Ethnographic Assignment (100 points):
This is your time to be social anthropologists! Select a family (or friend) who regularly cooks a dish (meal or drink) from their “family recipe”. You will interview your selected family (or friend). And, you will write about your recent attendance at a family (or friend) meal where a family member will have prepared a meal from traditional family recipe. This family recipe could have been passed from generation to generation, or, could be a new traditional started by your family (or friend) member. You will address what the dish consisted of and in what ways does the dish contribute to the social gatherings. For example, your family/friend gathering for fourth of July barbeque, and their traditional preparation of mashed potatoes. You will describe the social-cultural context of “eating events” in your field notes, and interview your family/friend who regularly prepares mashed potatoes for gatherings.
Field Notes: You will write a comprehensive 3 page field note of your activity as an ethnographer. This excludes the reference page, if you decide to use external source to support your discussion in the field notes. Field notes is a record of events that includes descriptive details, questions, and general engagement with the fieldwork.
You can write your notes in first person but remember you are an ethnographer here so try to include as much of anthropological perspective relying on socialcultural topics that you have learned in class.
Family Recipe Interview:
You will prepare an interview transcript of at least 1 page long and submit it with your field notes. You will need to request one member of your family or a friend, who prepares a family recipe meal (dish or drink), for an interview. There is often a particular dish that is prepared regularly in a family. Where did this come from? Whose recipe is it? Why is it important? What are the ingredients? What is the method? How is it served? When is it made? Is this a written recipe, or made from memory? Interview a family member about the recipe and its significance.
