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A Sociological Study of Malaysian Culinary Culture

Ahmad Esa Abdul Rahman

Cuisine & Identity

‘Everything about eating - including what we consume, how weacquire it, who prepares it, and who’s at the table – is a form ofcommunication rich with meaning. Our attitudes, practices andrituals around food are a window onto our most basic beliefs aboutour world and ourselves.’

(McLaughlin 2005: VIII)

‘Diet’s relationship to cultural identity is not just a jingoistic one, noronly one of literal hunger or consumption… it is on par withlanguage in terms of cultural definition.’

(Bishop1991: 32)

Research Justification

• Continuous alteration of the national cuisine in light of globalisation, modernisation and urbanisation is criticized for being the advent of homogenised cuisine (Symons 1993; Cook and Philip 1996; Santich 2000; Scarpato and Daniele 2003; Mohring 2007; Pieterse 2009; Bak 2010).

• It’s the deconstruction of authenticity of national cuisines thatmight threaten the scaffolding of cuisine and identity (Githire2010)

• One of the premier catalysts for this transformation is throughthe proliferation of foreign ethnic food consumption(Mennel 1985; Ahmad 1996; James 1997; Wright et al. 2001;Ashley et al. 2004; Mitchell 2006; Mohring 2008; Patel &Gujral 2009; Bak 2010; Githire 2010; )

Research Justification

• Culinary gobalisation is a theme that is progressively gaining attention in a number of spheres of research, including sociology, cultural studies and anthropology (Ward et al. 2010; Yoshino 2010).

• State funded food research is now focusing more on social issues rather than biomedicine and nutrition (McMillen & Coveney 2010)

The association between cuisine and identity is often used to mirror societal and cultural changes.

Malaysian Cuisine

•It is naturally a crossbreed as illustrated in its culinary background, hence the cuisine is open to new flavours.

•Malaysian consumers are referred to as adventurous (GAIN Report 2010) and are quite at ease with foreign flavours (Yoshino 2010).

•This study has been motivated by the recent findings (Muahammad et al. 2010; N Zakaria et al. 2010; Langgat et al. 2011; Mohd Zahari 2011) on the challenges that Malaysian cuisine is facing in light of globalisation and modernisation.

Research Gap

• Consequences of the introduction of foreign cuisines on the host society have mostly been done from the commercial perspective - ‘glocalisation’ of foreign food.

• The role played by ethnic food consumers on the alteration of local cuisine seems to have been overlooked.

• No detail information on how each element of cuisine is affected or which one is highly affected through the proliferation of foreign ethnic food consumption.

• Studies on Malaysian cuisine focused mainly on Malay cuisine.

Research Question

How is the sociocultural construct of the dominant (local) culture altered through exposure to sub-dominant (foreign) cultures?

Underlying this research question, the research will aim to identify the following:

• Evaluation of emerging consequences of foreign ethnic food consumption on the dominant cultural setting.

• The degree of influence of sociocultural factors on foreign ethnic cuisine consumption in the dominant cultural setting.

• Evaluation of emerging implications for the preservation of a national cuisine (Malaysian context).

Basic Ingredients

Influence

Sociocultural Evolution

Flavour Principal

Cooking Techniques

Consumption RulesTravel experience

Media utilisation

Social interaction

Adaption(Alteration of Local Cuisine)

Cultural LearningSocial construction of

reality faced(experiences)

Cultural Evolution

Selection and adaption of “innovations”

INFLUENCE/SHAPE

FACTORS

Experiences

Foreign Ethnic Food Consumption

(FEFC)

Research Framework

Cuisine alterationHow each element of cuisine is affected or which one is highly affected through the proliferation of foreign ethnic food consumption?

Basic Ingredients

Flavour Principal

Cooking Techniques

Consumption Rules

Taxonomy of Cuisine(Rozin, E 1982, 1992, 2005;

Rozin 2005)

Sociocultural Influence

The significance of sociocultural factors in influencing foreign ethnic food consumption being one of the catalysts for the alteration of local cuisine.

Media Utilisation

Travel Experience

Social Interaction

Stage Participants Methods Size

1.

Patrons of foreign ethnic restaurant in Klang Valley, Malaysia 

Online survey

300 participants (min.)

Cross‐section of ethnic group:

Malay          75 respondentsChinese       75 respondents Indian          75 respondentsIndigenous  75 respondents

2. Semi‐structured interview

20 participants

Cross‐section of ethnic group:

Malay          5 respondentsChinese       5 respondents Indian          5 respondentsIndigenous  5 respondents

Preliminary Findings (Survey)

The alteration of Malaysian Cuisine

• Consumption rules are affected the most followed by flavour principal, basicingredients, and cooking techniques.

• In general preparing and consuming foreign ethnic food at home are themost common form of cuisine alteration.

• Followed by:• The usage of foreign ethnic ingredients to add new flavour to

traditional dishes.

• Traditional foods are served and eaten with foreign ethnic foods oringredients.

• Alteration of the flavour of traditional dishes to imitate the desiredtaste and flavour of foreign cuisine.

Preliminary Findings (Survey)Sociocultural Influence

• Respondents visit to foreign ethnic restaurants is highly influenced by Mediautilisation.

• Media utilisation - Cooking programmeRecipe book/magazineThe InternetForeign movieOthers:

DocumentaryEntertainment programmeReality programmeDrama seriesTravel and living programme

• Social interaction - Friends and family

• Travel experience - Overseas travel

Preliminary Findings (Survey)Variance Analysis

Ethnicity

• Chinese respondents are more likely to alter basic ingredients and cookingtechniques by:

• using foreign ethnic ingredients,• utilising non-native meats in preparing traditional dishes.

• Chinese are less likely to alter consumption rules.

• Malay respondents are more likely to alter flavour principal and consumptionrules by:

• infusing new flavour to traditional dishes,• using foreign ingredients,• imitating foreign ethnic meal structure when serving traditional

dishes,• preparing and consuming foreign ethnic food at home.

• Indian respondents have the lowest mean scores for almost all cuisinedimensions

Preliminary Findings (Survey)Gender

• Male respondents are more likely to alter Malaysian cuisine than femalerespondents.

Foodservice

• Respondents who work or study in foodservice related industry are more likely toalter Malaysian cuisine.

Frequency of foreign ethnic restaurant visit

• Higher foreign ethnic restaurants visits predicts higher cuisine alteration.

Visitation pattern to variety foreign ethnic restaurants

• Higher visitation to different foreign ethnic restaurants results in higher cuisinealteration.

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