Leila Boutaam
After a Master in Political Sciences and Journalism in Science Po Grenoble, I left France to live and work in Berlin, Germany. That’s where, after only one week of internship in Agence France Presse and a huge French cheese craving, I realized that Food, Foodways and their relationship to self-identity were a powerful thing and it became a huge interest of mine. I then decided to go back to France and to pursue a second Master in History and Cultures of Food, in Tours (France) and Bologna (Italy). Not completely leaving Germany though, I researched and wrote my thesis on the “Identity and Representation of French Cuisine in Berlin, through the French restaurant in Berlin”.
After some first exhibitions in Bologna (Le 7 Tavole, Il Cibo Uccide) and my collaboration to the creation of the first Club Sandwich Magazine in 2016, I realized that I could express and research my passion for Food through many different canals: through articles, research, events or art. Even though I liked academical work a lot, my motto was always to communicate this knowledge to other people, make them aware of their own food culture, let them rethink and discuss their food habits in a globalized and strongly marketed context.
Thus, as I came back to Berlin in 2016 I began working for “Reframe - Videos for the Web” as a food specialized Journalist, where I helped develop the Youtube channel “Food People Places”, a media whose interest lied in showing the diversity of food culture around the world, through recipes, portraits and travels. Because it was a small video production, I had the chance to develop my abilities in Video Journalism such as research and planning shootings, but also my technicality: I simultaneously endorsed the parts of assistant producer, video editor, social network manager, cook, food stylist and so on.
In parallel I created the Cultural Event Agency “Clean Plate Society” : I felt that the Food Events in Berlin were numerous but empty in term of message or content. They were mainly commercial and lacked, according to me, of authenticity or drive, of an ethnological claim. With this agency, we organized the first “Ramadan Food Festival” in Berlin whose goal was to showcase the diversity of Muslim culture around the world as well as fighting against islamophobia and intolerance. We also began to mix Food with other cultural media, such as music, by inviting artists from different Muslim countries to perform. In a second series of events, we mixed cinema with food and music by hosting “Gastrollywood - Hibernation”, a series of 4 episodes offering a travel through winter mountain movies from different continents and their accompanying dinners. A lot of other projects involving other cultural media, but still trying to showcase different food cultures and bringing people together, are in preparation.
I am still pursuing more academical researches, as it represents my source of knowledge that I can then transform into events or exhibitions. Club Sandwich Magazine offers me a stage that few other media are able to do, to democratize the anthropological or ethnological food knowledge and I really enjoy writing them. After three issues, the last one being bilingual, we are preparing the fourth magazine for this Spring 2020. Among my next projects, a book and a series of podcast are in preparation.
Building bridges between people using commensality and food, letting people think by themselves about their food habits and rituals, realizing that this essential part of our life is so much more than just ingesting ingredients, making them as enthusiastic as me, is my passion. And with all the tools I acquired until today, I am able to do that in a quite innovative and successful manner.