Favorite in class text: My favorite in class text was Tacopedia by Deborah Holtz and Juan C. Mena. I liked this text because it was accompanied by a class discussion that forced me to consider how food connects to history, culture, race, and identity. Instead of simply thinking, “This corn tortilla was made somewhere and now I have a taco”, I was exposed to not only the history, but also the importance of corn as a staple food in the Mexican culture.
Favorite out of class text: My favorite out of class text was Perfect Neapolitan Pizza, a clip from TV show, No Reservations, with host Anthony Bourdain. I really appreciated this ‘text’ because it was a multimedia text and I had never before considered that the written word and the multimedia version could be one in the same. This text might have also been my favorite because it is linked to my favorite class project, the annotated bibliography.
What does the Rhetoric of Food mean? I now know that the rhetoric of food is incredibly broad. It is meant to bring joy to people the same way that food itself does. Whether it’s a multimedia platform, poetic piece, food review, or recipe, texts are published to insight a feeling within the reader or viewer. The rhetoric of food is meant to tell a story. We can use the rhetoric of food to look at everything we already know through a different lens; whether that be history, socio-economic status, culture, and so on, food provides a new perspective into these dense aspects of the human world.
I was going back and forth between Tacopedia and the Fieri review in which syllabus text to write about. I ended up picking Pete Wells’ review of Guy Fieri’s restaurant, so I’m glad you picked Tacopedia so I had a chance to read someone’s breakdown and opinion of it. Thanks for sharing, homie!
P.S. I’m also unhealthily obsessed with Anthony Bourdain, so SOLID choice for your outside favorite readings.
I really like and agree with your comment about how the rhetoric of food is meant to tell a story. I especially think about the recipes and how each recipe had a meaning to everyone- whether it was sentimental, funny or just something they liked, there was a purpose behind the food.