francisco Bay Area

Overall, the parents in this study expressed appreciation for the multitude of

ethnic markets available in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants used these markets

to gather ingredients for everyday cooking, as well as for big family events. Family

members discussed the Bay Area’s shopping options during the focus groups:

“Well because also in the Bay Area a lot of stuff is available at normal supermarkets that you might not see in Kansas or somewhere. So I can get shishito [peppers] and stuff from even Safeway” (Tim)

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“Yeah, you can’t just go to Safeway for something like that. You have to go to a Swedish store or a market or Ikea” (Etta)

“See another thing is the prices. You get things cheaper in your own markets than the in the store.. .1 mean Safeway or Lucky’s. That’s why I go a lot and get all the traditional spices and accessories...whatever I need I go there” (Anam)

Both Roberto and Anam agreed that there were a lot of diverse markets in the San

Francisco Bay Area. The convenience of multiple Indian stores in San Mateo County

allows Anam to cook her Indian dishes weekly, whereas the lack of Swedish stores might

partially explain why Joseph only cooks Swedish specialty foods a couple times a year.

Thus, accessibility of ingredients plays a key role in the ability to reproduce specific

cultural foods more frequently. The corporate supermarket Safeway is mentioned by

almost every family, indicating that this corporation is a dominant in the Bay Area. In

addition to this, the above quotes illustrate that Safeway has made efforts to include

certain ethnic cuisines, while excluding other cuisines that they deem are less

representative of the ethnic communities that they serve.

Utilizing Ethnic and Corporate Markets Simultaneously

Seven respondents indicated that they utilize both ethnic specific markets and

corporate supermarkets in their food shopping routine. However, the frequency of

shopping at these ethnic specific stores varied from weekly to a couple times a year.

Shopping frequency is suggestive of how often an ethnic specific food is cooked. Lack of

ethnic market shopping can also suggest that families have incorporated alternative

ingredients into their food rituals and that they make do with what they have access to. In

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response to questions about the locations in which they shop for food, the families made

many statements including the following:

“Wholefoods. I also like Piazzi’s market because they have really fresh vegetables and fruits. And I also like to try to buy ingredients that are you know locally produced and I can find that at whole foods or Piazzi’s. With Safeway, you’re getting stuff that’s from Mexico or from New Zealand or from wherever but you have much better chances of getting local products and ingredients from like a whole foods or another kind of local market like that and that’s what is important to me” (Etta)

“Sometimes Safeway fruits and vegetables can be bad for you” (Mari)

“Anchovies and pates and herrings and stuff like that. You can’t find it everywhere. It’s all specialty [Scandinavian] stores” (Joseph)

“Friday and Saturday after work I go to two stores and then on Saturday I go to one or my Indian store and the Mexican store” (Anam)

“Where we go...it’s [Chavez market] like your traditional little Mexican market but they kind of made it big like a chain. They’ve got 5 of them now” (Roberto)

“They slice the meat in ways we need at Pusan market, right? Sometimes we need really thin sliced pork for yakiniku [Japanese BBQ] or thin sliced stuff that maybe a butcher would do it if you ask at Safeway but Asian markets seem to have a wide variety of meat preparation styles to suit our cooking” (Tim)

Questions about grocery shopping prompted a great deal of natural conversation, as these

families felt very strongly about what each market had to offer, as well as which markets

they financially contributed to. They saw themselves as active consumers with the power

to pick and choose with markets received their business, which indicates a certain class

privilege. That is, they were in an area with the privilege of market choice. There was a

general consensus that Safeway, while being convenient, did not provide fresh

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ingredients. Safeway was seen in a negative light since it was corporate and was seen to

disconnect the food from land, season, and region. Due to convenience, however,

Safeway became an important shopping location that all three families used at some

point.

All families shopped with at least two grocery stores: one big chain (such as

Safeway or Whole Foods) and one ethnic market (independently owned or a chain). This

serves as further evidence that these families exercise multiple cultural traditions in their

homes; these traditions are supported by material goods available in ethnic markets. In

addition to ingredients, ethnic markets can provide unique services, such as specific meat

butchering. For all three immigrants in this project, visiting these markets recreated a

sense of place associated with their country of origin. Markets became a space where

they could connect with other individuals from their home regions, as well as gather

relevant ingredients for their culinary practices.

Food Bringing the Family Together

The final theme explored in this chapter has to do with whether or not

families expressed that food is a unifying force for their family. In each focus group, I

asked the simple question of whether or not food brings them together as a family.

Everyone enthusiastically agreed that food brings them together, but for different and

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sometimes overlapping reasons. Participant’s responses include that food brings them

together because meals provide a set time amidst the chaos of life that family can be

together, and because food provides a connection to their multiple cultures.

Meal Times as Together Times

Seven participants indicated that food brings them together because meal times are

spaces in which families come together amidst chaotic schedules. As Anthropologist

Mary Douglas suggests, meal times are a chance for these families to create a type of

structure and routine out of potential chaos (Lupton, 1996). Participants made statements

about meal times bringing them physically and emotionally together including the

following:

“Yeah food brings us together as a family. Monday through Friday everybody is kind of doing different things and we really don’t get together as much as I would like but maybe over the weekends or Mondays when my dad comes over for dinner you know it’s a chance for the family to get together” (Roberto)

“It’s a reason for people to get together” (Arthur)

“And when I think about Mike [her brother] who’s so particular about food and before the last several years he would never really go outside of his comfort zone but with our [Swedish] Christmas eves, he has gone completely out of his comfort zone and he you know he looks forward to these things and he didn’t grow up with those kinds of [Swedish] foods” (Etta)

“Oh yeah I think so. We don’t have breakfast together, we certainly don’t have lunch together so if it were not for dinner, we would never catch up with each other” (Tim)

Responses to this question were very enthusiastic; all family members agreed that food at

least physically brings them together. A lot of the time, food is a source of excitement

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that brings these families together on a weekly or nightly basis. As Etta puts it, being

excited about preparing and consuming food “kind of gives you a reason to keep living”.

Etta is alluding to the fact that food can fuel her spirit as well as her body; this connection

to food and family gives her life more purpose. Equally important is Etta’s mention of her

brother’s acceptance of Swedish cultural foods. Overall, food has had the power to bring

the family together, regardless of the cultural background of the individual.

