Topics in Latina and Latino Studies of Expressive Cultures (393-0-1)

Topic

Latino Food Cultures

Instructors

Ana Aparicio
847/491-5132
1810 Hinman Ave. #212

Meeting Info

Locy Hall 106: Thurs 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Why are tacos as popular as hamburgers and Chinese food in the United States? What processes account for the proliferation of nuevo Latino cuisine, "upscale" restaurants serving "authentic" Latin American foods, and the presence of taco trucks in cities and towns across the U.S.? What might the answers reveal about issues like migration, race/ethnicity, history, labor, culture, and power? In this class, we use food as a lens through which to explore these and other broad issues. What we eat reveals much more than simply our individual tastes or palates. When analyzing why we regularly consume certain foods or how particular foods become ubiquitous in mainstream culture, we must study the systems, political economic processes, and cultural meanings that contextualize this all. Throughout the quarter, we will also keep in mind that food is experienced sensorially and that it can be a source of pleasure connected to memory, family, identity, etc.

In our study of Latino food culture, foodways, and the ever-rising popularity of Latin American cuisines across the U.S., we will explore popular film, television, social media, cookbooks, food blogs or vlogs, and scholarly texts. Students will also be asked to locate advertising, menus, and grocery store products and then critically analyze the way Latino foods are marketed and consumed. This class is discussion-based, with students expected to critically analyze course material and participate in robust class discussions.

Learning Objectives

Critical Reading, Designing Research, Gather and Analyze Data, Writing Original Analysis

Class Materials (Required)

Required By Federal Law
Required Texts:
• Abarca, Meredith E. and Consuelo Carr Salas, eds. 2016. Latin@s' Presence in the Food Industry: Changing How We Think About Food. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 9781557286932
• Lemon, Robert. 2019. The Taco Truck: How Mexican Street Food is Transforming the American City. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-08423-2
• Medrano, Adan. 2025. The Texas Mexican Plant-Based Cookbook (Indigenous Foodways). TX: Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978-1682832738
• Molina, Natalia. 2022. A Place at the Nayarit: How a Mexican-American Restaurant Nourished a Community. CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0520385489
• Tatiana Vasquez, Karla. 2024. The SalviSoul Cookbook: Salvadoran Recipes and the Women Who Preserve Them. CA: Ten Speed Press. IBSN 978-1984861429

Recommended Texts:
• Baca, Mandy. 2013. The Sizzling History of Miami Cuisine: Cortaditos, Stone Crabs, and Empanadas. SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781609499013
• Calvo, Luz and Catriona Rueda Esquibel. 2015. Decolonize Your Diet: Plant-Based Mexican-American Recipes for Health and Healing. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1551525921
• Mintz, Sidney. 1997. Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions into Eating, Power, and the Past. NY: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0807046296

Class Materials (Suggested)

Recommended Texts (not required):

• Baca, Mandy. 2013. The Sizzling History of Miami Cuisine: Cortaditos, Stone Crabs, and Empanadas. SC: Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781609499013
• Calvo, Luz and Catriona Rueda Esquibel. 2015. Decolonize Your Diet: Plant-Based Mexican-American Recipes for Health and Healing. Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press. ISBN 978-1551525921
• Mintz, Sidney. 1997. Tasting Food, Tasting Freedom: Excursions into Eating, Power, and the Past. NY: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0807046296

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is reserved for Latina and Latino Majors and Minors during pre-registration. Regular registration will be open to all majors/minors after the pre-registration period.