Mini-Field Work
I am Zara. On November 29, I visited a Pakistani restaurant in Brooklyn with my dad. It was a small restaurant with walls filled with paintings and pictures highlighting Pakistan’s rich heritage and culture. Those pictures were of famous mosques, truck art, and tourist destinations in Pakistan. The restaurant also served traditional desi food, fast food, and street food from Pakistan. When I first went inside, it felt more like a bakery than a restaurant because of all the sweets on display. I had some sweets and kebab, which was made in front of me and was delectable. The restaurant’s owner was my dad’s friend, so I asked that person what he thought about Pakistan’s government. He had a neutral opinion and said he didn’t see even one party in a positive light. His view of Pakistan’s government made me realize that some people could have neutral opinions too. Whoever I have met so far at least named one political party, but this person said that he did not support any party. I then asked if he were to vote who would he vote for, and he said, “Whoever I feel would be better than the other two”.
On December 2nd, I visited a restaurant called Al-Sham which was supposed to be a Syrian restaurant according to Google. I couldn’t find many Syrian restaurants near my house, so I decided to go to the nearest one. When I went inside it didn’t have any pictures or decorations, but the food there was Middle Eastern. They served mainly shawarma, falafel, and hummus with bread. I had shawarma and it was really good. They had mostly decorated the place with Palestinian flags and gave the impression of being a Palestinian restaurant, but the name was al-Sham, another name for Syria. It was quite busy at the time and people were going in and out continuously.
Overall, I had a great experience visiting these two restaurants. After exploring both restaurants, I observed a huge difference in both their cuisines and cultures. Food is the easiest way of expressing culture and traditions. When I was taking pictures inside the restaurant, I felt a bit hesitant at first, but since the staff was okay with it, I clicked some pictures. I am giving myself 10 points for this assignment.
One Comment
Shawna M. Brandle (she/her)
This is great work Zara! I appreciate your thoughtful reflection. Al-Sham is not quite a Syrian restaurant- more generally Middle Eastern (Al-Sham refers to a historical designation that included land that is now Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Cyprus, and parts of Turkey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilad_al-Sham#:~:text=Bilad%20al%2DSham%20(Arabic%3A,%2C%20Abbasid%2C%20and%20Fatimid%20caliphates.) which I point out because comparativists have to be very careful in defining what they are comparing. For example, since you’re more familiar with Pakistan, you’d more easily spot the differences in food from Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, if they were grouped under a general “South Asian food” category, and someone who was not familiar with the individual food cultures might see them as very similar. Food cultures are a great (and delicious!) way of looking at the social construction of identity. I agree with your self-grading assessment completely.