1st Edition

Traditional Dietary Culture Of Southeast Asia Its Formation and Pedigree

By Akira Matsuyama Copyright 2003
    480 Pages
    by Routledge

    478 Pages
    by Routledge

    First Published in 2002.Foodways can reveal the strongest and deepest traces of human history and culture, and this pioneering volume is a detailed study of the development of the traditional dietary culture of Southeast Asia from Laos and Vietnam to the Philippines and New Guinea from earliest times to the present. Being blessed with abundant natural resources, dietary culture in Southeast Asia flourished during the pre-European period on the basis of close relationships between the cultural spheres of India and China, only to undergo significant change during the rise of Islam and the age of European colonialism. What we think of as the Southeast Asian cuisine today is the result of the complex interplay of many factors over centuries. The work is supported by full geological, archaeological, biological and chemical data, and is based largely upon Southeast Asian sources which have not been available up until now. This is essential reading for anyone interested in culinary history, the anthropology of food, and in the complex history of Southeast Asia.

    Introduction, 1 Geographical characteristics of Southeast Asia 2 Traditional dietary culture and traditional foods Chapter 1 Formation of the Southeast Asian world 1 Period of crustal movement 2 The glacial period of the Quaternary 3 Appearance of humans in Southeast Asia and their genealogy 4 Distribution and migration of human populations 5 Natural environments of Southeast Asia Chapter 2 Dietary culture in the prehistoric times 1 Paleolithic age 2 Transition from the Paleolithic age to the Neolithic age 3 Neolithic age of food-production economy Chapter 3 Dietary culture in the pre-European age 1 At the beginning of the historical age 2 Dietary culture during the early stage of the pre-European age 3 Dietary culture during the early stage of the pre-European age found in inscriptions 4 Stone reliefs of the Borobudur Buddhism site 5 Dietary culture during the late pre-European age 6 Temple reliefs of the late stage of the preEuropean age 7 Dietary culture of the pre-European age found in old Chinese historical records 8 Development of alcoholic-drink making in the preEuropean age Chapter 4 The European colonial age 1 The dietary culture of Southeast Asia at the beginning of the 16th century as found in navigation records during the age of geographical discoveries 2 Navigation records by Europeans in the 16th century 3 Javanese dietary culture in the modern age described in The History of Java by T.S. Raffles 4 Dietary culture in Dutch colonial days described in Dagh-Register Casteel Batavia and Nederlmidsch4tulisc)I Plakaatboek 5 Commercial crops: The increase in production of sugar, coffee and tea (A case study on Java) 6 Characteristics of Javanese traditional dietary culture in the Dutch colonial age Traditional dietary culture of Southeast Asia Chapter 5 Present dietary culture of Southeast Asia 1 Comparison of traditional dietary culture of the prehistoric age with that of the present day 2 Agriculture, stock raising and dietary life in mainland region 3 Agriculture, stock raising and dietary life in archipelagic region 4 The dietary life in West New Guinea 5 Hunters and gatherers existing in Southeast Asia 6 Changes in agricultural practice and the tradition of staple food culture Chapter 6 Traditional foods surviving to the present day 1 Sugary sap from the flower stalks of palm trees and palm wine 2 Black sugar and sago 3 Traditional fermented foods 4 Soybean products 5 Fishery salt-preserved foods and fish sauce 6 Starters used for food fermentation

    Biography

    Professor Akira Matsuyama graduated from the University of Tokyo. He later obtained a doctorate in Agriculture from that university, later becoming Director of Radiobiology at the Institute of Physical and Chemical research. After working in Indonesia he returned to Tokyo's University of Agriculture as Visiting Professor. He is currently Honorary Scientist at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Tokyo.