Connecting With Culture Through Food Television
The pandemic of this era has altered the lives of millions across the globe. While COVID’s whip has been thrashed upon us all at varying degrees, its presence has undoubtedly led us to experience the world in new ways, and become more creative about how we seek out encounters that connect us to ourselves and each other.
Food television has acted as an unexpected remedy in curing the cultural disconnectedness brought about by COVID-19.
For months, restrictions on traveling, gathering, and dining (for our own safety), extinguished the ability for us to commune and learn about cultural traditions from physical experiences. However, not all was lost. The presence of food on screen has, and continues to play a pivotal role in creating opportunities for us to (re)connect with our heritage, and appreciate the heritage of others.
Food television has experienced massive evolutions over the past few decades. The genre has expanded from its origins of instructional “cook-with-me” video content to include documentary television, talk shows, travelogues, and competition-series, among other segment categories. Thanks to advancements in streaming services, food-fanatics have a plethora of gastronomic-related video to consume. Perhaps what is most special about the food television evolution though, is the breadth of content available for viewers’ enjoyment. The expansion of this television genre has brought about content that proves to be more extensive than it once was, content that not only teaches viewers how to cook, but also about the customs, traditions, and lives of people across the world.
It introduces us to cultures we may have otherwise known nothing about, and in many cases reminds us of our own origin stories.
When the opening sequence of Netflix’s High on the Hog, hosted by Stephen Satterfield manifested on my television screen a few months ago, I wasn’t prepared for the journey I would be taken on for the four hours following. Not only was I introduced to the country of Benin, a country where my ancestors could have easily emerged from - and that much to my embarrassment, I had no idea existed - but I was also reintroduced to the Gullah, people with whom I share common descent, and whose dialect is strikingly similar to the one spoken in my native Bahamas.
The series adapted from Dr. Jessica B. Harris’ book of the same title, explored the origins of African American cuisine, but more importantly reminded me to never forget the place from which I came and the struggle of the people who walked before me. Through my time with Satterfield and his guests, I was transported to the shores of South Carolina, reminded of my heritage, and inspired to discover more about my culinary history. That food TV show gifted me with a cultural awakening.
I write this not just to share one experience about how food television has connected me to my culture, but to encourage you to explore how it may connect you to yours. The culinary escapades of curious gastronomists can be followed in shows like Salt Fat Acid Heat, Taste the Nation, Parts Unknown, Street Food Asia, Taco Chronicles, and even Top Chef. The anecdote above is one story that has emerged from viewing one show, but there are so many other stories to be told.
Food is a conduit
to intercultural learning.
Television about it teaches, transports, and transitions the way we think and live, if we are open to accepting the lessons we extract from pixels on our screens.