Food Provides a Connection to Culture

Four individuals responded that food solidifies their family identity since

foodways provide a clear connection to a specific family culture and history. Because of

this link between culinary practices, racial/ethnic identity, and family histories, food

rituals are valuable mediums through which families practice their cultures. Below are

some examples that illustrate this belief:

“When we eat Japanese food that we all like it can bring us to like an old memory like ‘oh do you remember when Nori used to be like three or four years old she used to hate it...’ and it really you know as family [brings fingers together] serves as a memory or um I don’t know shared stories. So yeah I think what we eat is a very important component of culture too” (Miku)

“What’s real cool too is like the dishes that you make on Christmas for me to talk to Rita’s [Arthur’s Islandic girlfriend] parents and for them to know what I’m talking about like the names of it and techniques and stuff like that that’s a whole other side of connecting” (Arthur)

“That’s true. I have I have a two identities. The two identities are the Swedish one around Christmas time and then American for memorials day” (Joseph)

Arthur, while reflecting on his family upbringing states:

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“New Years eve stuff like that black eyed peas that’s when it comes into play you know right before when we’re talking about the experiences leading up to why we cook the meal out of tradition things like that ...that’s when you feel that culture. For me.” (Arthur)

From these passages, we can gather that food preparation and consumption play two

separate roles in bringing families together. However, both evoke shared memories and

stories. On one hand, food preparation and performance can bring generations together,

creating a type of intergenerational communication. On the other hand, consumption of

these foods also provides connection to family memories or stories that can be passed on

for generations. Miku’s example of Nori disliking certain things speaks to Nori’s

personality, but also collective memories that both Miku and Tim can share with future

generations.

Cultural Adaptation

Every family indicated that recipe changes and/or adaptations occurred.

According to participants, adaptations occurred for three reasons: health awareness,

personal preferences, and experimentation with flavor. These three categories are

explored in the sections that follow.

Health Awareness

The most common recipe change is related to participant’s understandings of

health and nutrition. That is, each family and individual has varying understandings of

what healthy is. Many health adaptations occur because the individual perceived this

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change to be healthier than the original recipe. Below are some examples of health-

related recipe adaptations:

“Fried chicken is not completely bad but it’s fried but if you add it with other fresh mixed vegetables, it gives it a better flair and it’s very tasty” (Etta)

“Well we used to be we’re still transitioning [to mostly eating brown rice] we used to be just completely white rice... but it’s got zero vitamins” (Tim)

“Yeah um it tastes best when they’re fried [chicken tacos] even though it’s not the best for you” (Roberto)

“See my mother didn’t get faded [drink alcohol] either. She put a lot of stress on herself. I try to be more relaxed because I don’t want to be as stressed out as she was. I like to be a little more relaxed. That’s adding your own touch to it too” (Etta)

These adaptations are understood as positive by parents in this project because they

contribute to a healthy lifestyle, emotionally and physically. Perceptions of health do not

veer far from common understandings on what it means to eat healthfully. That is,

understandings, such as increasing intake of whole grains or decreasing the amount of

fried foods consumed, are part of moving towards a healthier lifestyle. Families do not

feel the need to give up their cultural food practices, but instead simply alter these foods

in order to be healthier emotionally and physically.

Personal Preference

Two participants indicated that food adaptations are due to the personal

preferences of an individual in the family, either a child or the father in the home.

Preferences result in changes that shape the ways in which recipes are reproduced in the

home. The following quotes show cultural adaptations based on personal preference:

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“Yeah I thought the curry Indian food was very different for me when I first started eating it and so I had never experienced it so it was you know definitely different and then it was a different kind of spiciness not like Mexican food spiciness but um I learned to like a lot of it um she likes to make it pretty spicy... she knows I don’t like things too spicy so she’ll tone things down” (Roberto)

“With chili spices, I don’t like it either. Yeah but little Jr. likes it and my mom loves it” (Alexandria)

These two examples illustrate personal taste related adaptations on the level of spiciness

of the curries Anam makes. Roberto mentions that there is a different type of spiciness in

Pakistani and Mexican food. This difference is something that Roberto did not get used

to, and so his personal preferences have shaped how Anam cooks her curry for the

family. Alexandria agrees with her father, and so in this family, the husband and oldest

daughter shape culinary adaptations.

Experimentation with Flavor

Four participants indicated that recipe changes have to do with the chefs desire to

experiment with flavor. This indicates a tendency towards a more creative interpretation

of cultural recipes. Some examples of creative interpretations of family dishes include:

“Sometimes I try to .. .like when I make the BBQ sauce or something I will try something new every now and then just to see if I can make it better. I always try to make it better” (Etta)

“It’s more like Avant guard his [Tim] style of cooking. I don’t look at recipes”

(Miku)

“I put it in a frying pan and that’s tragic or what?” (Tim)

“No basically it’s just like... I feel like salt is really all a fish needs” (Nori)

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Individual’s desires and the ability to experiment with cooking indicates that family

members understand that it is acceptable to innovate family recipes; this act does not

lessen cultural authenticity, but instead provides a space for creative expression. This

indicates that recipes are in fact a communal creation and can tell the story of not only

past generations, but also current family member’s identities.

This chapter has first discussed the three characteristics of food rituals for

volunteer families. These characteristics are Predictability, Fun and Mundane Rituals,

and Cross-Cultural Culinary Learning. Following this, a summary of data was presented

in Table 2. Data discussed was broken into six categories: Food & Cultural

Representation, Parents and Family Recipes, Child Desires to Pass on Cultural Recipes,

Food Shopping, Food Bringing the Family Together, and Cultural Adaptation. These

sections inform the following analysis section, as I dig deeper into ways these topics

serve to answer the research questions.

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“Half salmon Half trout...that Tastes Really Good”: Analysis

This quote was pulled from one focus group dialogue in context to a discussion of

camping—a family bonding activity for the Hamid-Gonzales family. While camping is

more family oriented, the fishing aspect is considered “kind of a guy’s thing” by Roberto.

Roberto, his father, and his son all participate in this outdoorsy activity that happens to be

closely aligned with common depictions of masculinity. Anam is expressing that the

“half salmon, half trout” is her favorite fish that the men bring back, as she is not too

keen on just the trout. Anam’s preference for this fish is highly symbolic for this project

because this fish can be seen as being mixed, illustrating a sense of positivity around the

mixed identity. While mixed isn’t always better, Anam illustrates that in this situation, it

is.

This chapter seeks to present analysis of the focus group data in the following

ways. First, the theoretical frameworks that have informed this research project will be

outlined. These frameworks include Third Culture, Critical Mixed Race Theory and

Racial Formation Theory, Food Centered Life Histories and Decolonizing Knowledge.

Following this framework discussion is a section on participant observation analysis,

followed by study findings organized by three themes: Food Rituals as functioning to

maintain and continue culture, to provide space for cultural adaptation, and finally, to

push gender binaries in the home.

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Theoretical Frameworks

The following sub-sections outline the theoretical concepts that gave shape to this

project’s goals and approaches. These concepts aim to give voice and power to

underrepresented peoples and in fact, utilizes dialogue to give collective power to these

individuals in the context of their very own spaces: their homes, kitchens and tables.

Third Culture and Resistance to Marginality

Multiracial identity has been pathologized historically through political,

cultural, and institutional “common sense” constructions. The marginal man theory was

used to regard multiracial individuals as having “the neither/nor status, cultural

maladjustment, limited social assimilation, incomplete biological amalgamation, and

pathological personalities...” (Williams, 1992, p.281). Recent multiracial scholarship has

resisted these interpretations through the depiction of a third culture. That is, Teresa Kay

Williams insists on a “positive” side of marginality, stating this to be that multiracials can

be seen “as possessing insight and knowledge of two or more distinct and often

antagonistic worlds, which enables him or her to lead the parent societies into

transcending their differences” (Root, 1992, p.282). This insight and knowledge of

multiple cultural worlds is understood as a “third culture”.

