Nicole Coyne, “Food’s Message to US

Food’s Message to Us By Nicole Coyne

When thinking about all the symbolic meanings that food can hold and represent in any given circumstance, I took into consideration various examples that would represent what I wanted to deconstruct and reveal more about what food can hold. For my artifact, I decided to go with a specific scene from the movie, "The Hunger Games”. The scene that I choose was the one where we see Katniss struggling outside in the pouring rain, malnourished and starving. After seeing this, Peeta then notices her outside while he is feeding the animals bread and wants to reach out to her and passes along some bread to her as well.

In, “The Hunger Games”, food is being used to show the symbolic act of life and represents comfort as well as a feeling of being at home. The bread that was being given to her wasn’t just any normal bread, he offered it to her for a specific reason to show that he cares about her well-being and wants to let her know that he is here for her, showing her this through the pieces of bread he gave to her. Peeta also had the option of just not showing any interest in her at all and could've just left her there with no food. It is also as if the bread is being represented as a peace offering when it comes to helping her out, when he knows he could risk getting in trouble for doing so. With this being said, Peeta is showing the element of true sacrifice and hospitality in this whole exchange. In the movie, this all happened before they really got to know each other therefore they were complete strangers in a way. He shows sacrifice by giving up the freshly made bread that in their city of Panem, is considered to be good and is a very high quality piece of bread that Katniss is not used to getting. By giving this offering he knows deep down he shouldn’t interact with her because they are considered to be from different backgrounds and if he were to get caught by his father by giving away the bread from the bakery to someone who is from a lower class like her, things would not end well.

Hospitality plays a role in Peeta as well as sacrifice because of the fact that they both go hand in hand when he shows his true colors in lending a helping hand to Katniss. Peeta is preventing putting Katniss’s life in jeopardy by giving her something to eat and just being there for her in general. Nothing says comfort like receiving food from a kind person, and in this case is what was happening.

As said in, “Theory of hospitality” from the cookbook, “Food can be an act of hospitality rhetoric. Serving others is an act of care, discipline, or a way to convince others of something you

want them to believe about you”. This statement really emphasizes and connects with my artifact and ties in with Peeta as he interacts with the food in this example being the bread.

When thinking about food in our lives, there are many people who do not realize that there actually is a meaning behind every action that happens to deal with food itself. Whether it be something as small and simple as a loved one cooking for their family, a neighbor bringing over baked goods, or just even donating food to the homeless, there is always a special message that correlates to why they did what they did in the first place.

If we were talking about a grandmother making her grandchild their favorite meal, we can infer and believe that she would do this to make her grandchild happy and to show her love and affection through her art of cooking. As for someone who decided to donate some food to the homeless, the message that they can portray is that they want to give back and help the less fortunate by giving them food. This exact example would be a modern-day example of what was happening in the scene with Katniss and Peeta.

According to sources from the encyclopedia, “Food is particularly powerful as a symbol because it is so deeply embedded in everyday as well as celebratory life and can therefore be read in many ways”. Not all the times does food always have to have a positive meaning behind it. When thinking about the true meaning and trying to see and detect the reasoning within it, it usually tends to be dealing with a positive meaning and outcome. But not everybody’s intentions are pure and reliable. As there are positives there are also negatives, and in this case of symbolism in food people have different aspects and mindsets.

Food in general is just so powerful just by being the reason we are able to live and survive in the first place. Without adding a meaning behind it, there simply is no purpose in letting others knowing your intentions or reasoning at all. I believe in today’s society when people think of food, they imagine it to be comforting and something to look forward to. There truly is no such thing as just cooking, eating, or giving food away for no such reason at all. There is just something about the connections that people make with food that makes it so powerful and strong in the first place.

It always seems as though no matter what the circumstance may be, food always can be seen as playing a role in the lives of everyone whether we think about it or not. It’s one of the biggest mood changers, as well as stomach filling symbols, that us as humans love to use on a daily basis. By creating such special messages we get an idea and perspective of what is occurring, and we experience emotions of what we believe and see is coming from what the food is portraying to us.

I can guarantee that there are people who just watched the movie and had no understanding about the true meaning as to why Peeta did what he did in the first place to begin with. While deconstructing this entire scene, it appeared clearly that he wanted to showcase himself to Katniss that he is caring and offered the bread to her to show that he is an ally and wants to

help her out, unlike him just giving her bread just to give it to her with no reason in the first place. This created a relationship and bond between

them by knowing that she was struggling and him lending a helping hand in giving her the piece of bread.

Therefore, when looking back to my artifact I wanted to create a sense of understanding and importance, and just overall wanted to show how food portrays this huge role of emotions and meanings that we normally don’t realize about on a daily basis. By choosing that specific scene it led me to do some digging and research into looking more in depth as to why Peeta did what he did in the first place.

Foodie Fan Club

Food. The thing that us as humans love and crave 24/7. It provides nourishment for us to survive as well as helping us become happier and satisfied. I can guarantee you that there is not a single person out there that doesn’t enjoy a specific type of food that they love to crave and enjoy.As far as I know, every human being, or even living organism at this point, is a part of the foodie fan club.

Ever since I was brought into this world, food in my family has played a huge role in creating bonds and strengthening our relationships as a family.Luckily for me, both sides of my family highly enjoy cooking, therefore blessing me with different options and tasty dishes that I get to enjoy all the time it seems like. There has honestly never been a time where someone in my family makes something that is not enjoyable, it’s extremely rare!I was influenced at a young age by not only my mother and grandmothers, but my father specifically to start getting in to cooking and making food for others. I don’t want to brag or anything, but I feel as though my father is one of the best cooks out there, so good that he probably could run a restaurant. My father’s mother, my grandmother, died when he was younger and she loved cooking so much that she went to school to pursue it, inspiring my father to continue her love for it. By passing this down to me, it really makes me feel as though I am connected to my grandmother even though Ive never met her, through the art of cooking and love for good food.

