Day: October 5, 2020

In the section called ‘The Sisters and aunt Winnie’ of Albert Chong’s short essay, “Double Exposures,” we briefly get to explore the stories behind the artists’ reimagining of his complex and mysterious family history via rephotographs of his family’s photo album. In the piece, he delves into intimate family stories of interpersonal trauma, death, centering his Afro-Asian heritage. Chong tells the story of his ‘Aunt Winnie’, who “had to carry heavy baskets of fried fritters and food to deliver to the people who worked on the wharf, while her sister Peggy carried the money.” The mention of fried fritters led me to inquire about the possible Afro-Asian origins of fried fritters and it’s relevance in Jamaican culture. 

Fried fritters, also known as sailfish fritters or Stamp and Go, are crunchy fried fish-filled pancake enjoyed by many in Jamaica, and in various forms throughout the Caribbean. The food’s main ingredient is saltfish (salted cod, which is found in many Jamaican dishes, such as ackee and saltfish and saltfish patty. It is considered one of the original fast foods in Jamaica with the name ‘Stamp and Go’ deriving from Jamaica’s colonial history. The dominant theory regarding the name provides that in the 18th century, British navy officers who wanted a quick meal would stamp their feet their to, sometimes impatiently, alert food vendors and take their quickly-fried fritters to-go. The name reflects it’s history in providing food for hungry and eager men who worked in the marine industry, also drawn upon in Chong’s family history with the food.

Saltfish-infused ’cakes’, of different names and texture, are also prevalent in other Caribbean countries. In Trinidad, their version is called Accra, and I was instantly reminded of a very similar fried fritter food of the name Accara from my home country of Senegal; Accra is also the name of Ghana’s capital city. Senegalese Accara is a deep-fried fritter consisting of black-eyed peas. In Senegal people regard Accara in the same way they do in the Caribbean- a popular, tasty, and quick fast-food for on the go. Caribbean fried fritters’ connections to West African countries/cultures are not coincidental considering the Transatlantic slave trade. Though enslaved Africans were stripped of various parts of their identity, they were able to preserve elements of their various cultures to develop new cultural markers in the Americas, evident in the similarities between Caribbean Accra and Senegalese Accara fritters. 

 

Kirouac, Matt. “Afro-Caribbean Cuisine Charts a Course to Mainstream Success.” US Foods, https://www.usfoods.com/great-food/food-trends/afro-caribbean-cuisine-is-trending-on-menus.html. Accessed October 4 2020. 

Jamaican Saltfish Fritters

In Albert Chong’s piece, Yin Yang Us Them, apples and oranges are placed in the shape of a yin yang symbol, surrounded by coconuts. His website explains that “this work seeks to seeks to reconcile and illustrate the notion of difference as complimentary using the ancient Chinese Taoist symbol of duality to create a fruit mandala playing with the popular expression ‘As different as Apples & Oranges'”. The phrase apples to oranges began as “apples to oyesters” in 1670 by John Ray (The Idioms). It’s interesting to note that “Moreover, Spanish use it as “apples to pears” while the French use is as “apples to oranges.” The exact form of the idiom “apples to oranges” is being used since about 1889″ (The Idioms). The idiom exists in America, Spain, and France, despite both of the fruits originating in Asia. In central China about 10-12 million years ago, existed the apple’s ancestor, and our “sweet apple” likely grew in the Tian Shan mountains (Juniper). In the 1600s, apple seeds were brought to North America as colonists settled down (Brief History of Apples). Oranges are also believed to be native to Asia, and it may have spread to India, East Africa, then to the Mediterranean region where Europeans then brought it to the Americas (Britannica). Albert Chong’s use and placement of these two fruits reflects the European-Asian relationship. The Yin Yang symbol, similar to apples and oranges, has recently become trendy and aestheticized by white people, but Asian Americans still face rampant discrimination and many Asian countries still feel the effects of brutal European colonization. The title of his work is also significant. Us and them are terms that pit one party against the other, and Us can also be interpreted as the United States. Albert Chong displays that apples and oranges, us and them, are not so different from one another, but undercurrents of political histories remain.

“A Brief History of Apples.” Vermont Tree Fruit Growers Association, vermontapples.org/all-about-apples/a-brief-history-of-apples/.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Orange.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 June 2019, www.britannica.com/plant/orange-fruit.

“Apples to Oranges.” The Idioms, www.theidioms.com/apples-to-oranges/.