The fame of chhoyela and yomari: Reverberations of Newar Foodways in London and in a transnational context

Frisone, Marilena

The fame of chhoyela and yomari: Reverberations of Newar Foodways in London and in a transnational context

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Published Version

Date

2021

Authors

Frisone, Marilena

Publisher

Irish Association for Asian Studies (IAAS)

Abstract

Food and feasts play an important role in defining Newars’ social practices both in Nepal and abroad. Although the religious and symbolic value of specific food items shared by Newars in Nepal has been studied in detail, the significance of Newar foodways as practised in a diasporic context and as circulated in media, has yet to be explored. Newar Londoners regularly engage in food practices of socialisation like festival celebrations and gatherings, which require an enormous organisational effort, from the search of specific ingredients to the arrangement of elaborate dishes served during the events. However, the “social life of Newar food” is not exhausted in the process of production and consumption in London, but rather it reverberates in the mediatic sphere of social media, publications, songs, and more recently online events on Newar food. Based on ethnographic fieldwork started in 2015 with the Newar community in London, the paper focuses on two iconic items of Newar food, namely chhoyela (roasted meat) and yomari (sweet, elongated dumplings), following their pathways from their production and consumption to their presence in songs, webinars, up to MasterChef: The Professionals UK programme. Drawing on Nancy Munn’s idea of “fame of Gawa”—as generated by food exchanges and gifts that, carrying the names of those involved in the transactions, make the Gawans known to distant others—the paper argues that the circulation of food in events and media contributes to the spatiotemporal expansion of Newar self beyond the space and time of the diasporic community in London, enhancing the fame of Newars and Newar food in a transnational sphere.

Keywords

Newars , Anthropology of food , Heritage , Nepalese diaspora , Identity , Fame , Media reverberation

Citation

Frisone, M. (2021) 'The fame of chhoyela and yomari: Reverberations of Newar Foodways in London and in a transnational context', Irish Journal of Asian Studies, 7, pp. 1-22.