台灣留學生的烹飪實作與大同電鍋

The Tatung Rice Cooker and Culinary Practices: Serving Familiar Tastes of Taiwanese International Students

本文討論台灣飲食文化研究上較少被注意到的人與物之關係：台灣留學生與電鍋。大同牌電鍋是台灣家庭廚房常見的家電設備，本研究指出，這尋常的炊具物質實則承載重要的社會與文化意義。通過社會實作理論的整合觀點，本文探討台灣留學生的電鍋與日常獨自烹飪實作的組成過程與元素，包括物質的屬性與功能如何提供熟悉的烹飪實作、操作物質所需的技術與知識，以及文化認同與象徵意義如何連結物質。研究透過對曾居住於海外的台灣留學生進行半結構深度訪談，探討他們在海外的大同電鍋烹飪實作經驗。研究發現，在暫時移民與適應新環境的生活脈絡中，電鍋從家庭電器轉變為個人化的烹飪工具。本文並進一步擴展特定炊具物質作為「多於食物」討論的重要面向，指出電鍋既作為個人劃界的媒介，同時也連接了遠方的社會關係與文化認同。

This article presents a case study of the cooking practices and experiences of Taiwanese students studying abroad, with a particular focus on the role of Tatung rice cooker in their lives. These individuals and topics are under-researched within the field of Taiwanese food culture. The Tatung rice cooker is a widely used domestic appliance in Taiwanese households. This article illuminates the social and cultural significance of this seemingly mundane cooking utensil. This study employs the integrated perspective of social practice theory to examine the processes and elements that constitute Taiwanese students’rice cooker and daily food practices. It investigates how the attributes and functions of materials facilitate familiar food practices, the skills and knowledge required for the utilisation of materials, and the manner in which cultural identities and symbolic meanings are associated with materials. This paper employs semi-structured in-depth interviews with Taiwanese students who have resided abroad to examine their experiences of cooking with a rice cooker in an overseas context. The article draws attention to the transformation of the rice cooker into a personal cooking tool in the context of temporary migrant life and adaptation to a new environment. Furthermore, it emphasizes the significance of specific cookware objects as an integral aspect of the‘more than food’discourse. It also demonstrates how cookware objects act as boundary markers between the individual and as links to distant social relations and cultural identities.