Carlos Marquina

Here we are . . . now what do we eat?

In the short story, "Gussuk" by Mei Mei Evans, the main character Lucy attempts to assimilate into the Yup'ik culture by eating a local meal that consists of dried salted fish dipped in seal oil. Although the meal is strange to Lucy, she nonetheless partakes of the chewy fish and bitter oil in the hopes that the locals will accept her. Her willingness to try to enjoy the local cuisine brings the acceptance of the locals: "You're all right, girl" (241).

Lucy's attempt to fit in with the local culture mirrors the American immigrant's attempt to assimilate to the dominant culture. The main difference, however, is that Lucy is attempting to fit into a culture with an established and unique cuisine, whereas the American immigrant often has trouble distinguishing what is American food. Cuisine plays a vital role in the development and identity of a culture. Think of any culture in the world today and it is difficult not to think of their food. But what is American food? 

There are several problems that contribute in the difficulty of identifying a unique American cuisine. For starters, the dominant culture's Puritan heritage is void of any affection for culinary arts. For the Puritans, "You received your sustenance and you ingested it, so you could live another day" (Rosengarten 7). In addition to this stoic mentality regarding food, the Puritans did not arrive to an America with an already established cuisine. The North American natives lived too spread out and in too few numbers to establish a sort of national or continental cuisine. 

So the American cuisine developed as immigration to the United States evolved. African and Afro-Caribbean slaves in the South developed their own cooking techniques to eat and enjoy the "leftover" parts of pig. They also brought new ingredients such as yams, okra, and peanuts. In places like South Carolina, the slaves began developing BBQ. In New Orleans, they fused with French and other local cuisines to develop a unique regional cuisine. In the Southwest, Spanish and Mexicans brought new flavors to New Mexico and Texas. Later, the Chinese and Italian immigrants brought styles that evolved from their Old World cuisine to become something completely new in America. 

America is a nation of motion. Once immigrants arrived to America they continued to move westward, or in the case of emancipated slaves, they moved northward. As new Americans moved it was difficult to take their food with them. The Puritan ethic then plays a vital role in the development of American cuisine—we needed not only tasty food, we needed tasty and portable food! Thus the development, over many years of course, of fast  and processed foods. Today, these traditions can be seen in the fleets of food trucks that sell fusion food. In California, the teriyaki rice bow, a "Japanese-Hawaiian-Cal-Mex mashup of short-grain rice, teriyaki meat, scallions, and Tapatio hot sauce" (Moskin) has become a favorite of young Chicanos. Oh, and don't forget the side of fries and Coke with that.

In exploring this question, i've come to find that American cuisine is really a melting pot. But in this case everyone is really free to bring their own ingredients to the table. Assimilation, as far as food is concerned, does not seem to be restrictive as is language or dress or work ethic. In the case of food it seems that the more variety immigrants can bring the more we welcome them. 

Works Cited:

Evans, Mei Mei. "Gussuk." Imagining America. Ed. Wesley Brown and Ed. Amy Ling. Rev. ed. New York: Persea Books, 2002. 237-51. Print.

Moskin, Julia. "How the Taco Gained in Translation." New York Times. 30 Apr 2012: n. page. Web. 15 Jun. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/02/dining/north-of-the-border-its-everyones-mexican-food.html?_r=1>

Rosengarten, David. "We Are What We Eat: We Are A Nation of Immigrants!." EJournal USA. 9. (2004): 6-9. Web. 15 Jun. 2012. <http://photos.state.gov/libraries/belgium/8548/PD/ijse0704.pdf>.

White, Craig. LITR 5731 American Immigrant Literature Syllabus Course Objectives.            http://coursesite.uhcl.edu/HSH/Whitec/LITR/5731im