In Prism Lives: Identity o f Binational Amerasians, Teresa Kay Williams uses the

term “third culture” to describe multiracial white-Japanese individuals that are raised on

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US military bases. Williams suggests that the first culture is their mother’s Japanese

culture, second is their father’s American culture, and third culture is the “intercultural

meeting of the first and second cultures or the creation of a new culture through the

synthesis of the two parent cultures” (Williams, 1992, p.283). By being multiracial and

multicultural, it is understood that these individuals have loyalties to multiple cultures;

these loyalties can play out in multiple avenues in their lives. Data from my research

project supports Williams’ assertion that multiracials hold on to multiple cultural symbols

and actions simultaneously; these symbols and activities are important components of

their family cultural identity and lineage. Because of the clear connection to multiple

cultures in each participant family, these blended, interlocking cultural practices can be

understood as a type of “third culture”.

Critical Mixed Race Theory & Racial Formation Theory

Critical Race Theory is focused on examining and challenging racial and power-

based hierarchies engrained in our society. Critical Race Studies was developed post-civil

rights era in order to “address continuing racialized inequities and lack of representation

of marginalized communities of color, particularly in education and public discourses”

(Daniel, Kina, Dariotis & Fojas, 2014, p.7). Thus, Critical Race Studies looks at

structural inequalities of people of color. Critical Mixed Race Studies is similar in

nature, but places the experiences of multiracial individuals at the center of analysis.

Critical Mixed Race studies includes analysis of “racial consciousness among racially

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mixed people, the world in which they live, and the ideological, social, economic, and

political forces, as well as policies that impact the social location of mixed-race

individuals and inform their mixed-race experiences and identities” (Daniel, Kina,

Dariotis & Fojas, 2014, p.8). Thus, Critical Mixed Race studies is informed by the

contextual factors that shape the experiences of multiracial individuals. This project

adheres to the idea that the pathological common sense about multiracial individuals has

not entirely changed in the United States, and so it is still necessary to unpack the

experiences of multiracial families.

Ethnic Studies foundational literature Racial Formation Theory outlined by

Michael Omi and Howard Winant (1994) argues that institutional, political, and cultural

factors shape the way racialized identities are formed. Racial Formation Theory

acknowledges that while “race” is not a biological reality, it has real implications in our

society and has been shaped by socio-political factors over time. The racial formation of

multiracials has been determined by societal and legislative factors such as the One Drop

Rule and/or Anti-Miscegenation Legislation, which both argue that multiracial

individuals and families do not exist. Challenging this socially constructed “common

sense” is a form of resistance and self-determination. Resistance looks like “refusing to

fragment, marginalize, or disconnect ourselves from people and from ourselves” (Root,

1996, p. 6). Thus, of our claimed and expressed identities can be forms of resistance. As

multiracial people, our cultural knowledge and pride can show up in multiple and

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unexpected ways. For example, even though 11 year old Mari is not “full” Italian, she has

a right to love and have pride in her mother’s homemade Italian food.

Food Centered Life Histories

This project’s approaches reflect an adherence to a feminist-oriented

methodological approach known as food-centered life histories called put forth by

foodways scholar Carole Counihan. Counihan asserts that “food centered life histories are

semi-structured tape-recorded interviews with willing participants, on their beliefs and

behaviors surrounding food production, preparation, distribution, and consumption”

(Counihan, 2008, p. 354-355). These histories are feminist oriented because food is

understood as women’s work. While some feminist circles consider the kitchen a site of

oppression, the kitchen can also be source of creative self-expression. That is, through

conversations about food, marginalized identities and realities can be acknowledged and

included in historical consciousness.

Food-centered life histories can also can be used to analyze the male experience.

This is because theories of masculinity “focus on a boy’s transition from the world of the

mother to that of the father” (Counihan, 2002, p.305). That is, since women are

responsible for the feeding and acculturation of young males, they are connected to the

mother first for survival, yet adapt to expected gender roles of masculinity over time.

Men expressing their food-centered life histories was particularly fitting for this research

project since men in this project were somewhat responsible for the reproduction of foods

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associated with their mother’s cultural backgrounds. This is because they were in an

interracial relationships, and so they were partially responsible for the reproduction of

specific cultural practices. In this way, food centered life histories are appropriate

methodological approaches for men as well as women. In addition to this, food centered

life histories inform individual and community connections between food and identity,

food and ethnic relations, food and class, and finally, food and gender. Food is where the

story begins, and from there, we can understand the complexities of these overlapping

identities.

In this project, food to is used as a symbol to enact a type of multiracial and

multicultural identity. In the case of younger children, food centered life histories allowed

them to explain their connection to identities that they might not know how to express

any other way. Discussion of food practices also become ways that are able to keep

ancestor’s identities and histories intact. These histories became a sense of pride for

participants. For example, the skill of catching the fish, chopping its head off and de-

boning it is reflective of how Miku’s dad butchers a fish in Japan. When Miku butchers a

fish, which serves to connect her to a sense of place (Japan), but also her father.

In focus group interviews, conversations on racial identity centered on family

foods cooked and consumed. During the group interviews, I asked families whether or

not the topic of race came up in the home. Surprisingly, the families said the topic of race

did not come up often, aside from political/social topics that came about as reactions to

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media. All participating families were surprised and puzzled by this question. They were

hesitant to say no, but could not say that race came up regularly. However, when

discussions of cooking, feeding, eating, and food shopping were brought up, racial

identity came up as well. In this way, food centered discussions illuminated conversations

on race for these families. These families, while talking about tamales, all spice, apple

pie, Japanese chicken nuggets, and pork ribs defined themselves and their identities

around these foods and their stories of origin. Their cultural and generational knowledge

came out when discussing these recipes and/or food rituals.

Decolonizing Knowledge

The discipline of Ethnic Studies provides critiques on what constitutes knowledge

and who producers of knowledge actually are. Western understandings of knowledge

adhere to top down notions of knowledge, where an “expert” knows best. I challenge this

assertion by using a methodological approach that constructs participants as not simply

research subjects, but as “grassroots theorists” that reflect “social and philosophical

theories from the ground up” (Abarca, 2006, p. 9). In the field of American Indian, oral

traditions serve to reclaim the past of indigenous people, as well as to resist western

interpretations of native peoples. Similar to this, multiracial families in this study use

their oral histories to assert their identities and revolutionary existence since these

families challenge the American racial schema.

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Meet the Foodie Families

In the following section, I will introduce the participant families. There are three

families in total: the Locatellis, the Hamid-Gonzaleses, and the Grohls. Their location

within the Bay Area, food cooked and individual family members are outlined below.

The Locatelli Family: Barbeque Sauce and Gravlax

The Locatelli family resides in Belmont, California, about 20 minutes south of

San Francisco by car. This family is special because they are my blood relatives. They

have been in the Bay Area for about 20 years and are now homeowners in Belmont.

