As cultures spread, traditions among the people transform to fit their environments; these traditions include clothing, language, and most importantly, food. Americans generally think places such as Panda Express serves “Chinese” food or Taco Bell caters “Mexican” food when in reality, these foods do not even have roots from the cultures themselves. The fortune cookie, for example, is generally known as a Chinese desert when in reality it originated from San Francisco, as discussed by Jennifer Lee in the article “‘Fortune Cookie’ Offers New Taste of America” by Michelle Norris. In this interview, Lee explains how the fortune cookie is looked upon as Chinese when it does not even originate from the culture, posing the question of what other common foods could be a misconception of culture. With this, I proceeded to interview my mother Wilma Tamraz about her favorite dish within our Assyrian culture and if there could be a possibility of this misconception of this food actually originating from another culture.
My mother grew up with her currently favorite dish of a stuffed tomato, eggplant, and pepper mixture called “dolma.” She was born and raised in Iran, among a dominantly Persian society but still holding onto Assyrian traditional food. Her mother taught her how to cook this dish and she brought this heritage with her to the US when she moved in the 1970’s, and has been periodically cooking it for my father and I ever since. She was taught by her mother that the dish was as old as the civilization itself and had always been originally Assyrian. Modern day middle eastern cuisines carry this dish along with popular Persian restaurants. However they did not change the food in any way and kept its original recipe (though there are different variations of the dish) unlike American restaurants that change dishes to “Americanized” versions. My mother explained it as special to her because not only is it a good tasting dish, but it is part of her personal identity and her history as a culture. It is especially important because the Assyrian culture is generally nonexistent since there no longer is an “Assyria,” but this keeps the history alive and present. Also, the fact that this food is completely Assyrian brings the sense of nationalism, even when there is no country, it still gives hope that the Assyrian culture will exist.
Through this interview I found how important it is to value true, cultural food rather than dig into foods that are simply quickly made with no special background. Much like how Jennifer Lee looked into fortune cookies and found they are not actually a part of Chinese culture, I learned one must understand the foods they are eating when categorizing it culturally. My mother’s dolma for example holds greater value than fortune cookies because it was brought up from the culture itself instead of made into a misconception that it is of that culture, like how America has done on fortune cookies and the Chinese food culture. Though i do not find it bad to embrace these Americanized foods, I think Jennifer Lee would agree when I say that they should be looked into before connected to a culture just because the environment of the restaurant reflects aspects of that culture. Also, actual, authentic foods hold more value than these transformed foods because, as my mother said, they give a taste of the history behind the culture rather than just eating a quick fast food meal.
benieltamraz 
This essay is good and thoughtfully disagrees with Lee’s ideas about food and culture. The example of your mother’s dish and its connection to Assyrian identity is good. You raise a number of valid concerns about tradition and culture. The only point I would make is that American Chinese food is also connected to a culture and experience. That culture and history is connected to Chinese immigrants and their experiences and survival in the US.
90/100
273/300 is your grand total for major posts.