Eating Cultures
In Narayan's last chapter, Eating Cultures, she highlights the British adoption of curry as a unique cultural food, representative of an entire culture. Although appreciated for its taste, Narayan argues that the British, typical of Western civilizations, have commodified the Indian culture through an artifact. She contends that it propels stereotypes and limits the society's voice to a small window of ritual. Narayan describes culinary imperialism's ability to reduce Third World traditions to simple commodities through the abstraction of the culture to plates of food (although few dishes and restaurants truly represent cultural practices in a realistic portrayal). The food is Americanized through patriarchal power domination and changed to suit the audience's expectations. In concordance with the Western curiosity of other cultures solely in celebration without really exploring the society's practices and traditions.
Although I can understand the consequences of eating at ethnic restaurants like commodifying culture and passively abstracting traditions, I do not agree that eating at ethnic restaurants is form of post colonial imperialism. From personal experience, I honestly am curious about other cultures and like to experiment and try new foods. I do not seek to commodify or generalize a culture based on a singular practice like a dish of food, but I do seek new experiences that hopefully will broaden my cultural knowledge.