Abstract
It is now more than fifty-five years since the French ruled Algeria, but the former French citizens of Algeria, or Pieds-Noirs, still sustain connections to their homeland through food. At annual gatherings and small reunions, food from “là-bas” (over there) helps the memory of Algeria stay alive. At the annual pilgrimage of Notre Dame de Santa Cruz during Ascension in Nîmes, food stalls pop up where the Pieds-Noirs and their friends and families can enjoy mouna, soubressade, and creponet, just to name a few of the dishes that were commonplace in Algeria but mostly inaccessible in France. Pied-Noir foods have diverse origins that combine traditions of the indigenous Amazigh people as well as Turkish, Arabic, French, and Spanish culinary practices. The recreation of these unique dishes is intended to function like Proust’s madeleine, sinking the exiles back in time to their pasts in colonial Algeria.
In Pied-Noir texts, films, and websites, food is used as a touchstone, creating local colour for the uninitiated and rekindling memories for the returnees. Food establishes authenticity and elicits nostalgia. In many cases food is statically depicted for its aesthetic value, but in others it is consumed, maintaining its role as a life force that keeps cultural memory alive. In Pied-Noir recipe books, authors explain how certain dishes may have regional variations and different familial traditions. Still, like most published texts, recipe books usually require one version to be handed down. Websites, on the other hand, allow recipes to be contested and for new versions to emerge. In this chapter, we explore the connection between Pied-Noir cuisine in Algeria and its use in France today to both reconnect the exiles to their homeland and remind themselves of the separation from it in a tangible way. Through an analysis of how Pieds-Noirs represent their culinary traditions, we demonstrate how food sustains the memory of Algeria in both healing and unhealthy ways.
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Notes
- 1.
Through the 1870 Crémieux Decree, French citizenship was given to European immigrants and Algerian Jews while excluding Muslims.
- 2.
All translations are ours unless otherwise indicated.
- 3.
The Pieds-Noirs have been quick to point out that the Romans had also settled many parts of Algeria, leaving behind ruins in places like Tipasa, Timgad, and Guelma (Hubbell 2015a, 213). The diversity of populations in Algeria, the multiple waves of immigration, and the connection to ancient Romans served to further legitimise French presence in Algeria, as they contradictorily claimed the land belonged to no one and also to European ancestors.
- 4.
“Pied-Noir” has different origin stories: some claim the name originates from comparisons between French black military boots and bare Algerian feet, while others cite the pressing of grapes with bare feet to make wine.
- 5.
Wagda explains that merguez, which is typically Pied-Noir but was rarely served with couscous, has become part of the French national (and homogenised) dish of couscous (Wagda 1997b, 142). In 2016 couscous ranked among France’s top ten favourite meals despite its Berber origin. Couscous’ appropriation by Pied-Noirs and the French illustrates a particular forgetting of Algeria’s colonial and pre-colonial past. This forgetting can be linked to colonial nostalgia (Lorcin 2013).
- 6.
Document sent to Amy L. Hubbell on 21 January 2020 from Mr Philippe Ruiz. “TR: 6 Manifestation 24-25 et 26 Juillet 2020 Barcarès”. The event has been postponed to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 7.
An English-language cookbook, Algerian Recipes: From Algiers to Constantine, Taste of All Algeria, in One Easy Algerian Cookbook (2020) was consulted for reference. It has no individual author and contains no background stories. Apart from the beautiful colour cover, there are no images except for black and white clipart.
- 8.
Blog owner Valérie Martinez indicated in July 2020 that she may revive Oran3644. See comment on post “La Mouna”.
- 9.
In January 2021, 6703 members and 1995 family groups were registered on AlgérieMesRacines.
- 10.
On the hoarding of Pied-Noir memory, see Amy Hubbell, Hoarding Memory: Covering the Wounds of the Algerian War (2020).
- 11.
Mouna: sweet Easter bread topped with sugar, sometimes marked by a cross (reminiscent of British hot cross buns). Oreillettes: sweet pastries often flavoured with orange blossom, also called merveilles, chiacchieres, khechkhach. Montecaos: small, round cinnamon-sprinkled biscuits. These foods are claimed as typically Pied-Noir and both recipe and spelling are contested (mouna/mona, montecaos/mantecaos).
- 12.
Rodriguez has published thirty-one posts across three series in Histoires.
- 13.
While Rodriguez spells macaronnade with two “n”s, it is usually spelt with one “n”. We retain Rodriguez’s spelling in his title of the memory and use the more common spelling when not quoting Rodriguez. Variations in spelling are normal as many of these words were transcribed from Arabic and Spanish, or orally transmitted.
- 14.
The memory also exhibits other characteristics of colonial nostalgia, like romanticising the colonial landscape.
- 15.
- 16.
Interestingly, while Martinez’s family is from seaside city Oran, the design excludes blues and whites.
- 17.
Mouna has moved between Pied-Noir subgroups: originating from Oran, it has Jewish influences, but is now embraced as a quintessential Pied-Noir food. Mouna’s specificity to Oran, its Jewish influences, and subsequent adoption by the wider Pied-Noir community illustrate the complexity of Pied-Noir (culinary) identity, which absorbs elements of other cultural traditions and is shared across ethnic communities.
- 18.
Christophe Certain’s website “Cuisine Pied-Noir” approaches diversity differently, presenting thirty-three couscous, ten mouna, and two oreillettes recipes. Cuisine Pied-Noir was active 2003–2019, before being reactivated in 2021.
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Hubbell, A.L., van Beukering, J. (2022). Sustaining the Memory of Colonial Algeria Through Food. In: Ranta, R., Colás, A., Monterescu, D. (eds) ‘Going Native?'. Food and Identity in a Globalising World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96268-5_11
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