Bentley

Amy Bentley’s article beings with the observation that Southwestern cuisine has recently become more popular in America, to the point where in some cases people don’t even associate the food with the Southwest. She explains 4 primary reasons as to why this has occurred: High immigration and birth rates of the Latino people mean more people who have a taste for these foods, the food is inexpensive and nutritious, it appeals to both male and females, and because it provides a romantic sanitized view of the Southwest.

She then goes on to say that the food has multiple meanings and that the “preparation, the rituals, the smells, the social conditions and seasons of the year under which the food is sown, gathered, prepared, and eaten are all forms of cultural expression and identity” (215). She explores negative stereotypes of the Mexican culture that go along with the popularity of the cuisine and says this is a sign of political blindness. There is a split between the American views of the Southwestern cuisine and the Southwestern people. Also she speaks of how the Tex-Mex cuisine (an Americanized version of traditional Mexican food) is hardly considered Mexican by people who have eaten “real” Mexican food.