Summary
In the essay, “Relax in the Greenpoint, Brooklyn” written by professor Maloy, the author explained the diversity of New York as a mixture of different cultures, languages, and apparel that varies from street to street. The best way to distinguish between all the cultures in New York is by exploring their food. This diversity has been generated because people from different countries immigrated to New York and brought their cultures and foodways, therefore, New York has become so diverse in its food traditions. The author focused on the Polish community and their cultural preservation mainly through a food restaurant named “Relax” in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She has further explained that the Polish-born population has decreased from 13000 to 8000 in a decade but the polish community is still present in the neighborhood of Greenpoint which is also called “Little Poland”.
The author has considered the “Relax restaurant” as the soul of polish culture and used imagery to explain the structure of the restaurant. In the restaurant, apart from the availability of Polish dishes, the Polish language has also been spoken there while the menu is also written in Polish as well. The restaurant is governed by 4 female chefs who cook special Polish dishes like Hunter’s stew, chicken cutlets, pierogis, and beef goulash. The author explained that during her visit, she observed that the Polish community has preserved their culture very well and they visit the restaurant very often to keep their culture alive. The author concluded that food is a way of identifying cultures and it can play an important part in sharing cultures and preserving them. She completed her argument by saying that foodways are always determined by the cultures and people can identify each other’s cultural history through food while it has a direct correspondence with the people who migrate from one country to another.
