Brief Summary: The article being analyzed which was written by Eve Turow helps explain how through colonialism, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, and Vietnam’s cuisine have been altered to a more hybrid French-Dutch cuisine than a original Southeast Asian cuisine. In these countries, French cuisine is the typical choice of food like coffee, Baguettes, and pastries.
Eve Turow, the founder and executive director of Food For Climate League wrote the article “Colonizers’ Influence Infuses Southeast Asian Cuisine,” and helps to highlight how the French and Dutch colonization of regions in Southeast Asia have had a profound impact on the cuisine in a multitude of ways. In many instances, this was because the French had introduced many new ingredients and cooking techniques into the cuisine. In Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, French breakfast foods are the largest option, whether it is bread, coffee, or pastries. More specifically in Vietnam, there are many hybrid variations of Vietnamese and French cuisine like Banh mi which is French bread, pate, pork or chicken, pickled carrot, daikon, cucumber, cilantro, and a fried egg with hot sauce and mayo. Or Banh xeo which is like a French crepe with rice flour, coconut milk, pork or shrimp, bean sprouts, served on lettuce leaves. Then in Laos it is common to get baguettes and Nutella, and in Cambodia it is common to have pastries and coffee or smoked fish (similar to French smoked fish salads) while even seeing the influence of French architecture in certain areas.
Eve also explains a cool phenomenon in Indonesia, where she claims that instead of Indonesia adopting Dutch influences, it was actually the other way around where the Dutch had inherited many Indonesian cuisine styles. Some of these dishes included were stir fried noodles or steamed veggies with peanut sauce, which are popular dishes in the Netherlands.
Eve also explains throughout her article that in many instances she did not feel as if she was in Southeast Asian countries, but in Europe for many of her encounters with the food and particularly in Cambodia with the architecture. And she also ends her article by giving recipes for the foods that she had talked about.
Now looking at why this article was chosen, is because this article had interested me because we had learned much about the colonization of Southeast Asia during the 19th and 20th centuries during class. I thought this article does a great job to express how colonialism still affects certain regions of Southeast Asia, after many years of the colonizers leaving. It also interested me that these practices of cuisine have still been continued throughout the years, without the influences of a colonizing power.
Finally, one thing about this article that I did not like was that there was only one image shown, and the image did not help show or depict what Eve was discussing, as the picture is an image of a pop up market in Southeast Asia.
Written By: Logan Chiles
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2011/10/18/141465353/colonizers-influence-infuses-southeast-asian-cuisine