Social interaction among Malaysian ethnics: Its impact on food preparation and consumption - Theory and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism Research - page 512

2 LITERATURE REVIEW Gutierrez (1999) posited the elements of food-

ways such as food preparation and consumption are
important elements in any celebrations, occasions
and events and it symbolize values and important
meanings in specific religions, cultures and ethnic-
ity (Murphy, 2000). Gutierrez (1999) also noted
that most of the elements of food preparation and
consumption are passed down from generation to
generation or informally transmitted orally and
through demonstration. The New England Clam-
bake is one of the examples of food and consump-
tion practices which have long been a tradition of
family and community in New England. The prac-
tices were passed down from the Natives Americans
to the colonists and further to their descendants. As
the process of preparing and cooking of this baking
product takes at least two or three days to complete,
it therefore gives the opportunity to the community
to share stories and connect with one another.
Spiro (1955) posited the preparation, presenta-
tion and consumption of ethnic food are impor-
tant in any event because they are an expression
of ethnic identity. Ethnic festival foods are a whole
interrelated system of food conceptualization and
evaluation, procurement, distribution, preserva-
tion, preparation, consumption and nutrition
shared by all members of a particular nation or
society (Thomas, 2004). The ethnic festival food
preparation and consumption are the most resil-
ient of cultural forms and have become a powerful
medium of social exchange (Kroll, 1994).
Nevertheless, the preparation, presentation
and consumption of food or cuisines are varied in
some communities or ethnic groups and depend on
the occasions. Some ethnic groups, such as Hindus,
Buddhist and Jews have structured their prepara-
tion and consumption by combining certain occa-
sions with their religion (Vu, 2009). The foods
served at festivals, for example, eloquently express
family reactions to the transgression of bounda-
ries. Therefore, through the festival, food prepara-
tion and consumption not only creates the social
interaction among the family members but among
the community (Vu, 2009).

2.1 Social interaction
A social interaction with other people is very
important in a society. Through social interactions
with others, people begin to establish an identity,
develop relationship and understanding. Social
interactions refer to particular forms of externali-
ties, in which the actions of a reference group to
affect an individual's preference. The reference
group depends on the context and is typically an
individual's family, neighbors, friends or peers. In
social science, a social interaction is any relation-
ship between two or more individuals.
Social interaction issues have received signifi-
cant attention among the academic scholars. Sobel
(2002) re-evaluated the macroeconomic models
with the argument that social interaction builds
different capital, human or social capital while
Horst (2010) examined the basis of how social
interaction comes into existence over time. Byman,
Järvelä, and Häkkinen (2005) revealed that infor-
mation is useful for developing a new pedagogi-
cal model for web-based learning and enhancing
the quality of virtual interaction. On the hand,
the patterns of young children's social interaction
that occurred in the computer area were described
as parallel play, verbal conflicts, sociable interac-
tion, knowledge construction through positive and
negative processes, and non-verbal communication
(Lim, 2012). Manski (2000) and Putnam (2000)
urged economists to understand more about how
social interaction affects outcomes and to gather
more usable data on how individuals interact
within their communities.
On food, Meiselman (2001) suggests that there
are at least four major concurrent contexts that
can alter the perception of food and beverages dur-
ing consumption. 1) its function as a meal compo-
nent 2) social interaction during consumption, 3)
the environment in which food is selected and 4)
consumed and food choice freedom. The increas-
ing popularity of foods from different ethnics,
groups and countries besides other elements prob-
ably also due the increasing of social interaction
through the festival, gathering, partying and even
eating in restaurants lead to exposing more of new
food options through consumption (Meulenberg
& Viaene, 1998).

3 METHODOLOGY

Survey questionnaire is chosen for this research
and the population was among individuals who
experienced in preparing and consuming the three
Malaysia major ethnic foods namely; Malay, Chi-
nese and Indian. Restaurant customers are believed
the best individuals to provide reliable information.
The huge populations of Malay, Chinese and Indi-
ans restaurant customers, however, limit research-
ers to collect the desired information throughout
the country. Thus, Kelang Valley (Lembah Kelang)

2.2 Food preparation and consumption
Many scholars refer to the actions or behaviors
which involved the preparation, presentation and
consumption of food that are characterized by
individuals and society as foodways (Cusack, 2003;
Freeman, 2002; Gutierrez, 1999).