Exploring the Intersection of Memory and Food in Syrian Christian Identity through Lathika George’s The Suriyani Kitchen and Tanya Abraham’s Eating with History

Exploring the Intersection of Memory and Food in Syrian Christian Identity through Lathika George’s The Suriyani Kitchen and Tanya Abraham’s Eating with History

Nimmy James

Dr. Uma Maheswary

Culinary memories are always a way to identify the community history because it is through food that a communities cultural identity can be shared. When we break down the ingredients in a dish we can find out different sets of stories associated with each ingredient. It is believed that the Syrian Christians traditions and beliefs are said to pass down generation after generation and it is not just limited to the food practices but also the birth, marriage and death of people in the community.

As a researcher who belongs to the Syrian Christian community of Kerala and who resides in a taravad house of the family she is acquainted with lots of stories or oral histories about her community from her grandparents and it is said that all the traditions are part of history. It is found in both the source texts that grandmothers are great storytellers. As food is intrinsically connected with identity, a culinary journey inevitably churns out submerged narratives, hidden and unacknowledged from mainstream culture (Lakshmi 1). Tales of family intrigues and events in Kerala were accompanied by recipes, fables and songs, all part of her repertoire of bedtime stories.

Food is central to defining the manner by which people’s emotional, psychological, social, economic, political, historical and cultural realities are embodied as a lived and living history (Carolan 9). Food memories are not just individual or personal, but are always socially and

culturally grounded. Both the works of Abraham and George can be looked at as an embodiment of the cultural, social and historical realities of the Syrian Christian Community of Kerala. Both the works are a rich tapestry of culinary memories of both the writers which are passed down through generations after generations.