Culinary Tourism in Tortilla SoupBy Lisa Luper

Objective of study and rationale

In her article “Visiting the American Family: Tortilla Soup as Culinary Tourism,” Laura Linderfield examines ethnic food films (movies that revolve around sensory portrayals of food) to answer these questions:

• What messages do ethnic food films send? • What impact do food films have on society?• Do food films help us understand other cultures better?• Or do they instead reaffirm racist tendencies?• How accurately are other cultures represented in

ethnic food films?• How are people of other ethnicities represented?

Method and process• Linderfield takes the critical approach in her study, as

evidenced by her use of textual analysis.▫ “The methods preferred by critical scholars are usually textual

analyses” (Martin and Nakaya, 2010, p. 66). ▫ In addition to analyzing the movie, she also analyzes the web

site and other background information.• Further evidence of the use of the critical approach is her

focus on immigration politics, racism, and White privilege.▫ “Critical scholars are interested in the power relations in

communication. For them, identifying cultural differences in communication is important only in relation to power differential” (Martin and Nakayama, 2010, p. 65).

▫ “I find it impossible to ignore this history of ‘Hispanophobia’ when considering the film’s treatment of food” (Linderfield), 2007, p. 308).

Tortilla Soup• Tortilla Soup is about a Mexican

American family consisting of a father and three daughters. The father used to be a chef and most of the story takes place around the table and the beautiful food he makes. The daughters each have an announcement to make at the dinner table, indicative of their own journeys to assimilate into American culture.

▫ “Scrumptious plates of salad appear next to grilled bass with a ground red pepper sauce on a table decorated with banana leaves, candles, more platters of beautiful food, and handsome place settings, similar to those at the online Tortilla Soup store” (Linderfield, 2007, p. 309).

FindingsLinderfield was bothered by several aspects of the film:• The choice of food

▫ Linderfield (2007) casts doubt on the food’s authenticity, drawing attention to the fact that the designers of the menu for the film are not of Mexican descent (p. 310).

• The portrayal of women▫ The Latina women were portrayed as being hypersexual and exotic, who, like

the “beautified images of food…invite a touristic gaze (Linderfield, 2007, p. 311).

• The portrayal of Mexican Americans▫ The daughters were light-skinned and looked and acted like middle class

Whites, “implying that Latinas who fit into mainstream speaking patterns and behavior codes can become a part of mainstream white culture” (Linderfield, 2007, p. 312).

• The website▫ Linderfield (2007) points out that the film-related items available on the

website (such as plastic tortilla warmers) are marketed towards a white, middle-class market (p. 307).

Significance• Linderfield’s main concern is that people in the U.S. love

Mexican food but don’t want to have anything else to do with Mexicans.

• She believes that by eating their food we reduce minorities into a commodity for consumption.▫ “The pleasure in much of mainstream food films and television is

intricately linked to the need of US culture to position bodies of women and people of color as objects of consumption” (Linderfield, 2007, p. 315).

• She claims that Mexicans are portrayed in ways that makes whites comfortable

• She charges that people who eat ethnic foods aren’t really interested in learning about other cultures as much as they are enhancing themselves in order to become “more interesting” (Linderfield, 2007, p. 305).

Significant quote 1“The tourist can visit a Mexican American family to experience diversity via the images on the screen and “look upon predictable forms of Otherness from a safe distance” (Lindenfield, 2007, p. 304).

▫ Here Lindenfield claims that when we watch images of other cultures on TV, we might think we are experiencing another culture, but we’re not. We are still in our own world, viewing outsiders as if they are exotic forms there for own pleasure.

Significant quote 2

“The film replicates contemporary multiracial rhetoric; it appears to celebrate difference as light but exotic entertainment in order to ‘contend with white fears of a growing nonwhite population and to hide increasing economic polarization’” (Linderfield, 2007, p. 306).

▫ Linderfield is concerned that films like these make us think racism is a thing of the past. She claims that this obscures the fact that racism is alive and well as evidenced by the political issues such as immigration.

Questions•Do you agree with Linderfield that food films

reaffirm racial inequities and support White superiority? Why or why not?

• If you were to direct a food film, what kinds of changes would you make in order to address the concerns that Linderfield raised?

•What is your opinion towards Mexican food? Towards Mexicans? Does Linderfields assertion that we want their food but don’t want anything to do with them ring true to you?

ReferencesLinderfield, L. (September, 2007). “Visiting the Mexican

American Family: Tortilla Soup as Culinary Tourism.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies. Vol. 4, No. 3. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Martin, J. and Nakayama, T. (2010). Intercultural Communication in Contexts. Fifth edition. McGraw Hill.