Taste, Politics, and Identities in Mexican Food - by Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

This book examines the history, archaeology, and anthropology of Mexican taste. Contributors analyze how the contemporary identity of Mexican food has been created and formed through concepts of taste, and how this national identity is adapted and moulded through change and migration.wing on case studies with a focus on Mexico, but also including Israel and the United States, the contributors examine how local and national identities, the global market of gastronomic tourism, and historic transformations in trade, production, the kitchen space and appliances shape the taste of Mexican food and drink.

Chapters include an exploration of the popularity of Mexican beer in the United States by Jeffrey M. Pilcher, an examination of the experience of eating chapulines in Oaxaca by Paulette Schuster and Jeffrey H. Cohen, an investigation into transformations of contemporary Yucatecan gastronomy by Steffan Igor Ayora-Diaz, and an afterword from Richard Wilk. Together, the contributors demonstrate how taste itself is shaped through a history of social and cultural practices.

Review Quotes

A welcome addition to an engaging and timely topic. Its interdisciplinary approach has the potential to extend and build upon existing scholarship in thoughtful and critical ways.

This ambitious volume brings together an international group of scholars to explore cultural and historical factors that have shaped both the taste of Mexican foods, as well as Mexicans' tastes.

This is an original work that makes a significant contribution to the discussion on taste and its cultural and political construction.

About the Author

Steffen Igor Ayora-Diaz is Professor of Anthropology at the Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan, Mexico. He was formerly President of the Society for Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. He is author of Foodscapes, Foodfields and Idenitities in Yucatan (2012), and editor of Cooking Technology (2016).