Cooking, Food, and Masculinity: Palestinian Men in Israeli Society

Abstract

This article examines the relationships between food and masculinity as experienced by Palestinian men, citizens of Israel. Their preoccupation with food reveals issues of masculinity and identity via two complementary streams. By defining domestic cooking as a feminine task, Palestinian men strengthen their domination over women. Conversely, in the public sphere, men use cooking as a means of breadwinning. Their cooking intertwines with issues of identity formation and relations of domination. As restaurateurs, Palestinian men refrain from serving domestic dishes. Thus, they show respect to Palestinian women and simultaneously preserve the traditional distinctions between home food and restaurant food. They view their upholding of their culinary knowledge as a major contribution to the limited appropriation of Palestinian food into the popular Jewish culinary repertoire. Consequently, they appear as the guardians of Palestinian cuisine and culture who prevent their diffusion into Israeli culinary common knowledge.