Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 85

Supermarket Ethnicity

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and other sources of cultural blending? What does it mean for
something to "taste like itself"? Wouldn’t such an expectation
actually limit the possibility of cultural differences-particularity
the differences that exist within a particular ethnic culture.
For many of those who have lived in areas with major
immigrant and ethnic populations, the supermarket is just about the
last place to look for ethnic "authenticity" -- unless of course we were
really pressed for time. Rather "authenticity" might be found in the
neighborhood Italian or Chinese grocery that stocks ethnic staples in
simple packaging labeled in the Old World language, the Jewish
delicatessen where the waitstaff speaks with Yiddish inflection,
the Vietnamese restaurant whose clientele is largely Vietnamese and
whose menu is not fully translatable. We might, therefore, scoff—
with an air of self-congratulation -- at the very idea of purchasing
"Oriental Stir Fry Sauce" or a package of "Taco Seasoning." True
connoisseurs of ethnic food, if left with no alternative to the
supermarket, might instead head for the aisle adjacent to the
produce section to purchase a jar of imported Greek olives —"the real
thing." But what if what we identify as "the real thing" is at heart
an idea, a vibrant energy, rather than actual spices, seasonings and
cooking methods? What makes ethnic food truly "ethnic" anyway?
Purists like Shrambling want to preserve the cultural
integrity and taste of ethnic food by protecting it from corrupting
influences. What Shrambling calls "mongrelization," however, does
not represent the loss of ethnicity but ethnicity itself. After all,
ethnicity doesn't exist in vacuum; an immigrant culture gains a sense
of itself through internal differences, contact and interaction with
other groups and with the "mainstream" culture.^
When food manufacturers run fast and loose with ethnic
traditions, they are simply playing with the fantasies that lie
behind the attraction of any ethnic food to an outsider. Furthermore,
producers and advertisers do not merely entrap consumers in their own
desires; supermarket ethnicity is not just evidence for a "hegemonic"
culture.^ Consumers remain free to choose how they use these
products and can use them creatively.^ What's more, supermarket
ethnic foods are often extremely versatile and can lead to many
interesting cross-cultural combinations.^^ This is not to say that
there is something deeply troubling about the profusion of