Research Paper on:
"Sweet, Sour, and Resentful" by Firoozeh Dumas

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preparation, as Dumas describes in detail the elaborate procedures employed by her mother to produce a weekly feast for an ever-increasing guest list. However, while Dumas essay definitely as characteristics  that are designed to appeal to Gourmet readers, the point of the essay is to present an argument that event the most revered ethnic customs should evolve in response  to new environmental conditions (Dumas 323). In this case, the ethnic custom that causes her mothers life to become sheer torture was the Persian expectation of hospitality. When the  Iranian revolution occurred, thousands of Persians fled Iran and settled in California, where Dumas family had already relocated. Her father was swamped by telephone calls from relatives, friends and people  who simply were acquainted with relatives and friends asking for information about California and how to handle the problems of immigrating to a new land. To each caller, following the  custom of Persian hospitality, her father issued an invitation to dinner, which is why-every weekend-her mother was obligated to prepared a meal sufficient to feed "dozens of people" (Dumas 321).  Dumas relates details about what this preparation entailed and, in so doing, provides information that undoubtedly appealed to Gourmet readers. For example, the author describes how her mother always  shopped for fresh ingredients, and prepared fresh herbs, such as "parsley, cilantro and chives" by chopping them by hand as the food processor "squished them" (Dumas 321-322). The author comments  that they were "foodies without knowing it" (Dumas 321). In other words, her family followed all of the fashionable, trendy food behaviors that are popular today, such as buying food  grown locally, because it was their custom, rather than being cognizant of the stylish status such behavior enjoys. Dumas describes her mother mixing "ground beef, rice, split peas, scallions and