本文採取詮釋與批判觀點分析臺灣「客家美食」如何被建構？在建構「客家美食」的過程中可能消費了客家文化。研究動機緣於 2012年客委會委託弘光科技大學辦理「客家美食」認證，吸引全台各地餐廳報名參加，對於食材、食物、廚師以及餐廳經營之道多有規訓。隨後，2013年桃園縣與苗栗縣委請專家學者辦理並公佈「客家美食」餐廳名單，「客家美食」認證由產、官、學共同建構，從此取得「客家美食」認證標誌成為臺灣當代客家飲食文化發展之標竿。政府舉行「客家美食」認證，與各地蓬勃發展的客家餐廳有相互滋長之勢。值得一問的是：「客家美食」是什麼？誰在定義「客家美食」？「客家美食」與客家家常菜差異何在？食用客家家常菜與消費「客家美食」有何不同？「客家美食」認證將導向客家飲食文化傳承或促成客家文化消費？如果「客家美食」認證之用意在於傳承客家飲食文化，那麼客家飲食文化能否指望「客家美食」餐廳？前述問題圍繞產（餐廳業者）、官（中央與地方政府）、學（學術研究單位）以及消費者等行動者而發，行動者是客家飲食敘事之主體。行動主體有關客家飲食的敘事反映微觀的、日常生活的影響力，不同於中央或地方政府，由上而下定義「客家美食」的權力。研究目的在於釐清前述問題，希冀參與或定義「客家美食」為何物者反思臺灣客家（飲食）文化發展的可行性。

This article aims to adopt an interpretative and critical view of how “Hakka Cuisine” is constructed in Taiwan. In the process of constructing “Hakka Cuisine” people can take part in the consumption of “Hakka Culture”. The original impetus for our research came from the Hakka Affairs Council, which in 2012 commissioned the Hungkuang University of Science and Technology to conduct an authentication process for “Hakka Cuisine”. Subsequently in 2013 the Taoyuan and Miaoli county governments commissioned specialist scholars to carry out a survey and publish the names of restaurants offering “Hakka Cuisine”. The authentication of “Hakka Cuisine” involved the food’s ingredients, the dishes, the cooks, and restaurant management. After this, obtaining authentication according to those criteria became the standard for Hakka cuisine in Taiwan. Authentication by the county governments, combined with the boundless energies of Hakka restaurants everywhere, has had an invigorating effect. But it is still worth asking: What is “Hakka Cuisine”? and who decides how it is defined? What is the difference between “Hakka Cuisine” and the everyday dishes cooked at home by Hakka families? Will the authentication process for “Hakka Cuisine” lead to the handing down of Hakka culinary traditions, or will it just lead to consumption? If the intention of the authentication process is to assist the process of handing down traditions and skills to the next generation, then should this be left mainly in the hands of restaurants that have been awarded “Hakka Cuisine” authentication? The above questions revolve around actors involved in the production (the restauranteurs), the officials (the central and local governments), the scholars (academic research institutions), and the consumers, and these agents are the main authors of the narrative about Hakka cuisine. The main body of these actors involved in the narrative of Hakka culinary culture reflect a micro view, reflecting the influences of daily life, quite different from top-down view of officials. The aim of this article is to explore these different perspectives, and discuss the future prospects of Hakka culinary culture.