[Angela Lee]

It's not even a question if you are a foodie or not!

[Angela Lee]

It's not even a question if you are a foodie or not!

[Angela Lee]

Yes! We've got to get something together some day soon!

[Angela Lee]

I really appreciated this week's lecture and readings in terms of setting the stage for our understanding of the East Asian food cultures. I was struck by the commonalities of the food cultures across China, Korea and Japan, though not surprised knowing the geographic proximity of the 3 countries, and the trading ties that bound them together.  What didn't occur to me was the commonality of how they adopted foods that were not indigenous to the region, such as chilis for pickling and making spices, which is originally from South America.  I am surprised at how much a part of it became part of food cultures, in places like Sichuan, where we would not have Sichuan spicy cuisine without the interactions that provided the hot peppers to the region in the first place! 

This would be a mutual exchange though, especially in the area of rice, where I think of all the places that have rice embedded into their food pathways when the connection is only a few hundred years ago.  For example, the rice and bean dishes of the Caribbean, made possible by the rice that was brought to the Americas from Afroeurasia when the globe was connected in the 1500s.  If we look at food commodity exchanges, then we can argue that globalization came much earlier than the 20th century.  

 

[Angela Lee]

Hi everyone!  My name is Angela Lee, and I teach 9th and 10th grade world history in a small suburban school district outside of Boston.  My mother worked in the Chinese restaurant business when I was growing up, so I have always been surrounded by good food. Since we were from Taiwan, the Japanese culture had a huge influence on us, including what we would eat at home. I discovered bimbibap when I studied for my junior year abroad in China, and since then I will admit that I love any kind of Korean food, and through the pandemic have learned to cook more Korean cuisine at home. My family and I have traveled through China and to Japan and South Korea, and we follow our stomachs! 

I love showing students how cultures and histories are connected through food, and how they mix and mingle to create new cultures.  It's my favorite way to trace the changes in world history, so I bring in food history whenever I can! 

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