Using women’s memories of food in intercultural households to locate female agency and evolving cultural identities in Leicester, England, 1960–1995

Abstract

Using the oral life-histories of women who were in long-term heterosexual intercultural romantic relationships, the article examines the food preparation and consumption practices of their intercultural households in 1960s–1990s Leicester, England. The women’s narratives expand our historical understanding of how migration to Britain since 1945 has affected domestic foodways. The women’s memories illustrate their proactive interaction with, or resistance to, the cultural traditions and practices of their male partners. They show the extent to which cultural exchange permeated life together, including through the couples’ social gatherings with families and friends. The article argues the women’s execution of their food management responsibilities variably reshaped and adapted their sense of self and the cultural identities of those they were responsible for feeding—a nuanced perspective on the origins, and success or otherwise, of Britain’s multicultural society.