"Eating the Hyphen" "Reclaiming True Grits"

On Thursday I read two interesting articles named “Eating the Hyphen” and “Reclaiming True Grits”. These articles captured my interest from the very beginning. One was about “soul food” and what it means to modern society and the other is about an Asian American who Americanizes authentic Chinese cuisine. In “Reclaiming True Grits”, the author defines what soul food means today and what it used to mean. Soul food is described as being authentic African American that the media discovered in the 60s. The author persuades the reader that soul food is usually instant today instead of a good home cooked meal. The author also emphasizes that soul food can be healthy, but it is not thought of as healthy currently. In “Eating the Hyphen” a Chinese American describes how Chinese dumplings should be eaten. The author persuades the reader that ketchup is a mandatory condiment to pair with dumplings. The author also provides instructions on how to eat Chinese dumplings correctly.

I do wonder how the author of “Reclaiming True Grits” plans on creating healthier soul foods again. I wonder this because the author mentions that African Americans as a population are unfortunately plagued with health problems compared to other ethnicities. I also wonder if the author can help convince other ethnicities and popular culture that soul food is just black southern cooking instead of this edible anomaly that the media announces it to be. In “Eating the Hyphen”, I wonder how other Chinese Americans or even Chinese people would view her eating habits. Would they give a look of disgust or would they be tempted to try it? In my opinion they sound delicious to me.

I think that all cultures have wonderful foods that can be enjoyed by anyone. I believe that foods should be able to be traced back to a culture, but it shouldn’t be afraid to venture out and become Americanized. I am interested in eating both the authentic version of foods and the more modern versions of foods. I think both of the authors do a great job in describing how certain foods are meaningful to their race and how they contrast their cultural foods becoming Americanized. Both authors offer valid persuasive points and I can’t help but agree with both of them.