We consume so much food everyday, that sometimes it becomes a necessity that we take for granted. In fact, food is much more than fries from McDonalds, pizza from Pizza Hut, or Burritos from Taco Bell. In this blog, you will find different food cultures, dining etiquettes and many more about the art of eating from all over the world. From what's considered the "bizarre food", to what Westerners believe as the "norm," this blog attempts to open your eyes to the exotic cultures, as well as how Western's food (or specifically American food) has begun to influence different dining experiences.
I first came up with this topic after my recent travel to different parts of Asia. Thailand, in particular, really widened my culinary horizon. On the famous Sunday Walking Street in Chiang Mai, I saw street vendors selling food that I had never considered edible. Things such as scorpions, silk worms, fetal duck eggs might sound unappetizing, but they seemed to be a widely popular choice of snacks to the local Thais. After experiencing these interesting cuisines, I am particularly interested in food from what the West considered as exotic food, how the West began to influence their taste, and at the same time, how these "bizarre" food culture blend into our everyday life.
The blog will start by an introduction of "bizarre food" from, not a Western point of view, but an Asian perspective. While I certainly am not qualified to be a food critic, I enjoy traveling and experiencing new things. My origin, as an Asian born and raised in a metropolitan city - Hong Kong, has given me a lot of insights on different food cultures around the world. Of course, the blog will include certain descriptions and images of cooked (or sometimes raw!) animals being eaten by people from different nations. The blog is also comprised of history and traditions of the food cultures. (For example, it is a regular practice in China that chefs deep fry rats so as to replace the more expensive quail!) While food culture is distinctive among regions, I believe they all involve interesting stories behind them that are worth examining and discussing.
The second part of the blog attempts to compare the similarities between different food cultures. As our world is getting more and more globalized, it seems that our dining experience also blends into unique fusion cuisines. It is now very easy to see KFC in Shanghai, Coca Cola in India, or McDonald's in South Africa. Have our food cultures become more similar due to the trend of globalization? or are we exposed to a more diverse choice of food than we did 20 years ago?
Throughout this blog, I hope to approach different food cultures from an Asian's point of view. While Americans consider food from other continents as "the other food," it would certainly be interesting to compare and contrast these differences from another perspective. This blog does not only serve to recommend food or restaurants, more importantly, I wish to utilize the blog as a way to enhance communication between cultures through different dishes.
Bon Appetit, fellow bloggers!
links to related blogs:
http://www.andrewzimmern.com/blog/andrew
http://foodandculture.blogspot.com/
http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/asian-food-culture/
http://www.travelerslunchbox.com/
http://worldonaplate.blogs.com/
http://eatingasia.typepad.com/
Monday, August 31, 2009
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