Jeannette Response #2

Jeannette Martin

Making the Mediterranean

Response #2

In recent years there has been a push for consumers to learn where their food comes from, however, very few people stop to think about whether or not a certain food is native to their country. This course has really put things in perspective for me and has made me think not only where it is currently coming from, but also its origin and its history. This week’s readings provided us with the true history of chocolate. Before reading the chapter in Coe and Coe’s book about chocolate I had no idea chocolate was native to Mesoamerica. According to Coe and Coe, Aztec and Mayan royalty were the only ones to consume chocolate and once it arrived in Europe the elite class were also the only ones to consume it. How chocolate made its way to Europe is unknown, but there are several theories. One theory is that Columbus brought it back to Spain for Kind Ferdinand. Despite the mystery, by the 17th century chocolate was embraced by the Spanish court, especially as a hot beverage that one could sugar and cinnamon to. From there chocolate spread throughout Europe. 

One thing that really stood out to me while doing the readings this week was that Europeans during this time never really acknowledged that chocolate was a Mesoamerican creation. When they embraced coffee and coffeehouses they acknowledged that they were Turkish creations. This probably has to do with the fact that although they believed themselves to be superior to the Turks they recognized that they once had a cultural exchange with them. However, with the native populations found in Mesoamerica the Europeans felt like the native populations were too barbaric and incapable of having a culture or discovering something as precious as chocolate. In the Coe and Coe reading, it is mentioned that Chocolate “conquered”  Europe and that it was discovered in Mesoamerica, but it completely ignores the civilizations that actually discovered chocolate and the unspeakable acts that were committed against these civilizations in order for Europeans to enjoy their luxury items. The terrible things Europeans did are often left out of history, which is not surprising considering history is written from their perspective. In his poem, “The Day” Parini demonstrates that in Europe the hardest decision someone had to make in the morning was whether they wanted coffee or chocolate. In other verses he mentions, “They wrecked two kingdoms to refresh thy palate” and  that “the blood of man a trivial sacrifice”. Parini shed some light on an issue that most people were not acknowledging, people had to die in order for you to consume that cup of chocolate. The Mayan and Aztec civilizations were destroyed and for what, chocolate? Is chocolate really worth more than the lives of the many that were lost? 

As I read this poem I thought about our current food system and realized that nothing has changed. With the creation of the Columbian Exchange and our current food regime people have no idea where their food comes from and they don’t care as long as the product is still available. I noticed it is easier to be ignorant and not ask those important questions. It reminded me of a time when I read an article which stated that the average life span of a strawberry picker in the United States was 40 years. When I read that I felt guilt for eating strawberries and vowed to buy strawberries at the farmer’s market where I could ask exactly they were grown and what the conditions were like for the people picking the strawberries. When you learn the real history of food you can’t help but feel guilty, however, it is not enough to just be educated about where food comes from. We have to act and strive towards change. It’s not easy but it is necessary. It is interesting to realize that the say, “history repeats itself” is true. Kingdoms are not being destroyed, but rural communities are. They are exposed to harsh living conditions while we sit comfortably in our homes eating foods they sacrifice their lives for. 

Painting Close Reading:

This week  I chose to analayze Abraham Mignon’s painting “Still Life” which he created during the late 17th century. This painting caught my attention because it was nothing like the other paintings in the gallery. Even though there were several paining that contained food, this painting contained food that were already half eaten. Left over food is hardly ever painted or photographed. It has to look pristine and ripe, but here it is half eaten and it has insects on the food. In the painting there is a peeled lemon, two oysters— one of which has already been eaten, a bread that has been broken and eaten as well, several vines of grapes, walnuts, and half a  glass of white wine. Although this is a painting of only food I can’t help but wonder about the person or the people who enjoyed this spread of food. The peeled lemon seems like a sign of sexuality as in peeling someone’s clothes off. There is one eaten oyster which means someone consumed it, maybe for the aphrodisiac effects they are supposed to inspire such as stimulating sexual desire. Wine is also considered an aphrodisiac, and after a few drinks people tend to let their guard down and let their inhibitions run wild. Although grapes are not an aphrodisiac feeding someone grapes is a very sensual act. When I look at this painting I think that the people who enjoyed this meal are in another room getting intimate. A man left his burning pipe on the table and the keys are hanging from it which means whoever is there did not vacate the premise. It is also dangerous to leave a pipe burning so the man must have been distracted in order to leave it there. There is more than just food in this painting and it is interesting to see how much life there is in it even though the food is not presentable and is being eaten by insects.