What Is Taiwanese Food | taiwanese food in english
“TaiwanesefoodhistoryisasmurkyasTaiwanesepolitics,”saysKatyHui-wenHung,authorof2018’sACulinaryHistoryofTaipei[1].Indeed,it’shardtotalkfoodwithoutgettingpoliticalaroundhere.Manyofthedisheswelovetodaywouldn’texistwithoutsuccessiveerasofglobaltrade,colonialism,andhegemony.Andnowadays,muchoftheinternationalcommunityhasghostedTaiwan,anoft-overlookedislandofin-between-ness,whichhasnoofficialrepresentationintheUnitedNations,andissubjecttotheduelingwhimsoftheAmericanandChinesegovernments.Howcanyoucl...
“Taiwanese food history is as murky as Taiwanese politics,” says Katy Hui-wen Hung, author of 2018’s A Culinary History of Taipei[1]. Indeed, it’s hard to talk food without getting political around here. Many of the dishes we love today wouldn’t exist without successive eras of global trade, colonialism, and hegemony. And nowadays, much of the international community has ghosted Taiwan, an oft-overlooked island of in-between-ness, which has no official representation in the United Nations, and is subject to the dueling whims of the American and Chinese governments. How can you claim a national dish when most of the world doesn’t even acknowledge you as a country? (Taiwan forges ahead anyway, hailing beef noodle soup as its official cure-all.) Taiwan is at a political crossroads, one that makes for a unique cuisine that’s rich and complex, steeped in historical lore and brimming with political landmines.
...