Appetizer/Culinary Arts and the Dining Out Experience
With the help of our seminar leader, Joe Roach, I finally honed in on the idea of having students apply their understanding and comprehension of sociological methodology to a restaurant. It is an "institution of considerable sociological interest" due to its popularity as a social activity, economic significance, and the "nature of the individual's participation in the public domain and the kinds of social relations which are pursued and cultivated."(2) There are many aspects of the dining out experience – things that I want my students to begin to think about as they start their research. All of these help people to determine where they dine and if they will frequent the establishment more than once. These include: the wait staff service, décor, atmosphere, cost, clientele, hours, and the food.(3)
I know some things about restaurants – I have eaten in many and worked at one. My restaurant dining stories are like many I would presume…my husband being served ribs that were raw and a hair in my taco to the best salmon filet ever – seared perfectly on the outside and delicate on the inside. I had always dreamed of being a waitress. After finishing college and returning from the Peace Corps, I rented a beach house with friends in Ocean City, Maryland. It was there that a friend of a friend owned a restaurant. It was at this small eatery, situated in a hotel serving breakfast during the mornings and drinks at the pool bar in the evening, where I learned about the front and back regions of a restaurant. Goffman writes about these regions in which he describes them in terms of theater and then switches to include hotels and radio/television broadcasting emphasizing the differences between the two regions – what is acceptable or not.(4) Until then I was only familiar with the front region of a restaurant – where people are greeted, sat, and waited upon. Noted as "matters of politeness" by Goffman in which actors (employees) are aware and take care with what they say and do while in front of their audiences (patrons).(5) There, in the dining area, employees are happy and friendly, trying (usually) to satisfy any need that you have. Here, this information is visible to all patrons. Language is cordial and people are courteous.
In my research, I also came to recognize that the patrons are also participants in the front region in which they too are "on stage". Dining out is a social event, in many cases a special one. "In our society, much of dining out has to do with self-presentation and the mediation of social relationships through images of what is currently valued, accepted and fashionable. The restaurant is regarded as a place where we experience excitement, pleasure, and a sense of personal wellbeing."(6) The restaurant is a sociological mecca in which students will be able to think about the social relationships amongst all the people there. It is a situation in which people are, according to social norms, to present their best self out in public.
The concern individuals began to feel for themselves and what others
might be thinking of them. The ability to see oneself as another might
to exercise a psychological imagination – and to practice constraint
and discrimination largely because of the awareness of the other's gaze
are important changes to human behavior that began centuries ago and
which we now take for granted in contemporary social codes and
manners.(7)
So, although people (patrons) are dining out – an experience that should be enjoyed – they are also presenting themselves to the public and must be aware of many things including table manners. I am certain that my students have not paid much attention to the ideas and reasons behind table manners. These "force us into ever stricter control of our bodies and the implements for serving and eating food".(8) Established as a way to prevent violence over the valuable resource (food), they also demonstrate education and training – learning what/how to do things while at a table. In fact, table manners are evidence of "civilizing" or socializing people. From a sociological viewpoint, they help to understand the concepts of social classes and snobbery.(9)
No one thinks that much about what's happening in the back region (kitchen) of the restaurant when your only preoccupied with the ideas of your glass of wine arriving quickly enough or your meat being cooked properly! However, the back region comes to life when "the performer can relax; he can drop his front, forgo speaking his lines, and step out of character."(10) Here, I found the true heart of the restaurant. People yelling, laughing, and talking about where they were going to go drinking later that day/night – romances blossoming. Lives came alive in the kitchen! It was there that people could let that guard down. One could never cry in front of the screaming customer you had spilled coffee on even though it was his fault because he stood up and tipped your tray but that could happen in the back region.
As I began to collect information about the culinary arts, I also remembered that a restaurant would be a good tie-in not only because teenagers love to eat but also because the newest school (the third one) that is coming onboard in our distance laboratory community has recently opened a culinary Arts Center. It is considered a learning center that has a commercial teaching kitchen with facilities to instruct students in the ways of cooking and baking. The 32-seat café is open to the public. A visit to this café could be a common ground as we begin our unit. Very rarely do these students have an opportunity to meet with each other in the distance learning setting. This visit could prove two-fold: orientation to unit and class community building.
There is a reason why the word arts are in the title of the field of culinary (cooking) arts. The beauty of a well-presented meal could rival any artist. Chefs consider their served plates as much of a masterpiece as the great painters do. However, the culinary field is larger than that. There are many professional avenues to pursue: "chef, food scientist, research and development chef, sports nutritionist, and food service entrepreneur."(11) The most common of professions in this field, the one that people are most familiar with is that of a chef. Becoming aware of what a chef needs to know is important for my students as they develop a culinary sense. I also know that it's vital that they understand the information is technical. This fact is highlighted when it comes to the most important tool a chef can have – a good knife.(12) To know how to use a knife improves the quality of food. Chunks of vegetables should be about the same size so that they finish cooking at the same time. Nicely cut items also indicate to those eating the dish that the cook cares about their work.(13) A knife's anatomy includes the blade, edge, heel, bolster, rivet, handle, and tang.(14) "The proper chef's knife grip as seen from the inside or thumb-side of the cutting hand. The thumb grips the knife around the top of the blade, with the hand wrapped around the bolster of the knife."(15) More technical information is offered via the Internet that includes seasoning and flavoring as well as food safety and sanitation.
