Day: November 1, 2020

On page 53 of Exit West, the text mentions that Nadia and Saeed regularly meet for lunch at “a cheap burger joint equidistant from their workplaces.” Despite being in an unnamed city at this point, the modern universality of burgers doesn’t prohibit this being a logical occurrence. 

Perhaps the very earliest appearance of a burger, the minced meat patty situated between a bun that is so linked to American cuisine, is the Roman “isicia omentata” – a beef patty mentioned in a 4th or 5th century AD Roman cookbook. The etymological origin of the “hamburger” is likely the Hamburg beefsteak that was often served for breakfast in American restaurants. 

The true genealogy of the contemporary hamburger is vague, but many different theories are related to carnivals or fairs where attendees wanted to eat their food and walk around, thus needing something easy to hold. It is possible that this is where the hamburger took its form as a sandwich, a vendor putting a minced meat beefsteak between two pieces of bread for more mobile eating. 

Hamburgers gained popularity as machinery made it easier and cheaper to produce dishes with minced meat, not to mention the change of pace that came with industrialization demanding fast and cheap food.  After the commercialization of the hamburger in America, and all the other fast food options, the hamburger spread across the globe. With franchises wanting to expand, different big name companies opened restaurants in other countries. 

Furthermore, it is likely that war and American imperialism helped to spread the popularity of the hamburger – since, in many cases, it was in this context that America had its first significant international interactions. The result of this globalization is many different variations on the American hamburger, likely heavily influenced by local cuisine and techniques. These include the Japanese rice burger (a burger between two rice cakes,) hamburguesas Mexicanas (with additions like ham, jalapenos, and avocados,) Australian burgers (introducing pineapple, beets, and a fried egg,) or Indian chicken or vegetable burgers. 

Therefore, Nadia and Saeed’s location remains a mystery since they truly could be in a burger restaurant in any city, thanks to their worldwide popularity. 

Heuer, Myron. 1999. “The real home of the hamburger.” Howard Lake Herald & Winsted-Lester Prairie Journal.

Lapetina, Adam. “Check out How 12 Other Countries Do Burgers.” Thrillist, www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/burgers-in-different-countries-different-kinds-of-burgers. 

Moss, Richard. 2017. “The 1,500-Year-Old Recipe That Shows How Romans Invented the Beef Burger.” Museum Crush, museumcrush.org/the-1500-year-old-recipe-that-shows-how-romans-invented-the-beef-burger/.

The first time Nadia and Saeed, the protagonists of Mohsin Hamid’s novel Exit West, meet outside of the building where they attend their class together is at a Chinese restaurant. The third person narrator provides some significant details about the establishment, noting that “The family that used to run the place, after arriving in the city following the Second World War, and flourishing there for three generations, had recently sold up and emigrated to Canada. But prices remained reasonable, and the standard of food had not yet fallen. The dining area had a darkened, opium-den ambience, in contrast to other Chinese restaurants in the city. It was distinctively lit by what looked like candle-filled paper lanterns, but were in fact plastic, illuminated by flame-shaped, electronically flickering bulbs” (Hamid 20.) There are several striking images and pieces of information included in this description, such as the fact that the former owners of the restaurant had lived in the unnamed city that serves as Nadia and Saeed’s home since WWII and only recently relocated to North America after finally selling the establishment. Although Hamid omits specific details the nationality of the family who started the restaurant, we might assume that they identified as Chinese since they seem to have immigrated from another region and since there seems to be an implicit assumption of an eventual dip in quality now that they have sold the restaurant, possibly because the apparent authenticity of the restaurant has now been compromised in the eyes of diners. Moreover, despite the fact that Hamid wilfully keeps readers in the dark about the exact country that this part of the novel is set, we might assume that it is a Muslim majority nation due to the details about the setting that are given. Since Hamid himself is British-Pakistani and has set previous novels in Pakistan, I decided to explore some traditions of Pakistani Chinese food, a significant and beloved part of Pakistani cuisine since Chinese immigrants began arriving many decades ago. 