When I walked into their home, I was greeted with a glass of sparkling wine, the heat of

the kitchen, and savory smells. The Etta stood in the kitchen, draped in a black and white

sweater and jeans, deemed “comfortable cooking clothes”. This environment was familiar

and comfortable, most likely since I already know this family very well. For dinner, we

conversed over buttermilk fried chicken breast over a bed of lettuce, carrots and

avocados, in a light, creamy, homemade ranch dressing. A single, balanced protein and

veggie dish suggests a desire for healthy and tasty food. The plate was colorful and

seemed balanced nutritionally. Pairing wine with the food suggests knowledge of wine

and spirits. No dessert was served, but there was plenty of wine to go around before,

during and after dinner.

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The Loeatelli’s cooked a single dish, something that the entire family would eat

without any substitutions. You only had one choice, signaling the unifying experience of

eating the same foods together, “for eating together forges social connections”

(Counihan, 2002, p.298). In this family, eating together marks closeness, or as Arthur

says, meal times illustrate that fact that they are a “pretty tight little unit”. This communal

experience is reflective of types of communal dinners that are “central to life in African

villages”, and now reflected in African-American foodways (Counihan, 2002, p.97).

Upon sitting down and eating with the Locatelli’s, I can feel that they are all passionate

about food.

The Hamid-Gonzales Family: Mexican Mondays and Curries, Curries, Curries!

The Hamid-Gonzales Family resided in San Mateo, CA. I interviewed them on a

balmy Sunday afternoon in January and we sat in their living room laughing and sharing.

I was greeted by their 24 year old daughter, sandy-blond/brown hair and big smile,

dressed casually in sneakers and a sweater. Her mother, Anam, was nervous during the

interview. Anam has long dark hair, high cheek bones, and was dressed in a purple

cardigan with her face made up. Anam identifies as “full blooded” Pakistani. Roberto, her

husband, is very light-skinned, with low-cut grey hair. He was wearing grey track pants

and a tee shirt, while he reclined back in a big, comfortable looking chair. Described by

his daughter, Alexandria, as “usually shy”, he had a lot to say, and I found him jumping

into the conversation eagerly.

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The nice appearance of Anam suggests that she knew that the conversation would

be directed towards her, and she wanted to look nice for it. Anam is in charge of both the

Mexican and Pakistani culinary reproduction in the home because she is the primary chef

in the home. During an interview break, Anam came over with a sample plate of chicken

curry, lentils and fragrant basmati rice from India. I was also given roti bread because

“they didn’t have any naan” at the store. After the interview, she gave me a generous

bowl of dessert—a slightly sweet, cinnamon dessert made of sooji, as she called it, or

semolina. Curries were cooked in a large, metal pot, indicating that food is supposed to

last through the week. Thus, Anam has minimal meal preparation throughout the week

and more time for other activities.

The Grohl Family: More About Japanese Snacks than Apple Pie

I arrived in Berkeley, where the Grohl family resides, on an early Sunday evening

in February. I was greeted at the door warmly by Miku. She had dark, shoulder length

hair and was wearing a red, casual dress with pink long sleeves underneath. There was

Brazilian jazz playing over an earth-tone set table with flowers and glasses with a slice of

lemon inside them. A light-colored wooden chair was at the end of the table and was a

different shape and color than the other four chairs around the table. I instantly knew this

is where I would be sitting for dinner. I felt welcomed and included in their family space.

The children, Hiro and Nori, were hidden away in their rooms when I walked through the

door and when they were called to dinner, they came out slowly and awkwardly saying hi

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to me. Both the Miku and Tim came out of the kitchen and through the Japanese doorway

curtain holding various dishes. They both carefully put down steamed brown rice and

broiled, salted salmon on a long desk next to the dinner table. The ratatouille and

Japanese Macrobiotic quinoa salad was put on the dinner table. I noticed that the salmon

was crispy, and salty, and that this was the only seasoning on the fish. I found out later

that simply using salt is a Japanese way of seasoning fish.

I happily serve myself a healthy plate of food, at first attempting to use chopsticks

like everyone else, but then giving up and using a fork. After dinner, we began the

interview, during which I was presented with hot water for Japanese tea and a selection of

Japanese style teas. A large bowl of grapes was placed in the middle for everyone to

snack on. I could tell this family is very health conscious. We all sipped on tea for hours,

talking and laughing. The laughter came from the bluntness of the children, from the

daughter “checking” the dad on issues related to race and privilege, and from the personal

stories of Tim.

Initial Observations

The following section will outline the initial observations of each family home.

One of the first observations I noticed when walking into each family’s home is the way

that the dinner table visually looked: the utensils, the color scheme, whether or not there

were serving platters on the table and whether or not plates were already on the table. The

second thing I noticed is where I would sit during the focus group. The last observation

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made was whether or not they ate together as a family regularly. Two factors told me

this: 1. the location in which the female head of the household chose to participate in the

focus group, and 2. the table settings, and whether or not there was a designated spot at

the table for each family member.

The Locatelli and Grohl families pointed me toward the dining room table

in order to begin our conversation. Both tables were set in preparation for the focus group

to begin the conversation at the dining room table. Further, the table was set with a

napkin, glass and utensil for each person. This emphasized that this space is normalized

as a familial space for conversation and eating.

At the Hamid-Gonzales home, I was directed to sit on a chair in the living room

for the focus group. This space at first seemed counter-intuitive to discuss the topic of

food, but then I learned that this space is where they sit “just like this” on Christmas

morning, a sacred family ritual for them. This is their family gathering space. It becomes

clear that they are not regularly together during mealtimes, accept for when Anam cooks

Mexican food on Mondays. After our conversation, Anam, Alexandria, Jr., and I ate

lunch at the dining room table. Roberto remained in the living room eating a salad. This

suggests that this family does not commonly eat together, nor do they eat the same things

collectively all the time.

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What Function do Food Rituals Play in Self-Identified Multiracial Families?

The functions of food rituals in self-identified multiracial families can be broken

into three themes: Cultural Continuity and Maintenance, Cultural Adaptation, and

Resistance to Gender Binaries. Under the theme Cultural Continuity and Maintenance, a

discussion of cultural fusion and/or pairing provides an answer to my second research

question: How do these rituals help to create a sense of common culture in a multiracial

family?

I. Cultural Continuity: Recipes and Senses as Ancestor’s Voices

All three families communicated that food rituals and the recipes attached to these

rituals functioned as a medium through which their culture is transmitted. Therefore, food

rituals are a tool for cultural maintenance. Food rituals serve to continue culture because

these rituals are a connection to ancestors, and to place of origin, whether this be Pakistan

or the American South.

Family Recipes

All three families understood recipes as a way of bridging multiple generations, as

well as cultural backgrounds. Enrique Salmon states that “recipes are dynamic, as they

get altered and tailored to family changes, history and events. Often a family member will

change the recipe, or someone new to the family will cause this to happen” (Salmon,

2012, p.9). Recipes can be understood as bridging various family compositions and

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experiences. Therefore, they become dynamic and catered to through time, but also

reflect the various personalities that create them. An example of this is Anam’s re­

creation of Mexican food for her family. Since Roberto’s mother has passed away,

Aman’s cooking becomes a way of providing comfort to Roberto and his father, but also

provides a direct connection Roberto’s Mexican American mother. Establishing the

routine of Mexican food on Mondays ensures that the family will eat together weekly. In

the Locatelli family, the barbeque sauce bridges multiple generations together, as Arthur

describes that his mom, his grandparents and “whole family have had examples of this

sauce”. Thus, this barbeque sauce is something that connects this family together

generationally. This has the effect of unifying the Locatelli family over generations, and

creating a collective memory from which identity can be molded.

