As someone who grew up in the Birmingham area, and for whom, as a child,
fish and chips and curry were both treats, I have a question and two
comments about 'ethnic fare'.
(i) I would like to know more about the ethnic provenance of fish and
chips. Is it indeed of Jewish and/or French origin, and how do we know?
(ii) In one sense it doesn't matter who originated fish and chips. It
would be just as ethnic if it was invented by those pesky Angles and
Saxons.
(iii) Historical distance matters. There is a difference in culturai
meaning between those cuisines which are relatively recent in a particular
place (eg. Balti) and those that have been around for a long time (eg.
haddock and chips). We might challenge the idea that one is ethnic and the
other one isn't, but clearly their meaning differs. To some people the
more recent is 'trendy', 'exotic', and therefore appealing; to others it
is 'trendy', 'exotic', and therefore unappealing! Either way, a difference
is being made. The question is how that difference is constructed.
Richard Harris
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Richard Harris, editor, Urban History Review, School of Geography and
Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1.
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Webpage: http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/Geography/harris.html
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