Since I come from two different backgrounds, one being Mexican and the other being Irish and Czech, I would say it is never a dull moment when it comes to food in our household! The thing that amazes me so much is the fact that when it comes to deciding what we want to eat at our house, there are many different options, and we can switch things up by not repeating the same meals we have had.

From making meals to desserts, my family is definitely one that loves to cook and is known by friends and other family members of just how great and talented we are when it comes to working in the kitchen. Going back to my personal chef, aka my father, every year on my birthday he allows me to send in a personal request of what dish that I would like to enjoy eating for my birthday dinner, and I personally love this and will take this over any plain and ordinary night out at a restaurant.

One specific memory that I love and will remember forever is one where me and my father made dinner together one time on Christmas day. It was when I was younger and couldn’t really handle the stove by myself just yet. I vividly remember begging and pleading my father to let me help prepare the food that he was going to be making. Without hesitation, of course my father the chef needed his assistant, aka myself, to help step in and make the meal just a tad bit delicious than it would've been already. We worked as a team to perfect each and every little dish as well as the main course that we were having that night. I remember all the giggles and fun it was and the joy and

excitement that filled the kitchen that exact evening. There is just absolutely nothing that can break the daddy daughter bond that I am proud and lucky to have with my own father. I am spoiled so much with amazing food that I’m literally never starving in this household. I feel as though when I move out,I’m always going to find a reason to come back home just to have those home cooked meals.

Now when it comes to me working in the kitchen, I would say I'm pretty decent, not as good as my father maybe, but I know how to whip up a good dish once in a while.Since I said I come from two different backgrounds, I know how to make a variety of different dishes from different cultures as well as our typical American dishes of course.From making tamales to making stuffed cabbage both sides of my culture help influence what I know to be satisfying.

I think in my opinion, the best part of cooking and trying new things is seeing what the outcome and final taste test will be like in the end. I also love hearing and getting praised that I made something that people enjoy and love to eat as well. There is just something special about getting recognition about something that you typically wouldn't get praised about on a typical day.

Another memory that I hold is when I wanted to do something special for my parents since they spoil and do so much for me, is make them a nice big breakfast. I wanted to surprise them with all of their favorite breakfast foods that I know they would enjoy ,and I just had to perfect everything just to see their reactions. It took some work as well as time, but seeing their faces light up with shock and happiness really made me feel good inside, making me realize that they probably feel this way when they cook for the rest of my family all the time.

Being a cook is not easy, it takes a lot of work than we typically think about, and also technically anyone can cook, but being a good cook is the key to good food. One thing Ive always admired about the way my father cooks is he is always trying to make sure that the people who eat his food are satisfied and happy with the way everything tastes and had come out in the end. He is totally the opposite of being selfish, he cares so much about others that he will spend hours standing working in the kitchen, letting everyone else start eating before he finally sits down and eats himself.

I would call this man a perfectionist just like myself. We are definitely father and daughter. He could be cooking something new that he has never made before from a recipe online, If there’s something that he didn’t enjoy about he likes to add his own flavor and twist to it to make it even better than it was before. Always leaving us full and satisfied with what he makes.

It’s crazy to me that there are people and families out there who either don’t like to cook, or just don’t cook in general to me. I couldn’t imagine being in a family that doesn’t cook all the time, it would definitely be foreign and different. That’s why I feel so blessed to be given and born into this family where food is highly used and important.

With that being said, I feel as though the perfect recipe to use for this cookbook project would have to be from my favorite cook, my father. He is truly one of my biggest inspirations as well as my grandmother and I am just so glad we are able to bond over food and cooking together in general.

I want to put something out there that reminds me of my father that nobody else, not even and restaurants can compete with the amount of flavor that he puts in and adds to make the perfect meal. We love doing what’s best and what makes others happy, it's as if it’s just in our Coyne blood that cooking is a way we can create happiness and spread love to others as well as in ourselves.

Kickin’ Fettucine Alfredo

Ingredient

Fettucine pasta

Chicken Breast

All-purpose Flour

unsalted butter

Heavy Whipping Cream

Parmesan Cheese

Olive oil

garlic powder

salt and pepper

garlic cloves

paprika Recipe serves

4

2

2

1/2

1

2 Amount

boxes

cup

stick

cups

Desired amount

1

1/2

1

3

1 tbsp

tsp

pinch

pinch

Instructions:

First we are going to start with cooking our chicken breast. When prepping chicken breast, you can take some paprika and salt and pepper seasoning as well as some garlic powder, and put some on the breast itself, then take your flour and coat the entire thing.

To cook the chicken breast, you can pan-fry it in olive oil with some butter for about 5 minutes on each side or when the chicken appears to be cooked all the way through.

Prepare two boxes of fettucine noodles to al dente.

While those are cooking, you can reuse the same pan that the chicken breast was cooked in and start the sauce by melting the remaining stick of butter over medium heat, add three cloves of minced garlic, cook for 2 minutes until it becomes fragrant. Careful not to burn garlic!

Whisk in 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, chicken broth and cook for 7-8 minutes until it thickens.

Whisk in 1 ½ cups of freshgrated parmesan cheese and a ½ teaspoon of pepper.

Cook for 2 minutes more and turn off the heat.

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8. 9. Then your sauce should be complete, drain your pasta and add your chicken breast while drizzling the amount of

alfredo sauce that you desire onto your dish. Add parsley for more flavor and enjoy!