Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer

By Lisa M. Heldke

Book Overview

Exotic Appetites is a far-reaching exploration of what Lisa Heldke calls food adventuring: the passion, fashion and pursuit of experimentation with ethnic foods. The aim of Heldke's critique is to expose and explore the colonialist attitudes embedded in our everyday relationship and approach to foreign foods. Exotic Appetites brings to the table the critical literatures in postcolonialism, critical race theory, and feminism in a provocative and lively discussion of eating and ethnic cuisine. Chapters look closely at the meanings and implications involved in the quest for unusual restaurants and exotic dishes, related restaurant reviews and dining guides, and ethnic cookbooks.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 041594385X
• ISBN13: 9780415943857
• Release Date: March 2003
• Publisher: Routledge
• Length: 296 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

From Wittgenstein to Wayne's World

I recently read Calvin Trillin's Feeding a Yen. Exotic Appetites is the brainiac version. Although this seems to be intended as an academic work, it is sprinkled with personal anecdotes and references from popular culture. This makes it readable for anyone interested in food. Heldke considers food from every angle. What is exotic food? Is food that is exotic to one person or culture exotic to another? When does it stop being exotic? (Pizza used to be considered exotic in America.) How do we change food when we take it out of its "native habitat"? Do we somehow endanger it? With references to Calvin Trillin, Wayne's World, Sara Paretsky, Pierre Bourdieu, Tony Hillerman, and Jane & Michael Stern, among others, this is a wide-ranging look at food adventuring. Try it!