英文摘要 |
This article examines the production, representation, and transformation of the "Taiwanese cuisine" in restaurants at in Tokyo, analyzing how these restaurants interpret and represent "authentic Taiwanese cuisine." Tracing the history of "Taiwanese cuisine restaurants" in Tokyo from the early 20th century, when Taiwan was under the colonial rule of Japan, this article aims to explore the historical construction of the notion of "authenticity" mainly in two aspects: the historical contexts of the producers (owners and chefs of Taiwanese restaurants in Tokyo), and the transformation of the identification and consumers’ consciousness of "authentic Taiwanese cuisine." This study shows that the boundary between Taiwanese cuisine and Chinese cuisine had has been vague since the notion of "Taiwanese cuisine" appeared in the early 20th century. Although it had developed diverse local or regional dishes had developed in Taiwan during the colonial period, such as sauteed fish wuliu (literally five willow branches) and flying fish stewed with pickled mango, these dishes were not textualized and provided served in restaurants. By contrast, those the "Taiwanese cuisine" enjoyed by the upper class in exclusive restaurants were was mainly of Chinese origins, which resulting in the vague boundary between Chinese cuisine and Taiwanese cuisine even in Taiwan. The "Taiwanese restaurants" appeared in Tokyo during the colonial period, and the number grew mainly during the economic bubble of Japan since the second half of the late 1980s to late 1990s. Many Taiwanese migrated to Japan with the help from relatives who had studied or worked in Japan before the 1970s. As many Taiwanese restaurants were ran run by migrant families, the "authentic Taiwanese cuisine" was gradually came to be understood as family dishes or small-plate dishes since the 1980s. There were also restaurants run by Japanese businessmen or the descendants of those Japanese who grew up in Taiwan during the colonial period. In both cases, hand-making and the maintenance of key flavors of Taiwanese dishes are important strategies to identify the "authenticity" of Taiwanese dishes. However, with the increasing bodily experience as of tourists and media audiences particularly after the year 2000, the meaning of authentic Taiwanese food has been changed, referring to newly emerging label signature foods like beef noodles and bubble tea. As "authenticity" is a field of contest, the consciousness and expectations of consumers keeps changing the representation of Taiwanese cuisine in Tokyo. In this context, night market foods and famous Taiwanese enterprises provide a simple way to perform "Taiwanese cuisine" as the boundary between Taiwanese cuisine and Chinese cuisine is still vague. Based on the exploration of Taiwanese restaurants at in Tokyo, this article further argues that the "authenticity" of cuisines in ethnic restaurants can be analyzed at three levels. The first level is the historical contexts and personal experiences of producers, which constitute construct their identification of "authentic ethnic cuisines." The second is the core factors of the "authenticity" as identified by producers, such as the key flavors of food, which is are closely related to the producers' cultural identity and can be hardly are not easily changed. The third level is the supplementary factors of the "authenticity", which is changing change along with consumers' expectations and new trends. The analysis of the above levels in this research shows that the identification of authenticity is not only a choice between business and culture, but also the historical construction of ethnic cuisine involving the negotiation between producers and consumers of different periods and backgrounds. |