Refactoring Cuisine: How an Iraqi Stew Sailed to Singapore
I explore the journey of bamya, an Iraqi okra stew that transformed across centuries as Baghdadi Jewish merchants migrated to India and Singapore. Adapting to local ingredients like calamansi, the dish evolved from a savory lamb stew into the sweet-and-sour bamya assam of my childhood. This culinary evolution illustrates the Ship of Theseus paradox, challenging rigid definitions of authenticity in diaspora cooking.
The calamansi was simply the default lime in Singapore. It was the wood they had, so it was the wood they used to rebuild the ship.
- roughly
I love these kinds of tales of cultural fusion, because they're so much the norm in human history, and yet we've got this weird idea of fixed identities, categories, and cultures - trace any food, any dance, any music or art back far enough and you're walking continents, and frequently not the ones you think.
- Nursie
> For example, the paradox of Grandfather’s axe where the handle and the blade have long been replaced
For a pop-culture reference, probably known mostly in the UK, see "Trigger's Broom".
The character Trigger is a street sweeper and is given an award by the council for using the same broom for 20 years. Later he reveals the trick to good broom maintenance is to replace parts when they start to go, and says it has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.