Despite my culinary inferiority upon entering the Food and Culture program in Rome, Italy, I considered myself consciously involved and relatively knowledgeable when it came to quality, types, and variety of food I consumed. That being said, it wasn’t until I rounded my first month of living abroad in Rome, Italy that I began to truly realize A.) That I really knew nothing about food and B.) The role that food plays in our daily lives, traditions, and most importantly, our cultural identity. While I could tell you a good bacon cheeseburger from an okay one, I realized I had no relationship with food—and no, don’t worry, I’m not referring to emotional eating (though Nutella and Kinder Bars have become weaknesses.) Creating a “relationship with food” is about grasping the importance of not only the meal itself but its preparation and consumption as well.
In our second cooking class with chef Christina we were preparing open-faced sandwiches with buffalo mozzarella, sundried tomatoes and anchovies. As the class stared at the intimidating bowl of whole anchovies on the table, Christina explained that she could have opted for canned pre-cut anchovies instead of whole fish but that wouldn’t allow us the opportunity to become involved in the process and would essentially defeat the purpose of cooking our own meal. Although I still wasn’t crazy about gutting the anchovies, Christina’s point resonated with me. A lot of what food is about is our involvement—the preparation, the consumption, and the people with whom we enjoy it.My mini epiphany about the importance of food onset by living in Rome has encouraged me discover how culture permeates through other mediums of expression—and even further, this discovery has allowed me to fully absorb all of the rich and differing cultures I’ve been able to experience abroad. Cultures manifest themselves in so many facets of everyday life that sometimes I found myself becoming almost desensitized to them. However, after spending significant time immersed in a country where cultures can differ even from town to town, I have become better at recognizing these facets of culture and how the manifest themselves.
The following four posts recount some of my experiences I've had in Italy within my four months living here--the places I've been, the food I ate, people I met, things I saw, and a variety of cultural encounters.