Final Collective Project

 

Together, your Work Group will collectively do Writing Exercise 3 on page 177 of Jacob's book. This assignment will involve researching one specific regional cuisine, and then going to an El Paso restaurant that serves that cuisine and reporting on it.

IMPORTANT: Before choosing a subject, first be sure there is a restaurant in El Paso that actually serves the style of cuisine you choose.



Instructions: Please choose a style of cuisine which nobody in your group ordinarily eats at home; e.g., if someone in your group is Nepali, don't choose Nepali food! You may not choose pizza, sausages or bratwurst, tacos, burritos, nachos, hamburgers, hot dogs or fried chicken for your research. If you decide to choose Mexican, Chinese or Italian cuisine, you must carefully specify what regional cuisine you are researching (i.e., for Italian, is it Italian-American, Sicilian, Roman-style, southern Italian, Northern Italian or Neapolitan cuisine? For Chinese, is it Hunan, Szechuan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing or Taiwan-style, or some other style? For Mexican, is it Tex-Mex, Juárez or Chihuahua-style cuisine, or is it from some specific place in the Mexican interior (e.g., from Durango, Guanajuato, Querétaro, México DF, Oaxaca, Yucatán, Baja California, or the Gulf or Pacific Coasts?) You may NOT just report on Mexican, Italian or Chinese food in general!

In your collective report, using your research sources (must be at least 4 different sources, not including encyclopedias), first write up a complete (roughly 5 page) report on the cuisine, including favorite spices and flavors, favorite dishes, their origins, and their primary ingredients. Do this BEFORE going to the restaurant.
 
Turn this report in on Monday, October 10, 2011 in class, in hardcopy. (This will serve as your midterm exam). You will be required to include a bibliography (Works Cited page) of at least four different significant sources related to your subject. This bibliography should be turned in with the research report at midterm and with the final report. All listed online sources should have working hyperlinks. Sources may not consist simply of individual recipes.

Then AFTER you research, some time after midterm ALL WORK GROUP MEMBERS must go either as a group or separately to a restaurant, café or food stand in El Paso which serves that particular cuisine, and eat a meal. (Note: If you are unable to eat restaurant food due to a diagnosed disability or medical condition, or for serious ethical, religious or cultural reasons, contact me for an alternative assignment. Simply claiming to be a "picky eater," saying that you are on a self-directed diet, or being afraid to eat unfamiliar food is not an excuse for refusing to take part in this assignment.)
 

Finally, as a group, write up a two to three page collective restaurant review carefully following the instructions in Chapter 6 of Jacob's book. Attach this report to your research report and turn in the entire completed document digitally as your Final Collective Project.

The final due date for this entire project is Nov. 30, 2011. (Instructions for turning in the final report will be provided.)

Photos, graphics and hyperlinks increase the value of your paper or website, but do not plagiarize!

You may not use or count any encyclopedias, printed or online, in your bibliographies. Use of Wikipedia is prohibited! APA format is recommended.

You are encouraged to use conversations or interviews as sources, but only if the person interviewed has had significant first-hand personal experience preparing and serving (not just eating!) the specific cuisine you choose. You may not count your own personal knowledge or experience as a source unless you have actually worked for pay preparing and serving the cuisine in question or have lived at least four years in the region you are studying.
 
Owen Williamson. Rev. 8/11
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