Phong+Quang

=** Food: The Bridge Between Cultures  **=

Haymarket International Food Co., located on 88 Blackstone Road, Boston Massachusetts, has been serving Muslim and neighboring communities for over twenty years. As its name indicates, it is located in the historic Haymarket open market area serving Halal meat, a large variety of spices, seafood, and other delicacies imported from the Middle East. Curious and skeptical at the fact of the existence of a meat shop that sell meat that is sacrificed in a special way, I came to discovered the attraction of this market was not just because of its fresh meat, but also the rich culture hidden in its selection and the diversity of its customers aglomarated giving itself a unique identity and representative of the area where it is located. The role of food is not just simply nourishment, but it also defines the people who consume it. Food itself is rich in history; how the dish came into existence is not of trivial matters but plays an important role in the culture it was founded. The preparation of the food itself can show us the customs of the preparer as we can also surmise the social class of a person based on what type of food they are accustomed to. Certainly, we may have heard of the phrase "we are what we eat," but the saying encompasses everything from availability of a type of food in a region to the exotic and even deadly delicacy. What we eat and why we eat it have granted us a unique identity in that we are associated with a culture. We may not be able to understand another culture completely, but we get a taste of it through the food that is shared with us. Images obtained from various time points on Saturday June 20 2009. //Top Right:// Haymarket International Food Co. provides a wide selection of can goods and dry products to its customers, which are all imported from the Middle East. //Middle:// The diversity of Haymarket open market area provides fresh produce to shoppers and tourists who want a bargain. The area is opened from sunrise to sunset every week on Friday and Saturday with vendors selling vegetable, produce and even imported goods. //Botton Left:// A regular patron of Haymarket International Food Co. who reside in Brookline come here for the famous Lebanese vegetarian dish Filafel.