本研究以四位出生於1940至1950年代之客家女性生命史敘事為基礎，探討性別、勞動與味覺如何在家庭日常中相互交織。研究採質性取向，透過半結構式生命史訪談蒐集資料，並以個案生命故事與跨案主題分析，理解客家女性在不同生命階段中承接家務、照顧、有酬勞動與飲食實作的經驗。為避免將受訪者經驗化約為個人勤勞或族群美德，本研究亦將四案放回戰前農村經濟延續、戰後農村家戶生計、父系親屬秩序、女性教育與就業機會、出口導向工業化及晚近飲食市場化等脈絡中理解。 研究發現，客家女性的家務與照顧責任並非婚後才開始，而是在童年匱乏、排行位置、生計需求、教育資源分配與性別期待中逐步形成。受訪者所謂「會做」，並非天生能力或單純美德，而是在家庭需要、父系親族秩序與性別化責任配置中長期被培養、動員與內化的結果。本研究並提出「味覺秩序」概念，說明味道判準、料理技術、取食規則、評價權力與家庭責任如何在廚房、餐桌與節慶場景中共同形成關係結構；客家味也並非固定菜色清單，而是在保存技術、鹹香味型、米食工序、節慶祭祀與餐桌評價中被辨識、比較與重新界定。 面對外食化、市場替代、家庭小型化與代間差異，客家飲食技藝並非單向消失，而是轉向需求導向與條件式延續。受訪者以「想吃才做」、「想學才教」、「買就好」、「隨緣」與「不強迫」等語言，重新劃定自身與下一代之間的責任邊界。本研究指出，家庭中的味道不僅是感官經驗，也具體呈現女性長期勞動、身體經驗、情感照顧與責任協商；這些經驗應被納入客家飲食、性別化家務勞動與代間協商的分析之中。;This study draws on the life-history narratives of four Hakka women born in the 1940s and 1950s to examine how gender， labor， and taste are intertwined in everyday family life. Adopting a qualitative approach， this study uses semi-structured life-history interviews， individual life-story analysis， and cross-case thematic analysis to explore how Hakka women assumed responsibilities for housework， care， paid labor， and food preparation across different life stages. To avoid reducing the participants’ experiences to individual diligence or ethnic virtue， the study situates the four cases within broader contexts， including continuities between prewar and postwar rural economic conditions， rural household livelihoods， patrilineal family order， women’s educational and employment opportunities， export-oriented industrialization， and the recent marketization of food. The findings show that Hakka women’s domestic and caregiving responsibilities did not begin only after marriage， but were gradually formed through childhood scarcity， birth order， household livelihood needs， unequal educational opportunities， and gendered expectations. The participants’ understanding of being “capable of doing” was not an innate ability or simple virtue， but the result of long-term cultivation， mobilization， and internalization within family needs， patrilineal kinship order， and gendered responsibility arrangements. This study further proposes the concept of “taste order” to explain how taste criteria， cooking techniques， rules governing food access and sharing， evaluative authority， and family responsibilities are intertwined in kitchens， dining tables， and ritual occasions to form family relational structures. What this study calls “Hakka taste” is therefore not a fixed list of dishes， but is identified， compared， and redefined through preservation techniques， savory and salty flavor profiles， rice-based food practices， ritual food preparation， and dining-table evaluations. In the face of the increasing prevalence of eating out， market-based substitutes， smaller households， and intergenerational differences， Hakka food skills have not simply disappeared; rather， they have shifted toward demand-based and conditional forms of continuation. Expressions such as “I cook it only when they want to eat，” “I teach only if they want to learn，” “buying it is fine，” “let it be，” and “I do not force them” reveal how women redraw the boundaries of responsibility between themselves and the next generation. This study argues that family taste is not merely a sensory experience; it also embodies women’s long-term labor， bodily experience， affective care， and negotiation of responsibility. These experiences should be incorporated into analyses of Hakka food， gendered domestic labor， and intergenerational negotiation.