As Alice Ping-Hsiu Lin notes in her article “Chinese in Pakistan: diasporic identity, faith and practice,” there is a long and complex history of Chinese diaspora in the South Asian subcontinent, and many Chinese people migrated to modern-day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh during the British Raj. Because of the schism and unrest that followed Partition and the wars that erupted between India and Pakistan, several Chinese families that lived in what was then East Pakistan (and now Bangladesh) as well as port cities in India migrated to West Pakistan (what is now only known as Pakistan). As we have seen with Chinese immigration to the United States, the restaurant industry was a feasible choice for many of the Chinese people who arrived in Pakistani cities such as Karachi and Islamabad because it offered measures of stability and opportunities for class mobility. It seems likely, then, that the family described by the narrator may have been one of these Chinese families that brought and eventually made a living off of their culinary traditions in Pakistan. The phrase “opium-den ambience” is also interesting due to the extremely fraught history of opium usage and industry in China, and it certainly feels like a pointed reference made by Hamid. Aspects of the restaurant such as the “paper lanterns” which look candle-lit but are in fact artificial and plastic seem to show how the family here retained their cultural markers in addition to modifying and presenting them in a way that would attract people looking for a more worldly, “exotic” dining experience, which is certainly something Saeed, at least, seems to feel as he looks around the restaurant. 

There are a variety of dishes served in Pakistani Chinese restaurants that originate from culinary traditions found in Chinese regions such as Sichuan and Manchuria as well as those of different Pakistani regions. Liu states that “These Chinese-owned restaurants serve a hybrid Chinese cuisine tailored to the tastes of the locals, which some Pakistani-Chinese refer to as desi chini khana (literally “local Chinese food,” desi being a term in Urdu and Hindi meaning everything that is derived from the Indian subcontinent)” (Liu). Thus, beloved Pakistani Chinese dishes such as chicken manchurian, egg fried rice, and chicken almond are results of deep intercultural exchanges and connections.

Hamid does not describe in great detail the dinner that Nadia and Saeed share, save noting that they chose to use forks instead of chopsticks due to lack of skill in using the latter. If we were to guess at the courses that were served in this meal, however, one that might come to mind due to its ubiquity in Pakistani Chinese cuisine is hot and sour soup. Hot and sour soup is a dish that hails from the Sichuan province of China, and variations of its existence seem to have been recorded since the ancient Warring States period of Chinese history. It generally consists of an emulsion of water, vinegar, and soy sauce, with black and hot pepper adding the spice. Other ingredients such as chicken or shrimp or various other vegetables are added in different parts of the world, and it is a true staple of many diasporic cuisines today. One recipe blogger notes that a Pakistani variation of hot and sour soup might incorporate carrots and cabbage to replace the crunchy texture of possible ingredients such as day lily buds and bamboo shoots. It is thus a rich representation of the history of Chinese communities in Pakistan and the ways in which the culinary traditions of diasporic populations interact and evolve with those of their current settings. 

Works Cited

On page 2 of Exit West, Saeed asks Nadia for coffee.

Coffee was first cultivated and traded in the Arabian peninsula as early as the 15th century (“National Coffee Association”). It became popular in Yemen then expanded to Turkey, Egypt, Syria, and Persia in the 16th century. Then coffee became popularized in homes and coffee houses for a site of social activity where they would listen to music, dance, and partake consumption of the beverage. Furthermore, these coffee houses were important because of their use as a “center for the exchange of information.” When this coffee traveled to Europe as word of it spread by pilgrims who came to Mecca, it was received poorly. The local clergy referred to coffee as Satanic and had to have the Pope in 1615 (Pope Clement VIII) make an executive decision on the sponsorship or ostracization of the drink. Pope Clement VIII actually enjoyed coffee and its popularity in Europe skyrocketed with coffee houses in large cities. Coffee replaced the breakfast drink of wine and beer at the time (it is always 5 o’clock somewhere I guess even in the 17th century).

In terms of how coffee is grown and cultivated presently, the National Coffee Association attests that “the variety of the plant, the chemistry of the soil, the weather, the rainfall and sunshine, and even the precise altitude at which the coffee grows can affect the taste of the final product.” Coffee is grown in over 50 countries all over the world and surprisingly, can even have variety in the flavor from the same crop.

