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• 1 2021-01-11T15:42:41+00:00 The Cultural Significance of Food 7 The importance of food to Jackie's Arab identity plain 2021-03-30T18:16:28+00:00 Throughout Jackie’s life food has served as both a bridge across different communities and a reinforcement of her Arab identity. Much of this connection stemmed from the relationship between those who make the food and those who receive it. The loving process serving as a reinforcement of the familial bond. A dynamic highlighted by Jackie, which I found to be particularly insightful, was between the women who made the food and their family. Given that Jackie's memories of family are centred around food and the joyful experiences it brought, it was interesting to learn about a more complicated gendered relationship between her grandmother and those she fed. This relationship is best expressed by Jackie, with the below clip allowing her to speak on it. Although, this clip could be used to highlight a gendered hierarchy, one which speaks to deeper issues. I was struck by how this small sacrifice seemed to represent the love that her grandmother had for her family, and that she would look to ensure the comfort and enjoyment of others before her own. Although Jackie often felt different from her peers as an Arab, it seems that Christian holidays represented a time where the family were able to be fully embedded in typical American traditions. These allowed them to further their process of Americanisation, with family events at Christmas and Thanksgiving only seeming Arab by the grandeur, not the food choices. The below clip will discuss Jackie's memories of the holidays and the food served. Again, her memories of family and Grandmother are at the forefront. The events described are the ways that Jackie connected to her heritage, with the example of her grandmother deboning an entire leg of lamb for the different dishes she would be making that week as a particular expression of how Arab culture was imparted to Jackie through food. Jackie also highlights her favourite foods in this video, below there is an image of Kibbeh to highlight these foods. 
  Given that Jackie’s most memorable experiences with food are ones centred in the comfort of the Syrian community, it is no surprise that the summers she spent within this community stuck out to her. These summers were spent surrounded by other Arab-Americans in Tannersville New York, where she was able to enjoy large family barbecue’s where fresh watermelon and chicken were served alongside other traditional dishes. The below clips detail this experience whilst also providing a specific story of Jackie finding grape leaves (Dolmeh) on the side of the road with her grandmother, a memory that has stayed with her for life and continues to grant her joy when she sees the foods.