Food, feelings, and Authenticity: Adrian Mendoza

After reading Charles Lindholm introduction, Chapters 5, and Chapter 6 I found myself reminiscing about my childhood, former jobs, and my definition of authentic Mexican Cuisine. The reading challenges the notion of authenticity and gives specific case studies in the form of cuisines and jobs. As human beings, we are constantly being influenced to act in a certain manner. Depending on how we are raised and our environment we are raised to act a certain way. When I was maturing into my early teenage years my father conveyed to me that Mendozas do not cry, we do not show signs of pain or fear. Basically he was telling me the type of emotions I was not allowed to show. Over the years that ideology stuck with me to the point that I found myself teaching my godson the same ideas. Its not until we take a step back that we can realize how we are taught to hide emotions behind barriers, in the process we create a different personality from our inner personality.

I also found intriguing how the workplace shapes our identity, prior to mass retail and mechanization a job was personal. The concepts of guilds comes to mind and the relationship between the master and the apprentice. Lindholm pointed out that company's now have a set standard of emotions that must be displayed during work hours. It reminded me of my days unloading trucks for target in which the phrase "Fast, Fun, and Friendly" was drilled into us everyday. The concept of being an individual is becoming harder when you are forced to act display or hide emotions.

Finally his section on authentic foods had me questioning my own standard of authenticity. It should be noted that  a Mexican meal can be completely different for each individual due to the diversity of the country. However the basic food that is shared in common in most regions is la tortilla. But the tortilla changes depending on the region, tortilla de Harina o tortilla de Maiz. Coming to Arizona I found myself disliking the the Mexican cuisine for the usage of yellow cheese in the beans and blend spices on the meat. My biggest concern is whether my taste and thoughts for Mexican cuisine are authentic?