Abstract Summary
Analyzing three fusion food-centric episodes of an American documentary-style reality TV cooking show, I demonstrate how linguistic and multimodal strategies—ingredient descriptions (especially regarding taste), non-English word pronunciations, references to family members, place-centric narratives, negation, nonverbal actions, and on-screen captions—are used to construct fusion food as “authentic.”
Abstract :
I examine how fusion food is discursively and multimodally constructed as “authentic” on a documentary-style reality TV cooking show, Real Food Real Kitchens, which highlights various food traditions in the United States. The majority of the 39 total episodes feature one person (or family) talking about, and preparing, a traditional family recipe presented as linked to a single cultural group, such as “Brazilian,” “English,” or “Japanese.” In three episodes, however, “fusion” cuisine is explicitly featured: “Vegan Indian/French,” “Italian/Jamaican Fusion,” and “Thai Fusion.” Fusion cuisine is often described as trendy, non-traditional, and inauthentic (e.g., Murray 2018), and exploring “authenticity” in these episodes illuminates its discursive complexity in the interconnected realms of food, culture, and identity.
Using interactional sociolinguistics and integrating research on authenticity pertaining to food (e.g., Freedman & Jurafsky 2011, Karrebæk & Maegaard 2017) and to language and identity (e.g., Bucholtz 2003, Bucholtz & Hall 2005), I demonstrate how participants construct authenticity by tracing a fusion dish’s historical provenance and highlighting its “by-hand” preparation. Discursive strategies include ingredient descriptions (e.g., saffron is “VERY Indian”), especially in regards to taste (e.g., “I like to use East Indian flavors”); non-English words/pronunciations (e.g., “mozzarelle” cheese); references to family members (e.g., “my mother’s recipe”); place-centric narratives (e.g., about growing up in a “90% Italian” neighborhood); and negation (e.g., “no marinara sauce” for Thai calamari). Nonverbal actions (e.g., using a mortar and pestle), the show’s superimposed captions (e.g., about a typical Thai meal), and its voice-over introduction (indicating a focus on the “families and cultures” behind a recipe), also construct authenticity for fusion food.
