The power of providing food: Researching the world's culinary arts

Photo by Lou Stejskal

This semester I’ve been working with our first World Arts student who’s writing a master’s thesis. Previous graduates have opted for the comprehensive exam option. Increasing the department’s capacity to mentor students through thesis writing is one of the reasons I was brought onto the faculty a couple of years ago. The faculty at that time were overloaded with teaching and administrative duties and couldn’t have taken on thesis supervision. This thesis is the first of four that I am currently working with, covering a range of fascinating topics and innovative, practical research.

What is a World Arts thesis about? The one I’ve been spending time with this past week is a very interesting look at culinary arts and cooking in West African epic traditions. The student noted in her West African studies that a widespread epic story includes a number of key moments of cooking and eating. Scholarly study of this epic tends to focus on the heroic actions of the male characters, but those actions are supported by the equally heroic actions of females wielding power through their culinary arts. This thesis highlights the integral role of women and food in the epic and then broadens that perspective to consider the place of women in contemporary society and the ways they express their authority and power through their domestic prowess.

This project is a great example of the approach we teach our students. Most of our students will go out into the field as missionaries, and we want to them to be alert to the sometimes-unnoticed cultural activities that may reflect deeper concepts and beliefs. Understanding a culture through its creative, artistic expressions—including cooking!—can show us more insightful ways to share the gospel—ways that connect with who people really are, the questions they’re asking about life, the struggles they feel but don’t speak in words.

Thinking about culture and food lately has made me wonder: What are we missing in the parts of the Bible that include cooking and eating? From that unfortunate piece of fruit in the very beginning, to Sarah’s meal preparation for Abraham’s visitors, to Esau’s red stew, all the way to a late dinner among friends in an upper room—it’s worth a deeper look to investigate what those moments mean, even through their portrayals of culinary arts. At the very least, it’s one of the interesting ways that the Bible shows us God’s pleasure in artistic creativity.

Thank you for supporting our work here, so that we can send out graduates with eyes, ears, noses, taste buds, and all other senses ready to enjoy what God has given us in creation. May all people offer gratitude to God for those gifts!