Food, Culture and Cuisine: A Case Study of Oaxaca, Mexico
March 21-April 15, 2010
5 credits
Instructors: Dr. Cynthia Belliveau, Dr. Amy Trubek, Dr. Jean Harvey-Berino
Part I: COOKING AS RESISTANCE IN OAXACA, MEXICO
March 21-25
Instructor: Dr. Cynthia Belliveau
1 credit
"Your challenge is to keep people satisfied even when the corn is no longer the same - some say it is animal feed trucked in from the US. Things must taste right even though, more and more, you use gas instead of firewood and enamel coated pots instead of clay and you feel that you have increasing responsibilities and less time to spend preparing meals.”
Maria Elisa Christie
Kitchenspace: Women, Fiestas, and Everyday Life in Central Mexico, 2008 (pg. 265) …ver más…

What did you have to research in order to figure out the answer?
Noon-3pm Discussion via blackboard
What is Mexican cuisine?
How does Oaxacan cuisine fit into a definition of Mexican cuisine?
What makes a Mexican cook? What makes a good cook? What makes a good Oaxacan mole?
Discussion of Culinary Art and Anthropology by Joy Adapon
Discussion of previous course: what are the possible connections and threads?
Friday, March 25
Work on essay due at 4pm (email to Amy Trubek and Cynthia Belliveau.
Friday, March 25
Essay due (posted on blackboard) by 3pm EST.
Saturday, March 26
Off
Sunday, March 27
What is the relationship between “traditional” Mexican food and ethnic and class identity?
Rural markets, rural food
Field trip to Tlaculula market
Eating at the market: multiple traditions
Monday, March 28
10am-noon
In person introductions
Review of glossary
Fieldnotes discussion
1-5pm
Cooking and Comida: Meal of “traditional Oaxacan food”
Tuesday,