Abstract
In 1977, the Texas legislature passed a measure making chili the official state food of Texas. The effort behind this legislation began a decade earlier, in 1967, at a cook-off in the remote mountain town of Terlingua, TX, an event that made national news and inspired annual competitions and the founding of several chili organizations. At stake in that ‘67 competition, and in every bowl of chili since, is a claim for authenticity. No other food in Texas is marketed to pervasively as “Authentic Texas Chili,” yet the number of such claims confounds any real estimation of what ‘authentic’ means. The contest over the authenticity of a chili recipe that gripped the 1970s was, in fact, a marketing strategy. Not only were there claims about the authenticity of chili from particular locations, but also there are claims about experiencing authenticity through marketed products: kits, cans, and frozen package, which promised a virtual experience. Chili had become a competitive big business, involving networks of farmers, producers, restaurateurs, food writers, and, now, major agribusinesses, all invested in the simulation of authenticity. This paper, building on the work of the cultural anthropology, and specifically the work of Kaori O’Connor, seeks to move beyond this question by exploring how certain foods achieve the cultural status of authenticity, or what has been called “the invention of culture.”
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Chili, Texas, Feasts, Culture, Authenticity, Cook-offs