Works Cited

Hamid, Mohsin. Exit West. Penguin Random House, 2017.

“National Coffee Association.” NCA, www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/Coffee-Around-the-World.

“National Coffee Association.” NCA, www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/history-of-coffee.

In Exit West by Mohsin Hamid, Saeed and Nadia meet up to drink coffee: “When Saeed and Nadia finally had coffee together in the cafeteria, which happened the following week, after the very next session of their class, Saeed asked her about her conservative and virtually all-concealing black robe” (Hamid Chapter 1).  (My e-book doesn’t have page numbers)

In the 15^th century, coffee was cultivated in Arabia’s Yemeni region, which is now known as Persia, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey. As coffee increased in popularity, public coffee houses known as “qahveh khaneh” opened up throughout the “Near East” (“The History of Coffee”). In these coffee houses, people could drink coffee while enjoying live performances and music. Additionally, because these coffee houses evolved into centers of socialization where information was exchanged, they were also called “Schools of the Wise” (“The History of Coffee”).

Records state that “not a single coffee plant existed outside of Africa or Arabia,” until the arrival of European explorers who visited the “Near East” and brought coffee to Europe in the 1600s (Avey). As the demand for coffee increased, European countries sought out other places to grow coffee besides the Arabian Peninsula. For instance, the Dutch harvested coffee in Batavia, which is present-day Jakarta. They also established coffee plantations on the islands of Sumatra and Celebes. Moreover, the French cultivated coffee in the Caribbean, and the Spanish grew coffee in Central America. Today, about “2.25 billion cups of coffee” are consumed every day throughout the world (Avey).

Works Cited:

Avey, Tori. “The Caffeinated History of Coffee.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 8 Apr. 2013, www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-coffee/.

“The History of Coffee.” National Coffee Association , www.ncausa.org/about-coffee/history-of-coffee.

“Saeed parked around the corner from Nadia’s building, messaged that he had arrived, awaited the thump of the falling plastic bag, slipped into the robe that it contained, and then hurried in and upstairs, much as he had before, except that this time he came bearing bags of his own, bags of barbecued chicken and lamb and hot, fresh-made bread” (45).

I came across this quote in which it describes one of the dates that Saeed and Nadia go on. In this case, they don’t even eat the food until it is dawn, practically the morning, so it becomes cold. Even though I would say that is just a sad way to eat food, what really caught my eye was the fact that there was barbecue lamb in the mix. One usually doesn’t come across barbecue lamb as a traditional choice of barbecue, so I was intrigued to find out more.

Firstly, I was unsure of the true nature of barbecue. It turns out that, coming from California, and hearing all of my southern friends berate me on the fact that cooking meat on a grill is not barbecue, they are actually correct. While grilling usually involves more direct heat, barbecue is usually done with indirect heat while also being smoked. This fashion of cooking came from the Haitian Arawak style of cooking meats in which meat would be placed on a framework of sticks to cook. The name for this assemblage of sticks in their language was barbakoa. This word may also sound familiar because the Spanish then adopted the word as “barbacoa” which is a type of Spanish/Hispanic meat dish mainly in Mexico now, that is often associated with beef head.

Knowing that this was how barbecue is traditionally cooked, it reminded me of shawarma, in which one stacks cuts of meat on a long vertical rod and slow-cooks the meat rotisserie style. Even though there is a lack of smoking in the style, it is interesting that this style of cooking seems similar to the barbecue style of cooking, especially since shawarma originated from the doner kebabs of the Ottoman Empire, which is where Turkey is today. Since, now, barbecue is often equated with grilling in many countries and regions (possibly except for the US south), the barbecue lamb that Saeed brought might have been a type of kebab or shawarma that was grilled in a barbecue sauce. Since I have mostly heard of barbecue associated with pork or beef, as is barbacoa, and shawarma or kebabs more associated with lamb, I thought this kebab/barbecue fusion of cooking might provide a better explanation for how this fictional barbecue lamb was prepared.