The Grohl family struggled to think of a cultural recipe that had been passed

down generationally. However, they realized that chicken karaage, also known by the

family as the “Japanese chicken nugget thing”, is a family recipe passed down from

Miku’s mom. Miku has altered the recipe slightly, but these changes are seen as

reflecting her creative expression, and is not necessarily reflective of her interracial

relationship. However, what is reflective of an American immigration experience (and

possibly their interracial relationship) is the way “karaage” is called “Japanese chicken

nuggets” by this family. This name is a type of borderland language, since this new

designation closely resembles American fast food names (Root, 1996, p.xxiv). This

borderland language has effect of asserting this traditional Japanese food into the

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multicultural smorgasbord that is American cuisine. However, even though it has been

given an American “nickname”, karaage is still tied to Japan, and Miku’s mother.

The Locatelli family’s story indicated that food rituals aid in the construction of a

historical family narrative. The fried chicken recipe sparked conversation on the

intersections of race, class and region. Etta explains that her grandparents had “a lot of

kids and they didn’t have a lot of money, so they had to really stretch the chicken

so...they didn’t throw away anything”. This statement evoked the common historical

memory of her father’s family eating the chicken “from its heads to its toes”, a statement

known well in the family. Thus, the historical family narrative of Southern Blackness,

poverty, and resourcefulness is constructed and this narrative begins with the chicken.

This finding fits with Orsi’s 1985 study, which asserts that identity is “often constructed

through a people’s ability to discover who they are through memory” (Beoku-Betts,

2002, p. 285). That is, one’s identity is constructed by memories held or created; these

memories provide “the foundation for establishing membership and continuity of that

group” (Beoku-Betts, 2002, p. 285). That is, for the Locatelli children, the historical

memories relating to the consumption of chicken tie them into their Black identity. For

multiracial individuals, historical memories are foundational for identity development,

since memories provide examples of specific racialized experiences within their families.

Thus through a family narrative and the memories associated with the narrative, a chosen

identity can be asserted.

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Children and Cultural Continuity

Overall, the multiracial children in each family are prideful of their multiracial

identities and cultural foods. Cultural foods were understood as markers of ethnicity, as

well as sources of ethnic pride among children. Nori indicates, “yeah but I don’t know if

I’m proud of it just because people are like oh my god that one Japanese food is so good

and I am like I know right”. Nori finds it difficult to separate love for a certain food from

pride that she feels. Either way, asserting knowledge of this food might be her way of

asserting a biracial identity; one that Nori is very confident in communicating to peers

and her parents. Nikki Khanna (2011) states that, “some of the ethnic symbols

respondents use to express their biracial identities include food, clothing, national

symbols, sports, music and language” (Khanna, 2011, p. 1056). In a family with a strong

culinary tradition, the ethnic symbol of food becomes a strong indication of identity.

Eleven year old Mari sums up her theory on cultural continuity when she states:

“Maybe if you eat things when you’re younger you eat it a lot when you’re older” (Mari).

Her mother agrees by stating that foods “become a part of who you are because you

identify with them”. That is, you pass on the food rituals and patterns established in your

childhood from your parents, as they are very tightly engrained into your identity. Thus,

food rituals can serve as a racial or ethnic symbol that children do not use to deny a

minority heritage, but to assert a multiracial identity.

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II. Cultural Adaptation

All three families communicated that family recipes allow for a creative space in

which recipes can be transformed and re-articulated. This re-articulation indicates the

fluidity of culture, but also challenges notions that there is a true “authentic” way. In

addition to this, recipe adaptations to accommodate health/dietary needs are necessary

actions for survival. European contact has changed the diets of many communities of

color from more plant based, high protein diets to high carbohydrate and fatty foods,

wreaking havoc on our bodies and our spirits. Recipe changes occurred in all three

families; these are expected in general, but especially in multiethnic unions. This is

because food decisions in the household can be a way of negotiating and maintaining

both the collective and individual identity in the household (Cross & Gilly, 2014). Thus,

there is a negotiation that occurs in the household; this negotiation shapes individual and

family identity. While health, individual taste, and creative cultural food adaptations

occurred, I want to focus this section on a specific type of adaptation— cultural blending.

I believe this adaptation is unique to multiracial families. Additional data on the other

types of cultural adaptations can be seen in the previous data chapter.

Cultural Blending

After counting relevant words in the focus group transcriptions, I found that

families brought up ethnic specific words, such as “Mexican” “American” “Japanese”

and “Swedish” that relate to the specific racial or ethnic identity of each family. The

I l l

usage of these terms indicate a close tie to a particular identity, as these terms come up

repeatedly over the course of the interview. In the Hamid-Gonzales family, the ethnic

specific terms “Mexican” and “Pakistani” were often used to discuss themes of cultural

blending. For example, Alexandria says:

“I think also we kind of just like make up our own kind of culture in a way because we’re very Americanized as well it’s not quite exactly as like the authentic Latinos may be in a house or exactly how a Pakistani family may be in a house. We kind of do bring in those two cultures but yet we create our own by being—because we’re American”

While it is very clear that this family identifies as Mexican Hispanic, Pakistani and

American, they also they have a “shared” culture, as Roberto says. Alexandria feels that

it is possible that they might be less authentic than other families, however, it becomes

clear that the reason for this is not because they are multiracial, but because they are

American. This indicates that America might not provide the space for this family to be

more “authentic”. I conclude that American cultural influences and access to food plays a

role in how this family performs their blended experience.

The Locatelli family shares similar sentiments on a blended cultural experience.

Etta says her cooking style is “a combination” and that she is “kind of combining

everything that I grew up with and what I was exposed to”. Etta speaks about combining

things that she has been exposed to, which is her experience moving across the country,

tasting the diverse flavors of California, and trying Joseph’s cultural foods. Prior to living

in California, Etta indicates that she was only exposed to “American” fast food and her

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mother’s home cooking. Thus, Etta’s culinary expertise is evolving, transforming, and

adapting to culture, region, and life experience. Meredith Abarca refers to this as an

individual’s ability to add their own chiste or twist to the recipe. That is, Etta adds her life

experience and knowledge to the recipes that she cooks for her family.

This ethnic specific language also occurs when Joseph describes his cultures as

both “American culture and Swedish culture”. He uses these ethnic specific terms to talk

about a situation in which two cultures occur side by side. I can tell that he is prideful of

these two identities and they are heavily linked to a lineage of very strong food traditions.

Joseph says that the items that he and his wife cook the “kind of flavors that we had when

we were kids.. .and [these flavors] go back in history along the lineage of our parents”.