The unit will be divided is divided into three sections: Front Region, Back Region, and Putting it All Together. The first section will comprise of readings that focus on the dining experience – what one will see/experience when they come to a restaurant. The second section will focus on what happens in the back/kitchen. Students will become aware of the culinary arts through reading this information on-line, the reading of a play in which they will see what happens "behind the scenes", and the reading of an expose of the life of a chef in the kitchen. All of these texts help students to understand more about how and what happens in regard to food delivery. Here, students will come to realize the technical aspects of the Back Region as well as the idea that these are real people with their own lives – that it's a mini-society. Lastly the sociological methods are introduced and implemented in the third section. The following are the texts that will be used in the first two sections.
Front Region Reading – Sociology on the Menu: An Invitation to the Study of Food and Society (Chapter Five – Eating Out)
This chapter explains the reasons behind eating out –Fete Spéciale, Amusement, and Convenience. Finkelstein categories and details each of these restaurants types – seven in total – for the three reasons for dining out. This is the type of information that I want students to be able to read, take notes, and discuss. Determining what is essential to know and why is a skill that they will need to be able to accomplish in this class and later in their academic careers. The information is very detailed which will also lend itself well to what they will need to write later on for the final assignment.
Front Region Reading – Dining Out: A Sociology of Modern Manners (Part One – Dining Out)
This chapter focuses on the social organization of eating – in particular, out in public. The beginning of the chapter highlights the historical changes in eating in shared locations, the differences between genders in regard to dining out, the development of table manners, and a sociological analysis of contemporary eating out. Additionally, it emphasizes the idea that patrons are also in the front region of a restaurant - paying close attention to their demeanor, manners, etc.
Front Region Reading – Food and Culture (Chapter One – Food and Culture)
This textbook delves into the specifics of food, health beliefs and practices. Additionally, it specifically speaks to different religions and peoples of the world and their ideas of food. Students will read the first chapter that explains about the role of culture in food habits, how food habits are influenced, and the study of cultural foods. It provides an overview of social dynamics and factors that are factors that influence food habits. This is also an introduction to vocabulary specific to the study of sociology that will come up time and time again in our sociology textbook.
Back Region Reading – The Kitchen (a Play)
Introducing the idea of a busy restaurant kitchen to my students will be easy using the 1957 play by Arnold Wesker, a British dramatist. The play was based on ideas he formulated while working at the Bell Hotel in Norwich. Critics posit that it is a dramatization of work. The play is divided into three parts – prepping for lunch, after lunch, and the beginning of dinner. Thirty characters including chefs, waitresses, and kitchen porters come in and out of the kitchen (on and off the stage). It is there that one discovers the back region of a restaurant. The first part of the play focuses on the employees coming in and prepping for the day's lunch. Snippets of conversations give an understanding of the relationships between people (in and outside of the restaurant) and their activities on the outside. Additionally, one begins to get the sense of ownership of his areas in/around the kitchen. The second part of the play (Interlude) highlights conversations between the restaurant employees about their dreams and aspirations. The last part emphasizes the topics such as work exhaustion, territory (my space versus yours), people unable to communicate, and the stopping of the food production come up in this section. There is a rawness to this play that is similar to that of the book students will be reading, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. The only difference is the time frame. Rawness looks differently in the late 1950s versus in 2000! In the play, one character has a "breakdown", cuts off the fire to the ovens, and runs out into the dining area with blood on his hands while in the book, Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain discloses true "secrets" about activities in a kitchen – the who and what – that a diner may not want to know. Reading the play will help students to make the invisible visible. For teenagers who may tend to be self-absorbed at times, it seems difficult for them to recognize that others exist and have lives. Students will be able to glean from the play that the restaurant personnel exist, have lives, and thoughts other than what their order may be.
Back Region Reading – Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (a Book)
The title's words confidential and underbelly lead me to believe this will be a tantalizing read – giving up secrets that must be top secret. I was not disappointed. It is a graphic account of Anthony Bourdain's career and work in various restaurant kitchens is just the type of read that my high school students will eat up! Six chapters will be assigned which, I believe, give a good picture of what's going on behind the scenes. The Who Cooks? chapter has details about the different people in the kitchen: chef, line cook, women versus men, and ethnic backgrounds. He writes frankly about each of the "characters" in a kitchen. From Our Kitchen to Your Table explains the intricacies of what the kitchen serves from what is purchased when to if/when something is thrown out. This chapter is one that I recoiled while reading. I am certain that my students' reactions will be more exaggerated! There are a few words of wisdom that include: never eat fish on Monday, best days to eat out are Tuesday – Thursday, it is not preferable to order well-done meat, and remember that brunches are only served once a week – think about that! How to Cook Like the Pros gives recommendations for what every chef needs in the kitchen. He begins with the kitchen knife and goes on in detail for three pages! Other items include pots, a nonstick sauté pan, stock, and fresh herbs to garnish a plate. Which makes me think of a funny story from my own waitressing days. We'd be in the kitchen, in the weeds, waiting for our pancakes and eggs to be placed on dishes, trying to scoop them away for our customers but were never allowed as the cook would scream, "Garnish, you need the garnish." Oh, how we complained about this! What difference does a third of a strawberry, thin slice of pineapple, and an orange twist make? According to Bourdain it makes a world of difference and takes NO talent to accomplish! A Day in the Life details each minute of a day in his life as a chef – decisions and problems coming at him. SO You Want to Be a Chef? A Commencement Address lists advice as to how to follow a path towards being a chef. Really, his words of wisdom could be applied to any career: be fully committed; learn Spanish!; don't steal; always be on time; never make excuses or blame others,; never call in sick; lazy, sloppy and slow are bad; be prepared to witness every variety of human folly and injustice; assume the worst; try not to lie; think about that resume, and read.(16)
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