Fish sauce to french fries: changing foodways of the Vietnamese diaspora in Orange County, California

Foodways constitute salient symbols of cultural identity and sense of place. This is particularly true in the case of immigrants as they struggle to strike a balance between cultural retention and assimilation. In this study, we investigate changing foods and foodways among Vietnamese Americans residing in and around southern Orange County, California’s, Little Saigon, the primary cultural hub of ethnic Vietnamese outside of Vietnam. Vietnamese refugees and immigrants began entering the United States in considerable numbers after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Since arriving, they have experienced myriad socio-cultural changes as they adjust to life in the United States. We employ qualitative and quantitative methods, including questionnaires, participant observation, and formal and informal interviews, to explore food preparation and consumption habits among different waves and ages of immigrants. Results reveal that degree of change in Vietnamese foodways is time and space contingent. Significant changes are associated with generational differences of immigrants as well as distance of residence from Little Saigon. Although age of immigrants was not associated with degree of foodway retention, qualitative data suggest a rescue effect of traditional foodways as Vietnamese Americans associate with peers during their college years.