Thus, Joseph understands the Locatelli family culinary tradition as a blended or shared

culinary experience. These favors reflect multiple lineages, and both Etta and Joseph are

aware of each other’s cultural practices, as they both bring these practices into the home

in a shared way.

The Grohl family also emphasizes a type of fusion culture. When asked to

describe their family culture at home, Tim, Nori and Hiro explain:

“Tim: Pretty Japanese-y in terms of food and stuff. We make a lot of Japanese.. .probably 50/50 there huh?”

Nori: “I think it might be like 60/40”

Hiro: “60/40 what?”

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Tim: “60/40 Japanese. 60 % Japanese, 40% Japanese”

Nori: “Actually I don’t know”

The Grohl family, recognizes their fusion cultures in a unique way: through percentages

and the usage of the word “Japanese”. Culture itself is given 100% to be divided, and the

Grohl’s divide it in ways that they feel appropriate. Another interesting observation is

that they mention the Japanese culture, but not what the other percent is. It can be

gathered that they mean American, but don’t quite know how to identify it. This is

especially true since Tim recognizes that he is “not exactly proudly trumpeting

American”. While “American” is used, it is less than “Japanese”. It is clear that

“American” is closely associated with whiteness. White identity is not associated with a

particular culture, but a range of identities, as Tim indicates” “I also consider myself

quite a mutt when it comes to Danish, Scottish, you know I don’t really have a ...” Tim is

clear that whiteness lacks a specific practiced cultural identity in America. While he calls

himself a mutt, this “mutt” is not a term he uses for his children. This could be because he

thinks his children have a strong cultural identity. The repetitive usage of the term

“Japanese” indicates an affinity towards this identity. This is the only focus group that

did not clearly define both of their cultures, but also where a parent, seemed to feel

detached from their ethnic identity because “whiteness” as a culture is vague, and at

times simply associated with an American melting pot or fast food.

Etta indicates that the barbeque ritual (barbeque preparation and grilling) has not

changed much, but the spirit in which they prepare barbeque has changed:

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Etta: “But see my father didn’t drink like that. He was really the griller. He didn’t drink like that while he was grilling. He never did. Never.”

Arthur: “That might be the Locatelli tradition though”

Joseph agrees with his son’s observation. This communicates an example of cultural

blending within this family since the spirit in which barbeque is prepared differs greatly

than its origins. While the food itself has not changed, the way and spirit in which it is

prepared has been influenced by Joseph’s family since Joseph’s family places an

emphasis on drinking alcohol during meals because of their Scandinavian background.

In fact, Swedish foodways indicate that celebrations have historically included

alcoholic beverages. In addition to this, Joseph explains that Vikings would dine and

drink alcohol with their enemies at the same table, all while maintaining eye contact to

ensure that the enemy would not sneak-attack them. Etta’s family did not drink much

while preparing barbeque, and so she places this ritual of drinking during barbeques as

cultural fusion and a type of negotiation. This negotiation is based on her husband’s

cultural traditions, but also her desire to have more fun and lower stress while doing

mundane activities. In a way, this can be seen as cross-cultural learning. That is, Joseph’s

practices have shown Etta how to relax a bit more, and Etta has adapted this spirit in her

cooking style. Overall, a blended cultural tradition supports Williams’ assertion of a type

of third culture, a meeting of parental cultures characterized by multiracial families.

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Thus, food rituals help to create a sense of common culture in a multiracial families

because they are culturally blended, and so they indicate a type of third culture.

III. Resistance to Gender Binaries

All fathers and one son, Arthur, contribute to household cooking at some point,

even when the type of cooking is understood generally as “feminine”. Feminine cooking

is constructed as stovetop oriented (like boiling), whereas masculine cooking is using fire

and the outdoors to produce food (Adler, 1981). However, amount of cooking depends on

the situation and the time of the year. Tim cooks daily, Roberto helps sometimes, and

Joseph cooks a few times a year. Joseph’s son, Arthur, cooks weekly and cleans up the

kitchen regularly. In all three focus groups, it became clear that the gathering, planning

and cooking of food is laborious; the daily labor involved in this process was clearly

stated by each person. In only one case, the Grohl family, both parents seemed to cook

and shop equally, sharing the labor required to feed the family. The magnitude of cooking

and shopping labor done by the mothers seemed to be a sense of guilt among the men. It

was as if they knew that there is a lot of work involved, yet know as well that they do not

help enough. This indicates that the fathers do not necessarily think that the kitchen is a

women’s place, but they somewhat still adhere to gender roles in the home.

In these families, men mostly participated in more culturally specific practices

that did not happen daily, but required lots of preparation and labor. Men, in addition to

women, contribute to the maintenance of culture, but this happens in differing ways. For

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the Locatelli family, this limited amount of kitchen interaction for Joseph indicates that

when he does cook, it marks a special occasion:

Etta: “I’m the main one that cooks but he always steps up [points to Joseph] and does a really good job”Mari: “On Christmas!”

Joseph: “Once a year [says sarcastically]”

Etta: “And also in the summer time when he barbeques”

Mari: “Uhuhhh...4th of July”

Joseph: “That’s true. I have a two identities. The two identities are the Swedish one around Christmas time and then American for memorials day”

It is clear that Etta is supportive of Joseph’s cooking, alluding to the fact that it occurs

routinely, even if not frequently. In addition to this, she enjoys it and thinks of him

cooking as “stepping up”, making it clear that it is part of his responsibility to share and

maintain his culture with the family. Mari understandings this fact and can name two

crucial times her dad is responsible for cooking. Literature on men and cooking depicts

men as either hilariously unskilled or as dominating a very specialized meal that only he

can cook (Adler, 1981, p.48). This is known as establishing “sovereignty” over this meal

and limiting choice that the family has over the given meal or ingredients (Adler, 1981,

p.48). These assertion seems to be true in these families, but also contradictory.

For example, the quote above shows that Joseph’s skills are specialized, and so

this limits what he can make for the family. However, Joseph never fully establishes full

control over the meals he specializes in. This is because his Swedish food is blended with

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American food during holiday celebrations. Etta makes a portion of Christmas food; she

explains: “I mean I didn’t do a whole lot this year, but I did do the American ham and we

kind of intertwined it in with Swedish dinner”. In this case, Etta gives up sovereignty of

the kitchen temporarily to share it with Joseph. However, she still contributes to the

Christmas meal, even if it is one dish. In this way, multicultural foods are paired together

as a result of both husband and wife sharing the space of the kitchen.

In the Grohl family, even though Tim contributes regularly in the kitchen because

of his wife’s busy schedule, he fits the construction of an amateur male cook, who tries

his best, but unfortunately is seen as comical in the kitchen. Tim creates both normative

and experimental dishes. It is clear that he specializes in lasagna as he and his children

describe the ingredients together:

Tim: “Hot pork sausage”

Nori: “Extra extra spinach”

Tim: “And then now we are able to buy whole wheat.. .yup a pound of spinach

and whole wheat shells. They now make Whole wheat lasagna shells so.. .tons of

cheese probably like rapid weight gain diet [laughs]”

It is clear from the body language of the family that they love this dish—it is familiar and

comforting for the children. Tim has altered it over time to make it healthier and fit in

with his own dietary needs. It is clear that this is Tim’s specialty and given that it is more

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in line with Italian-Ameriean culture, this becomes Tim’s cultural influence on the

family. This is especially true since cheese is not really consumed in Japan.

