Smells and Bells

I do not follow a particular religion as I have never been raised to do so, and after our conversations regarding the ways in which religion is sometimes placed upon people forcefully or simply unwantedly, I began to think about how my parents sort of intended there to be an absence of religion.  We have our beliefs surely, but I never attended church or Sunday school or religious youth groups which I’ve heard many people share their not so fond memories of but still somehow felt like I was missing out. Religion quite literally rules the world in lots of ways, and I have had so many thoughts like “what the heck, how am I not involved in anything??”  And then I was comforted by some of our discussions on how Perez emphasizes the ways in which religion is present in cooking. I don’t cook for Orishas or deities or necessarily think of any spiritual beings while cooking but I surely can resonate with the emotions, forms of thinking, and the beauty of conversation evoked through co...

In Religion in the Kitchen , Elizabeth Perez states that “over the last two decades, scholars engaged in the academic study of religion have increasingly come to regard the human body as a malleable multi-sensory interface continually reconfigured through ritual practice” (10). This quote at first caught my attention but for some reason I could not understand why, it took me a bit to understand that being part of different cultural environments changes my emotions. For example, whenever my family and relatives are having a get-together, being surrounded by Armenian culture changes how I feel. My grandparents were born and raised in Armenia, immigrating to the United States they brought their culture with them. On Sunday’s, my grandparents would invite us over along with my cousins to have Khash for breakfast: an Armenian dish that’s made of boiled cow or sheep, along with onion, and is served with vodka for adults. Personally, I did not enjoy this, however, every time I taste this...

In Religion in the Kitchen: Cooking, Talking, and the Making of Black Atlantic Traditions , Perez talks of Ashabi and her grandchildren providing food offerings to their ancestors. This immediately reminded me of the practice of food sacrifice in early China. I've taken Chinese language classes for about 7 years now and in one of the lessons, we learned about food as well as the history of food in Chinese culture. Ashabi and her grandchildren would give food offerings to their ancestors every day. This included nine beverages (coffee, liquor, and water mixed with sugar and molasses) and nine square pieces of coconut topped with red palm oil and guinea pepper. The offerings would also include whatever food was dropped on the ground. In their house, food dropping on the floor signified more than it would in common American households. It signified that the ancestors wanted that food and had willingly made it fall to the floor. They also used dishware that had been chipped which was...