LI: Picky eating is segregating us
I once took my American friends to an authentic Chinese restaurant, where we had Peking duck, one of the most representative dishes in Chinese cuisine. It is typically served on separate plates of sliced crispy duck skin with roasted duck meat, thinly steamed flour wraps, sweet bean sauce, spring onions, cucumbers and sugar, all to be self-served in a wrap.
The reaction was good at first, but quickly, one friend did not want to try the sauce, and someone else did not want the wrap layer.
"But the sauce and wraps are essential!" I said, frustrated with their pickiness and confused about the problem. Half of the Peking duck dish was left over, which tells me they did not enjoy it.
I went home bummed and told my mom, who turned out to have quite the knowledge of introducing Chinese food to Americans. She said I had obviously ordered the wrong dish and should have gotten something simple instead, like fried rice, something I would never order at a Chinese restaurant because even I, a non-cook, can make it.
Although we ate duck meat, which is less controversial than other proteins like rabbits, I felt weird because ducks are uncommon in the American diet. At the time, I did not want my friends to be skeptical of what was foreign to them, so I explained every ingredient, fearing that they would be judgmental. I got offended when they did not want to try everything.
How would I genuinely connect with people from the U.S. as a Chinese immigrant if the diet I am accustomed to, among many other things, is inherently different? Then I stepped back and thought, were my friends being judgmental or just picky? Where do I draw the line?
To answer this question, we need to look at the deeper systemic issue upon which my offense was founded in the first place. It goes back to the tiresome stereotype that Chinese people eat domesticated animals en masse (now similarly said of Haitians). Moreover, the fundamental problem is that we do not have a proper approach to addressing stereotypes.
Most people know that "Chinese people eat wild animals" is clearly a stereotype, but the question of where stereotypes like these come from and how to deal with them often goes unanswered, turning a stereotype into an unresolved mystery.
Generally, stereotypes come from a general notion of what is observed in a group of people and what can be inferred. Stereotypes become dangerous when these inferences are applied inaccurately.
For instance, it may be true that certain places in China are accustomed to eating animals and parts of animals that are not common to U.S. eating habits. But it is unfair to infer that the norms of one group of people are representative of a whole population and then proceed to burden that population with judgments toward the assumed norm.
More importantly, these stereotypes can continue to uphold Western views as dominant over non-white perspectives, leading to further subjugation. Due to this, these ethnic stereotypes could have long-lasting effects on people, such as low self-esteem, poorer academic performance and incentives to produce worse work.
This has proven to be true not only interpersonally but also internationally, as seen with many Western colonialist rationales, such as the myth of the noble savage. Moreover, it is radically insensitive to be ignorant of ethnic norms and customs and expect marginalized people to educate Westerners comprehensively without respecting the culture's individuality in the first place.
To put everything into perspective, our eating habits are so intercorrelated with our daily lives and well-being that it is impossible to advocate for ethnic diversity without understanding culinary diversity.
Many Westerners choose to keep a distance from various non-Western cuisines due to negative stereotypes they have heard of, and that is as severe as keeping a distance from people of a particular ethnicity. How could you genuinely connect with someone of a different ethnicity if you refuse to try their authentic cuisine?
Not only does every ethnicity deserve respect in its entity, but we must also learn to bridge the gap between ethnicities to foster a united society. This starts with understanding different culinary traditions and being open-minded about them.
So, next time you try a new cuisine, do not be afraid to ask questions from a place of genuine curiosity. Learn about ingredients unfamiliar to you and think critically about whether you are rejecting something for its taste or what you have heard. The essence of connecting with others is to get to know them personally — it is just the same with food.
Shiying (Monica) Li is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences majoring in comparative literature and minoring in political science and economics. Li’s column, “That Loud Floating Thought,” runs on alternate Mondays.
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