Food Culture in Precolonial Taiwan

Abstract

Central to food culture are food practices that encompass any activity in which food is involved. Furthermore, food culture studies analyse the many meanings generated by these practices. This article explores food culture in precolonial Taiwan. It charts the meanings generated by the food practices of the Siraya, a Formosan ethnic group who lived in southwest Taiwan and had intensive contact with Dutch East India Company colonisers and an array of Chinese in the seventeenth century. The article analyses the rich variety of edible animals, plants, and fish, and drinks available in Taiwan before focusing on Siraya food practices and the meanings generated by these practices. These include the use of food for sacrifice, funeral rites, gifting, and exchange. The article also examines taboos around food and their social function. Furthermore, it compares Siraya food culture with that of other Formosan groups and pre-Columbian America.