The dishes that Tim cooks are understood as more Japanese “fusion” and less

authentically Japanese. Further, these dishes are understood as experimental, or as Miku

calls his style lovingly, “It’s more like avant-guard, his style of cooking”. There is a level

of criticism because “weird fusion” and creative styles of cooking challenge more

“authentic” ways of cooking Japanese food. The children know traditional Japanese

cooking styles, which are engrained in them and their identity. This discrepancy between

what is understood as more authentic Japanese cooking and Tim’s creative culinary

practices make it so that he is understood as an experimental cook. In addition to

cooking, Tim also does the majority of the food shopping, which again challenges

assumptions that men do not perform this labor.

In the case of the Hamid-Gonzales family, both Roberto and Jr. help in the

kitchen minimally. However, some of Robert’s Mexican American heritage foods require

him to be present in the kitchen in order to re-create them:

“When she makes tacos you know. She heats up the tortillas after the chicken’s all made in the sauce and shredded up and everything. She’ll heat up the tortillas and I roll them, put a toothpick through them”

While Anam learned how to make these tacos from Roberto’s mom, Roberto still helps

out. This indicates a type of partnership in the kitchen when Mexican food is being

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cooked. Anam mentions that Mexican food cooking can be a lot of work and seems

grateful that Roberto helps her in the kitchen.

In addition to occasionally physically helping out in the kitchen, Roberto

describes a situation unique to the Hamid-Gonzales family— constructive criticism as a

component of cultural continuity and maintenance:

Roberto: “I helped her I gave her constructive criticism [laughs] I was kind of spoiled because my mom was like..

Anam: “Yes!”

Roberto: “She would cook everything and then when we moved out I would tell her ‘it doesn’t taste’. Probably not the smartest thing to do but well it’s not like how my mom used to make it. It tastes different or it needs more of this or that.. .she was a good sport about it and she you know improved and learned so”

Beyond actually helping Anam in the kitchen physically prepare food, Roberto became a

judge of authenticity. In this way, Roberto did not leave space for Anam to add her own

twist to the recipe; it is unclear if she does anyway. There is not space for fusion food, but

only for the preservation of how Roberto’s Mexican American mother cooked certain

foods. This indicates cross-cultural learning with regard to the physical labor surrounding

cooking, but there is also sensual knowledge that Roberto has. That is, Roberto’s sense of

taste and smell indicate knowledge of how Mexican Food should be made. Anam also

uses her senses and she embodies a multiracial and multicultural household with her

knowledge of both Pakistani-Indian curries and Mexican dishes.

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The men in these families are part of the culinary process in various ways.

However, there is a clear masculine understanding across the board that men grill meat

outside. Joseph explained that he was taught that “the man is running the grill and the

women were busy doing all the other stuff’ by Etta’s father. This indicates Etta’s father

adhered very closely to gendered lines with regard to culinary performance. Etta adds on

to this observation when she says, “grandad [Etta’s father] Rest in Peace, but he was very

chauvinistic so he was very interested in telling Joseph exactly how to do things on the

grill”. Instead of teaching his daughter to pass on this tradition, he taught his son in law

because southern style barbeque is gendered: women are not supposed to be working the

grill; they are supposed to be in the house making the sides.

This cross-cultural learning took place within the confines of gender expectations

of who should be cooking in which spaces. Masculine cooking looks like men outside

dealing with the meat, a popular American construction that came about as grilling

became fashionable after WWII (Adler, 1981, p.46). So, because tradition says that men

must do the grilling, a white male, Joseph, is in charge of performing and passing on this

Black Southern tradition. Further, Joseph, in line with his father in law’s thoughts on

gender division, has passed on the skill of southern-style barbeque on to his son Arthur,

who says, his dad “had me out there barbequing since a young ass age”. This skill has not

been introduced to Mari. Thus, this style of cooking continues to be passed on through

gendered lines and are a crucial part of the family’s cultural identity and family narrative.

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Roberto echoes these sentiments, as he participates in the grilling as well:

Roberto: “Other than [helping with the dishes] BBQ...I like to BBQ a lot. Yeah you can buy the meat already marinated at the Mexican market and then I’ll just BBQ it like that”

Roberto takes part in this masculine form of cooking, yet the gender roles of who

marinades the meat is left to the local ethnic market and not the women in the home. This

brings up questions of authenticity, but also how these families use ethnic markets to

replicate their cultural foods. That is, how does one determine which market is

trustworthy enough to help families prepare cultural foods? In the Grohl family, it is

unclear what the marinade process looks like, but Tim tends to barbeque fish for the

family. The Grohl family also has Japanese style barbeques, but those are considered

more communal and less about masculinity:

Tim: “By definition Japanese BBQ or like when we have Yakiniku...American BBQ dad’s out back making this massive steak brings it in for the guys watching football and then everyone eats it but Japanese BBQ everyone has to be around the griddle at the same time”

Nori: “It’s very communal”

Tim: “Very communal and it’s much more social I think then American style. In general I think it’s more crucial to Japanese culture to sit together and eat maybe. Lots of our friends are all over the house eating”

The Japanese style of barbeque becomes less about the man and more about the

community. Since Tim is American, he has adapted to this understanding of what

Japanese barbeque is and adapted to performing Japanese communal barbeques. It is very

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clear that he knows the differences between Japanese and American barbeque. When he

is barbequing a steak American style, it is a masculine performance. But in the context of

Japanese culture, it is about family and community.

Families in this project adhere to some traditional notions of gender roles and

normative female cooking patterns, but also challenge these feminized constructions.

Fathers know that their knowledge is key in continuing on their “portion” of culture. It is

unclear whether or not this differs for monoracial families, but one thing is for sure: all

children in the families feel an affinity towards there multiple cultures. In addition to this,

parents feel responsible and perform aspects of their culture regularly, regardless of their

gender, or common understandings that it is the “woman’s job” to pass on culture. If it is

just up to the woman in these cases, important aspects of the multicultural experience

would be lost, and it is possible that the children would not know about these key cultural

practices.

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“Bringing it all together”: Conclusion

It was getting late and I was wrapping up my focus group with the Locatellis. I

asked what culinary traditions the children would like to keep alive and Arthur’s response

was that he sees himself “bringing it all together”. These words were very simple, yet the

ability to bring it all together has not historically been possible for mixed race families

because of anti-miscegenation legislation. He intends to keep all of the culinary traditions

that he has learned from both of his parents, and bring them together in his own way.

Arthur is transgressing gender expectations, and refusing to simply carry on masculine

depictions of cooking, such as grilling. Just as Arthur wants to bring his cultural recipes

together and practice them, I intend to bring the implications of this thesis together in this

final chapter.

