Food and Identity: A Socio-historical Perspective on the Evolution of Taiwanese Cuisine

Abstract

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin proposed the idea: ‘tell me what kind of food you eat and I will tell you what kind of man you are’ in 1826. Since then, there has been an ample body of research undertaken examining the relationship between food and identity and there has been much debate about this issue. In Taiwan, since the transition of political power from external to internal rule in 1988, there has been an increased interest expressing Taiwanese identity, including food and identity. However, while there are plenty of popular publications on the subject, few academic works examine this based on serious in-depth research. This study takes a socio-historical perspective to examine the development of Taiwanese food and document its elevation to cuisine status, linking to a rise of Taiwanese identity and the way people express that consciousness. Taiwan was subject to different external powers after 1624: the Dutch colonizers, Han settlers, the Japanese and the Nationalist government. In the Japanese period beginning in 1895, Taiwanese consciousness took the form of an ethnic identification, one which contrasted with identifying with the Japanese. In the mid and late 1940s this changed into a bensheng, ‘this province’, consciousness: Taiwanese used this term to contrast themselves with those Mainlanders who arrived in the Nationalist period. Similarly, the status of Taiwanese food differed during the different historical periods. Taiwanese food was especially regarded as low cuisine when Taiwan was a Japanese colony (1895-1945) and during the Nationalists government (1945-1988). After 1988 it changed to become considered representative of Taiwan and began being served as a cuisine in high-end restaurants. The sense of Taiwanese identity increased during the same time period.