Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftliche Fakultät - Institut für Asien- und Afrikawissenschaften

Talk: 'Eat Rice!': The History of the Indische Colonial Cuisine in The Netherlands

  • Was Nusantara Study Group
  • Wann 30.01.2015 von 16:00 bis 18:00
  • Wo Institute for Asian and African Studies Department of Southeast Asian History and Society, Room 410
  • iCal

Nusantara-TALK
'Eat Rice!': The History of the Indische Colonial Cuisine in The Netherlands


By Matthijs KuipersEuropean University Institute (EUI)


Friday, 30th of January, 2015 16:00 - 18:00, Room 410
Institute for Asian and African Studies
Department of Southeast Asian History and Society Invalidenstraße 118, 10115 Berlin

 


Abstract:
One of the most visible aspects of the colonial past in The Netherlands today is the ubiquitous presence of restaurants and takeaways that identify as either Indisch (Dutch adjective for the East Indies), Indonesian or Chinese-Indisch. In 2006, the national UNESCO committee even mentioned the colonial cuisine as a "major influence" on Dutch society, formalising its status as cultural heritage. To some historians and members of the Indische community, this success story commenced as early as around the turn of the twentieth century, when the first Dutch restaurants started to serve the rice table to their clientele.In this talk, I would like to explore this early history of what today is called 'ethnic food' through a different lens. In colonial times, food was a major constituent in identity formations of colonials and Indo-European Dutch. It helps us to understand colonial power structures, and also sheds light on (the absence of) the postcolonial debate in The Netherlands. Food, as it turns out, was and is a marker of cultural and ethnic identities, and moreover, was a (failed) propaganda tool to enhance Dutch popular enthusiasm for the empire.
Biodata Matthijs Kuipers is affiliated to the European University Institue (EUI) in Florence, Italy. He works on his PhD thesis, entitled Fragmented Empire, Popular Imperialism in The Netherlands at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. He obtained is master's degree in the History of International Relations at Utrecht University. Currently he is on exchange with the Humbolt Universität.