QueQiao: a Culture of Cuisine
a budding athropologist, Osisen Savoqusvet was born within Queqiao. With regular interactions trading and creating hospitable relations with merchants, he frequently had contact regarding the "uniqueness" of their cuisine, (ie. Beetle Juicing ). Compelled by his love of his people and seeking to document via ethnographic cookbook, he set out to compile a comprehensive list of popular, strange, and otherwise "disgusting" foods that his people enjoyed during his time of research.
His book became quickly popularized as a way for merchants to familiarize themselves both with the culture and begin to promote the meats of Queqiao. This stimulated trade and resulting in the launching of the gentleman's career as the first ethnographer of his people who examined cultures through the foods they created.
Slowly, its purpose began to shift away from simple documentation of food and culture of cuisine to a historical text
An Overview of its Contents
The book itself is split into two section: the first concerns his people, their history, and a documentation of ettiquette and holidays surrounding cuisine; the second is a complete catalog of recipes related to the Quegan diet of insectiods, and thus goes into great length concerning how each separate village treats and derives recipes for the same bug, as well as the historical basis for those recipes; The third freeform section that discusses the symbology of Quegan foods as well as which symbols he hopes his people will carry into the future and what he estimates will change in the coming years. Much of the document is only very loosely ethnographical, though as the first of its work, it made great strides.Document Structure
Publication Status
Currently, there are fewer copies of the books as there were in its heyday, but the book is still printed and distributed to universities as a means of examining ethnographical and otherwise literary works when studying a people. The supposed "first official copy" of the book is housed in the Museum of Queqiao.
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