Day 1 of Food & Identity

My Day 1 and Day 2 of Food & Identity: 

Class Introductions, Taste Testing, Food Memories, and Food Identities:

DAY 1:

     For our first day of class, we had some sweet pastries to snack on while we went around the room introducing ourselves. "My name is Robbie Soliven, from Indianapolis, Indiana. I am going to be a senior this fall at Indiana University in Bloomington, studying Exercise Science and Psychology with a concentration in Physical Therapy. My favorite food, I said, was chocolate ice cream because it is rich, decadent, dark, cold, creamy, and smooth." Next, we heard a food memory from our food expert professor, Lisa Abend. She talked about his experience in Spain and eating the traditional dish of fried, pig face. Yuck possibly, or yummm if its like bacon. Next, we received homework about setting up our food blogs, doing the readings for tomorrow, and having a food memory to share in class.

DAY 2:

     For our second day in class, we started class by writing down five things that make up our individual identity. I wrote down: family-oriented, Filipino, awesome, stubborn, and passionate. Next, we broke down the topics into categories that personal identity involves and what contributes to what makes us who we are. My food memory included my experience with Papa John's cheese pizza and frosting-covered cookie cake. For the majority of class, we discussed the big issues around how we see ourselves (if we choose our own identity or society chooses for us).

Food Analysis of something during Day 1 and 2:

     In the Philippines, a traditional morning breakfast meal consists of white rice, some form of meat, and eggs. I remember when I visited the Philippines three summers ago, I had a breakfast just like this, prepared by my grandmother. For example, see picture below:

     On Sunday of this week in Copenhagen, I went to the grocery store and happened to get rice,  hot dog meat, and eggs. On Monday for breakfast, I actually prepared this dish but modified it to suit my preferences of food preparation and based on what ingredients I had. I cooked the Filipino meal by myself on the stove top, and prepared the disk: cooked brown rice, scrambled eggs, and red hot dog meat. I was surprised that I arranged these foods together and that it is so much like a traditional Filipino breakfast dish. Now that I am older, I can prepare my own food and choose what goes into my food. For example, I sometimes prefer brown rice to white rice because I eat white rice so much at home. I chose the red hot dog meat because it was very cheap and longer shelf life. I decided to make scrambled eggs because I tend to mess up flipping eggs over. I wrote about this experience because I was surprised by how easily and delicious it was to eat something similar to a normal Filipino meal in Copenhagen, Denmark.