This thesis has many important implications. First, census data projects that the

multiracial population will continue to grow, and it is empowering and inclusive for

individuals to see their experiences in academia. This research project can provide

information on healthy multiracial identity development utilizing ethnic and racial

symbols. Second, this thesis has implications for food and health policy work. That is,

this project indicates that food practices go back generations, and therefore, food and

health policy work needs to be culturally relevant and sensitive to how food shapes

familial narratives, historical memory, and identity.

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Teresa Kay Williams (1992) and Terry P. Wilson (1992) discuss culture in the

multiracial context. They assert that culture is not static, it changes and transforms over

time based upon the actors that influence it. Both scholars assert that instead of losing

their culture, multiracial individuals are cultural ambassadors and aid in the creation of a

type of blended culture. This research project supports these scholar’s understandings of

multiracial cultural practices: multiracial families practice vibrant, blended, and

transforming cultures. In contrast to the Marginal Man Theory, being multiracial does not

mean that you lack culture, it means that cultural rituals might be learned and practiced in

various ways. Part of cultural adaptation for these families is bringing these cultures

together in a way that is fitting for the family members and the various identities they

bring to the table.

Wilson (1992) argues that racial mixing helped to maintain Indian identity in the

face of colonialism. Food scholars Carole Counihan, Josephine Beoku-Betts, and Tracy

N. Poe dedicate their scholarship to how deeply food and identity are tied together and

how communities maintain their culture through culinary practices. Food and identity are

tied together since food is an ethnic and racial symbol, as well as a tool of cultural

maintenance. According to the above scholarship, exploring family food practices

provides essential information on cultural survival, maintenance, and adaptation. While

being multiracial can sometimes mean that you are part of the colonizer’s identity as

well, de-colonial frameworks allow individuals to speak for themselves and lay out their

identities and experiences as they see fit. In addition to this, de-centering knowledge de­

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stabilizes potential authority figures on authenticity, and racial and ethnic identity (such

as American Indian tribal identification cards granted by the US government), and

instead focuses on lived experiences that reflect cultural practices. This focus has the

effect of listening to one’s lived experiences, rather than denying them. Individuals have

only recently been able to identify officially as multiracial, starting with the “mark one or

more” census category in 2000. The ability to assert one’s identity and life experiences is

a political act, especially for people of color. Research that includes marginalized

populations gives these populations the power to determine how they want to be

represented and therefore, can dispel stereotypes on these groups. In addition to this,

asserting one’s identity does not allow for the disconnection from ourselves or the people

whose narratives have so intricately shaped our identity and made us proud of where we

come from.

The oral histories of three multiracial families in the San Francisco Bay Area

serve to document the experiences of a group that has historically been marginalized.

Adhering to a decolonial approach that allows participants to be grassroots theorists, I

was able to begin a conversation on the function of food rituals in multiracial families.

Food rituals function to maintain and continue culture, to provide space for cultural

adaptation, and finally, to push gender binaries in the kitchen. These rituals help to create

a sense of common culture in a multiracial family through providing a medium in which

cultural blending or pairing can occur.

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Multiracial families are radical, especially in the context of the United States

history and racial schema. Multiracial family food rituals are transgressive: they push

racial, cultural, and gender boundaries. They re-work culinary gender binaries to fit their

needs in raising their children to embody a healthy identity. Multiracial families are de­

colonial because they create “third culture” cuisines, and therefore, their homes are a

space for artistic expression outside the confines of an art school or a fancy chefs

kitchen. They are agents of radical love because they resist colonial demands of racial

segregation. Since multiracial families are radical, transgressive and decolonial agents,

qualitative research on this group should continue to be expanded upon in the field of

Ethnic Studies.

Multiracial people are not new. You can see this through Creole, Hawaiian, and

American Indian blended foodways. However, the way in which we exist differs

contemporarily: we are now legally able to build relationships with our families and eat

up the cultural knowledge that our loved ones serve up.

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Appendix I: Focus Group Questions

Focus Group Questions:

Food Rituals: An Entree into Multiracial Family Culture

I. Background

Both parent/guardian and child focused:

• What do you racially/ethnically identify as? Why?When people ask you “what are you?” what do you say?

• How do you talk about what you are (racially/ethnically identify as) at home?• Does the topic of race come up in the home? If so, in which spaces?• How do you talk about being mixed race in the home? If at all.

Parent/guardian focused:• Are you aware of how your children identify racially? If so, how do they?

Everyone focused:• What do you think culture is?• How would you describe your culture(s)?

Child focused:• When does the topic of your culture come up in the home? In the kitchen? Can

you name a situation in which your parents talk about your cultures in any way? Everyone focused:

• Does your food ethnically/ culturally represent any culture? If yes, please explain.• What foods are important to you or your identity?• Who is the main person in the kitchen cooking? Does the person doing the

cooking change with the occasion or the time of the year? For example, during holidays and/or birthdays?

• If volunteers bring a dish or a snack to share: Tell me a little bit about this recipe. How did you learn it? Where does it come from? How did you make it?

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II. Gathering Ingredients

Both parent/guardian and child focused:

• Who does the primary shopping in the household? Do children go with the primary shopper?

• Describe the stores you go to for the purposes of gathering ingredients for cooking (e.g. super markets, health food stores, ethnic specific, liquor/comer stores).

• Do you have a favorite market for gathering food/cooking ingredients? If so, do the markets you go to change based on the season?

• What are some cooking ingredients that are difficult to find? If you can’t find an ingredient, what do you do?

III. Cooking Rituals in the Home

• What did you learn about your partner’s cooking when you met? How is it different from what you knew growing up?

Both parent/guardian and child focused:

• How many times a week do you cook? What days a week are typically cooking nights? Is there a reason for these cooking nights?

• When cooking, how often do you use recipes? What are the sources of these recipes?

• Do you have any family recipes written down or are they passed down through oral tradition? Who passed these on to you?

• Do you alter these family recipes in any specific ways? If so, how?• Do you feel that your recipes will be passed on by your children? If not, does that

worry you?

IV. Cultural Foods

Both parent/guardian and child focused:

• What cultural foods make you feel proud of your heritage? Please provide two examples of these foods.

• Are there any stories or legends connected to any of your cultural foods? (e.g. funny stories or spiritual elements to your cultural foods)

• What traditions/holidays do you celebrate or participate in? What are the most popular dishes consumed or cooked during these times?

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• Do you ever celebrate two or multiple holidays together? If so, what are they? Parent/guardian focused:

• As a parent, do you make ethnic specific food from your culture? If so, what type of dishes? How do your child react to these dishes?

V. Family Cultural Development

Both parent/guardian and child focused:

• Does food bring you and your family together? If so, in what ways?• What is your favorite family holiday that you celebrate? Why? Please describe

these holidays including the foods that you prepare/cook and eat.• What holiday/ritual/celebration makes you feel most connected to your family?

Why?• What holiday/ritual/celebration makes you feel most connected to your culture?

Why?Child focused:

• Do your parents/guardians teach you about your culture? In what ways?• Do your parents/guardians or family members work together to produce a meal?

If so, can you provide an example of this?• What food tradition(s) from either of your parents do you want to keep alive?

Where does this tradition come from? (this can be a food that you eat during a holiday, when you’re sick, something cooked or purchased)