Malia S. – Exploring the Meaning of Authenticity Through the Lens of Chinese and Indian Food

My first essential question was, How does Cuisine Evolve and Change once it reaches America. While I did end up learning some about that I began to wonder about authenticity in general. I started to work with the more general essential question, What makes Something Authentic?  I decided I would find an answer through my Senior Project. I also knew that my question was too broad to answer in a six weeks so I decided to narrow it down by conducting it through the lens of Chinese and Indian food since cuisines are sometimes considered mysterious to westerners and the term authentic is used often in relation to those cuisines.

I began to do some initial research and found a lot of critique of the use of the word authentic. I decided the best way to go about finding an answer was speaking to people who would really know. I started reaching out to friends, family, and friends of family I knew who worked in the food industry or were particularly knowledgeable on Chinese and Indian cuisine. I was encouraged to take me research the next step and reach out to strangers. I began to email people I researched online in hopes that they would consider interviewing with me. By the end of my project I did not know 5/11 people I interviewed. The interview process definitely taught me a lot and the skills I obtained from it something I will carry with me for the rest of my life. I had to work hard on my organizational skills, discipline and communication skills.

In addition to interviewing, I also did some personal research through cooking. I cooked two basic dishes from each cuisines, Chinese Fried Rice and Aloo Matar. I also cooked two deserts, Coconut Ladoo and Chinese Fried Mochi donut. I documented my cooking through photos so I could see how my dishes compared to the photos of how the dishes were “supposed” to look.

Go to my website for a brief look into my cooking process and clips from my interviews.