Via Genzon (she/her/hers), Low Entropy Volunteer Writer
When I first came to Canada eight years ago, the food was one of my biggest culture shocks. The portions here are bigger and there is a large variety of cuisines. Whenever I meet new people, one of the first topics we talk about is our favourite food. Then, they’ll show me where to get the best Korean cold buckwheat noodles in the Lower Mainland, a dish that I have grown to love because of my friends. Or we’ll talk about our shared love for spicy food. A lot of the best conversations I have had with my friends were shared during a meal. Food bonds us together.
Food is tied to our cultural identity. It shows the history of our cultures and the influences that shaped it, like agriculture, international trade and colonization. Moreover, with the rise of globalization, various foods have developed from a mix of different cultures, each with their own history. For example, did you know that the “controversial” Hawaiian pizza was created in Ontario in 1962 by Greek-Canadian Sam Panopoulos? Or that the California sushi roll is also credited by some to Japanese-Canadian Hidekazu Tojo in Vancouver? The story is that he made the inside-out rolls with the seaweed hidden and used cooked crab meat instead of raw fish — typical sushi ingredients, it is said, were unpopular to Canadians at first, and Tojo’s rolls successfully introduced Canadians to the flavour of Japanese cuisine.
People from all over the world incorporate new ingredients or make variations of food from their cultural background to use what is readily available in the places they settled in. They bring with them a piece of home into these foreign lands, until it becomes not so foreign anymore. Not only does food connect us with other people’s cultures, but it can also connect us back to our own. Sometimes, when I’m feeling homesick, I make the dishes that remind me of my childhood, like the chicken rice porridge I used to eat on a rainy day. Even little pieces of home from my local Asian grocery store, where I am still amazed that I can find childhood snacks here on the other side of the world, are enough to comfort me. Food is a big piece of our culture; it reminds us of home — not necessarily a different place or country, but also your family’s own tweaks and turns in your favorite childhood food.
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