Recalling a story that has been told to me orally by a German lady telling the origins of the Kaisermarrn food dish from my childhood.

The emperor was travelling through the Bavarian forests and Alps, 

All of a sudden a flash storm arrived and the Emperor was stranded 

It was supper time and the emperor and his crew needed to eat. 

They only had the essentials such as milk, eggs, flour, sugar, and dried fruit. 

The Emperor told the cook to throw all the ingredients together to make some food. 

So the cook put all the milk, flour and eggs, dried fruit into a pan over the fire and mixed up the new dough into smaller pieces, once it was done, he sprinkled some powdered sugar on top. 

The emperor was the first to try this new dish and after the first bite, he loved it! 

Since that day it became the Emperor’s favourite dish,

he named it the “Kaiserschmarrn” (the Emperor's nonsense/mess)

An idea to share and continue the fantasy narrative would be during a multicultural food festival, where everyone from diverse cultures share their oral stories around a dish. I could be a visitor attending the festival and participate in other fantasy narratives. If I had a food stand where I create the food and I would then orally retell the narrative from my own culture. It would involve visual and auditory learning as well as trying and testing food. It is also a way of learning for people to discover other cultures by tasting food as one cultural aspect. 

If I were to be a visitor and listen to the narratives from other cultures in this festival I would be an outsider learning a tiny part of another culture. I would be participating by playing the role of an active listener to the stories from others.  However, if I were to participate and retell the stories from Germany I would be a speaker in my own culture and reflect on my own identity.  

The main purpose of this fantasy narrative food festival would be to find out if the narrative presented this way can be an incentive for outsiders to learn more about other cultures as well as their own. If so, can presenting fantasy narratives through oral storytelling with food help peak the interest of people to learn more about other cultures? If this event  were to take place in Canada, could this be an educational event of cultural exchange work well in a multicultural society?  

When I am listening, I am an outsider earning only a tiny aspect of a culture. But I am trying to respect and create a sense of empathy. This event brings empathy by having people of multiple cultures listen and get a taste of other cultures.

 Any research or topic that relates back to culture is concerned with identity. Identity can be a sensitive topic for individuals. Some people may not want to share their narratives because of trust towards another group of people. Example Indigenious people sharing their narratives with settlers. The next question is how to make a safe environment for everyone? 

While eating and learning a new dish it can be seen as an approach to openness and willingness to learn wordly, historical and social perspectives from other cultures. I wonder if this food research approach can be used in a global political platform? For example if there was a global conference, where many countries try to listen to a political issue from one each country, what if sharing a dish and explaining a narrative from a country would help other countries understand their situation better? 

This food even would be an experiment to include different ways of learning. By adding food we are including more sense such as taste as a way to learn something new. I recall the details from the Kaiserschmarrn story because I was eating the delicious sweet pancake food during my learning of the story. I am curious to know if others would remember a narrative better while tasting food as opposed to simply reading the same narrative. Would we be able to relate and engage more with a narrative than simply reading a written version?