Resources:

“Barbacoa.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, 16 Oct. 2020, www.dictionary.com/e/translations/barbacoa/.

When Nadia and Saeed trip on her rooftop terrace, Saaed notices the lemon tree and is reminded of his parents, overwhelmed by the feeling of love.

The origins of the lemon are unknown but are thought to have first grown in northeast India, northern Burma, or China. Recent DNA research has found that all citrus fruits can be traced back to the southern foothills of the Himalayas. In earlier times, they were mainly used for ornamental purposes and distributed widely throughout the Arab world and the Mediterranean from 1000-1150. Believed to have been introduced in southern Italy during the times of Ancient Rome, lemons did not come into full culinary use until the 15th century in Europe. Both Columbus and Spanish conquistadors spread lemon seeds in the Americas. Later, Florida and California began to grow lemons for commercial cultivation in the 19th century.

Lemon juice has been a staple in secret communications throughout much of history. From the ancient Greeks to the Renaissance, lemon juice was even kept in supply during the American Revolution, the Civil War, and World Wars I & II. Yet, historians have also speculated that lemon juice treatments to treat sailors with scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, helped the British maintain “the coastal blockade that was essential for defeating Napoleon” (Rupp).

I found it quite telling that Nadia has a lemon tree on her roof. Given its cultural symbolism for secret, lemons serve as a motif for the types of visibility Nadia experiences as a woman who chooses to hide in a country that does not feel safe. When she and Saeed sit on the roof, they both shed their robes or protection to experience vulnerabilities and end up having their first kiss in the morning, where someone could possibly see.

On pg 41 of Exit West, Hamid describes how Nadia ordered hallucinogenic mushshrooms online for her and Saeed to use the first time they become physically intimate. He goes on to say how the police were focused on the sale of more notable substances and that the sale of mushrooms, “whether hallucinogenic or portobello,” were sold by local men whose audience comprised of chefs and young people.

Portobellos are large, brown mushrooms that are highly favored by vegetarians as a meat substitute. The mushroom originated in Italy, but are native to both Europe and North America. The first records of its cultivation come from 1707 France. In 1890 Paris, the a white strain of the fungi emerged, which was much more popular than the brown strain we recognize today. Brown portobellos were discarded. Luckily, in the 1980s, there was a movement towards more healthy food alternatives and the portobellos we know today quickly gained popularity. Now, they account for 90% of mushroom production in the US, harvesting nearly 30 million pounds per year.

Only the caps of the mushrooms are eaten, yet the stems can add enhanced flavor. They are often paired with fresh herbs, marinara, balsamic vinegar, cheese & cream sauces, or garlic.

https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Portabella_Mushrooms_702.php

http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/Mushrooms/Portobello/#:~:text=The%20original%20mushroom%20Agaricus%20bisporus%20was%20brown%20like,back%20then%20so%20this%20mushroom%20became%20immediately%20popular.

The Portobello Mushroom Story

Nothing says home like fresh baked bread, wouldn’t you agree? At the beginning of Exit West, Saeed returns to his parents’ home after classes with some bread for dinner. According to History.com, people have been baking bread for at least thirty thousand years. However, it took a while for humanity to start experimenting with yeast to make rising breads. The ancient Egyptians did so, and they even eventually created sourdough by saving a piece of dough from one batch of bread for a later date. Trade out of Egypt is was brought sourdough and other types of bread to Europe. In Ancient Rome, there was actually a Baker’s Guild, and it’s members were held in very high regard. In fact, one of the guild’s representatives was a member of the senate! Rich Romans liked white bread the most; it was more expensive due to the fact that it requires more sieving than wheat bread. They would even go so far as to compare colors of regional white breads. I hope you guys learned something new about this important staple food. Also if you decide to comment on this post, tell me your favorite kind of bread if you have one! Mine is sourdough.

https://www.history.com/news/a-brief-history-of-bread
https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/hints-tips/bread-making/the-history-of-bread

Why did our ancestors prefer white bread to wholegrains?