| 週次 |
授課內容 |
| 第1週 |
Introduction |
| 第2週 |
Food and Media
a) Check out the Youtube channels “Made with Lau” and “Fung Brothers Food.” What do these youtubers try to achieve? How else have food been used in / by the media?
b) Fu P’ei-mei 傅培梅 / Mrs Lisa Fong 方太 / Martin Yan / 曾國城 / 詹姆士 / 阿賢 / Gordon Ramsey / Jamie Oliver / Anthony Bourdain / Hu Tien-lan 胡天蘭 / Chua Lam 蔡瀾 / Uncle Roger
Who are these food celebrities and how have they contributed to food culture? What are their achievements?
c) What about famous cooking shows / cooking competitions / shows that introduce food like Iron Chef / 型男大主廚 / Taiwan’s 1001 Stories 台灣1001個故事? What kind of cultural phenomena have they created? |
| 第3週 |
Food and History
The most famous Chinese dish in American restaurants is “General Tso’s Chicken.” But who is General Tso? And was the famous poet Su Dongpo a real connoisseur of the dish “Dongpo Meat,” supposedly named after him? What is the etymology of ketchup? Is it an English word? Where did it come from? |
| 第4週 |
Food and Artistic Representation
How has food been represented in art? Literature? Paintings? Music? Cinema?
What are the artistic works that have been inspired by food?
Days of Potato Feast 吃馬鈴薯的日子, by Joseph Lau 劉紹銘
The Potato Eaters 吃馬鈴薯的人, by Vincent van Gough
Sugar Baby, by Kara Walker
Films: Chicken and Duck Talk 雞同鴨講 / Eat, Drink, Man, Woman 飲食男女 / Zone Pro Site 總鋪師 / Nasi Lemak 2.0 辣死你媽 2.0 |
| 第5週 |
Food and Migration / Hybridity
a) As certain foods moved from their place of origin to another, they evolved over time and took on a different shape, form, and often taste. Look at migrant communities. What stories can you unravel from these movements of human traffic and food? What do these tell us, besides their adaptability?
Egs. Hainanese curry pork chop rice, Durian Mooncake, Curry puff
b) Food Comparisons: one and the same?
German sausage vs. Shilin sausage
Rice dumplings in Taiwan: north vs. south
Oyster omelette, it is known in Taiwan as “o-a-tsian,” in Singapore “o-chien” or “orh luak,” in Hong Kong “hou paeng” or “hou lork.” But is it really the same thing?
Think of a food that appears to be different in different places. Explain why it is so.
Rice has been used across several cultural cuisines: Chinese fried rice, Indian biryani, Mexican burrito, Japanese sushi, Spanish paella, etc. Does rice hold the same meaning across these different cultures? What does this reflect about the cultures?
Egs., Different types of Mooncakes / Rice Dumplings all over the Chinese-speaking world |
| 第6週 |
National Day Holiday |
| 第7週 |
Food and Myth
Macadamia Nuts: are they from Australia or Hawaii?
Kiwi: are they really from New Zealand?
Spaghetti / Noodles: are they invented by the Italians or the Chinese?
A popular dish in Thai restaurants in Taiwan “full moon shrimp patties” 月亮蝦餅, does not exist in Thailand! What are other food myths you have heard about? |
| 第8週 |
Food and Time
Festivities
Think of the foods that we have to eat during certain festivals: Lunar New Year, mid autumn festival, dragon boat festival, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc: why do we have to eat these particular foods during these festival celebrations? What do these reflect about these cultures? |
| 第9週 |
Food and Space
Geography
Do certain regions own the rights to certain foods, or define the “correct” method of cooking? In Chinese culture, are the northerners noodle- and bun-lovers while the southerners rice-lovers? Are these fixed or fluid categories? Is food regional / territorial? |
| 第10週 |
Food and Creative Inventions
“Pig blood cake” on Pizza 豬血糕披薩 in Taiwan. “Singapore Fried Noodles” 星洲炒米 found everywhere else but in Singapore. “Hong Kong fried noodles” 香港麵 does not exist in Hong Kong. Have you had fried ice cream?
Do foods have authentic, pure origins? Can we contaminate, bastardize food with our creativity? What are some food inventions that did not work for you? Can you think of some “inauthentic food” that had long lasting power? |
| 第11週 |
Food and Status
Certain foods are consumed only by royalty of the past; others hold the label of junk food. Does food have different class status?
While some restaurants are obsessed with gaining recognition by Michelin / 食尚玩家 (Super Taste) / Makan Sutra (K.F. Seetoh in Singapore), others refuse to be rated by these food critics. Who has the right to confer a Michelin Star or be given a positive rating? |
| 第12週 |
Food and Language
Food and language has a long association that has been crystalized into metaphors. “This girl is hot,” “He’s as cool as a cucumber,” “Don’t be a potato couch,” or the Chinese phrase “My eyes are eating ice cream” – what do these metaphors mean, and where do they come from? What are other phrases you know that are associated with food?
Why are some Chinese dishes, like “獅子頭”, “螞蟻上樹”, “佛跳牆”, impossible to translate? Is there a need to hide their true meaning, even in their original language? |
| 第13週 |
Food and Power
(a) Hard Power
The Europeans invaded Southeast Asia for the Spice Trade during the Age of Colonisation
Recently, there is the “Milk Tea Alliance”
(b) Soft Power
We associate certain foods with certain national cultures.
Spanish with paella
Korean bbq / kimchi entered Taiwanese / went global
Taiwanese sausage / kwa-pau / Milk Tea enters NY. How have these soft power been exported? Have they caused a bigger influence on the international stage? |
| 第14週 |
Food and Health
a) Medicinal
Doctors warn us not to take certain types of food if we have certain health conditions. Some cultures even proscribe certain foods for certain types of behaviors / character traits. In others, certain foods have medicinal or healing powers. For example, after giving birth Chinese mothers get to eat nutritious food for an entire month during their postpartum care (坐月子), while in the West that is unheard of. Do we really become what we eat?
b) Restrictions
Some people don’t eat certain foods for religious reasons (Muslims don’t eat pork, Catholics don’t eat red meat on Fridays). Others for health reasons. Some others simply because they don’t like them. What are some of foods that have been cut out of certain diets (vegetarian, keto)? Are there costs involved? What are the wider repercussions, if any? |
| 第15週 |
Foods That Shock
Vegemite / Stinky Toufu / Snake Soup / Durian / “Chicken buttocks” 七里香
Why are these foods repulsive to some people while loved to death by others?
In contrast, why are foods like ice-cream and chocolate associated with love? Why do we associate certain foods with particular meanings? |
| 第16週 |
Food and the Future
What future food trends do you foresee taking place? Where do we go from here?
Self-directed learning: Reflect on essay Days of Potato Feast
Self-directed learning: Essay Submission |
自主學習
內容 |
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