Authentic Recipes from Around the World

Abstract

This book reflects about the term "authenticity" in the context of foods and drinks. It asks how history, time and temporality can be used to make particular cultural products seem "authentic" or the "real" thing. We explore authenticity in relation to foods and drinks from different parts of the world: pulque (alcoholic drink from central Mexico), flaounes (celebration Easter pies from Cyprus), Welsh craft cider, and acarajé (street snack from Brazil). Temporal categories like "origins," "traditions" and "timelessness" and the emotional connections they can evoke, like feelings of nostalgia and belonging, are at the heart of our approach. The book is part of a larger research project, Consuming Authenticities: Time, Place and the Past in the Construction of Authentic Foods and Drinks, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council in relation to their major research theme, Care for the Future: Thinking Forward Through the Past.