Lisa Heldke makes the claim that because something is unfamiliar to us, such as exotic food, that we are able to remind ourselves of who we are and who we are not, but how does a difference in food indicate an inherently difference between people? How does that difference translate into the definition of self, central to the question of “who we are ” and “ who we are not?”

I personally feel like there was a gap in the logic, but that she may have intended to say that it is easier to conceptualize real differences, which are almost always existent although they happen to be more ephemeral, via poignant physical experiences.

I am very intrigued by the idea mentioned in Gastropolis that a menu open windows to issues such as race and gender. How?