“Show me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are”: how does this claim work in the cultural fabric of the Middle East? Where and how are staples, meats, spices produced and traded? How are they prepared? What do local and regional differences mean? Who owns culinary traditions? What food is prepared for what occasion, and who is invited? Which foods (and drinks!) are taboo?

In this course, we use food and drink as a lens to look at life and culture, with the ultimate goal of humanizing the social and political history of the Middle East, and making it relatable in new ways, through a combination of basic knowledge, rigorous analysis, and experiential learning. We explore the social and cultural history of Middle Eastern food and drink from various disciplinary angles, examining archaeological records from Mesopotamia and Egypt, medieval cookbooks and wine poetry from Baghdad, imperial art and account books of the Ottoman palace, and modern cookbook-memoirs, but also including direct experiences of culinary practices in the Middle East and the diaspora.

Discourse about food is an increasingly important aspect of modern American life. While cooking as a cultural technique becomes a matter for the specialist, choices of what and how to eat have become ever more complex, riddled with concerns about affordability, culture, and health. A history of food and drink that takes us back to the origins will help us reflect critically and self-critically on our own habits and attitudes towards food.

Course Requirements:

• Three short papers will be based on observation, experience, and research (5 pages each; one of them will be a group project) - 15% each
• Five very short papers will be mostly responses to assigned readings, conversations with guest presenters, as personal reflections, etc. (1-2 pages each) - 5% each
• Brief quizzes on essential facts - 10% total 
• Participation in class discussion and section - 20%

Intended Audience:

Any undergraduate student with an interest in food, in the Middle East, or in culture, history, archaeology, anthropology, and religion in general

Class Format:

Two 90-minute lectures in addition to 1-hour discussion section weekly