English

English
1. Diasporas attempt to recreate their homeland cultures in their host countries, but what they recreate is not necessarily authentic. The lack of authenticity can be detected in some of the foods served in ethnic restaurants. In their article “The Presentation of Ethnic Authenticity: Chinese Food as a Social Accomplishment,” Shun Lu and Gary Alan Fine argue that food in ethnic restaurants in the U.S., particularly Chinese food, has to become more or less “inauthentic” because of “social, cultural, and economic constraints of the market” (540). In other words, they claim that ethnic foods need to be adapted to be marketable in a host country. Specifically, they discuss different eating habits and beliefs, as well as different tastes and cost efficiency, as reasons for transforming authentic ethnic dishes so that they are acceptable to American consumers. This modification takes various forms ranging from menu items and ingredients to spices, condiments, and cooking processes to serving styles and speed (Lu and Fine 540-43).
Write an essay in which you develop an argument about the lack of authenticity of your chosen ethnic food in the U.S in light of the inauthenticity/adaptation of American fast food in its overseas branches (e.g., McDonald’s). To complete your essay successfully, consider the following questions: (1) Why do the ethnic restaurants present food that is not considered authentic by actual natives of the culture? In other words, what are the constraints? (2) What forms of alteration do they take (i.e., what do they change)? (3) How can these be related to the adaptation of American fast food abroad? (4) Is it possible that the ethnic food can lose its ethnicity in its process of adaptation?