Excited
You’ve probably noticed it yourself. We’re all over Yelp and we’re all over the food blogosphere. So why do Asians dominate when it comes to blogging about food?
Kevin of Kevin Eats fame (or as I call him, “the guy I’d never want to eat dinner with because he takes so many pictures of every single dish that I’d go blind from the camera flash before dessert”) poses the question on his popular blog, from his socio-economic-cultural theories on why food and the Internet is so popular among Asian Americans to even breaking down the race of well-known food bloggers.
And it’s true. At least, it’s true in the Kevin Eats world of Southern California. As someone who clearly enjoys eating and trying various cuisines around Los Angeles, I’ve also noticed that A LOT of food bloggers are Asian–or at least, those people you find taking discreet photos of their food almost always happen to be Asian. So why is this?
Kevin argues that the importance of food in Asian culture, our higher educational status, higher income, better access to technology and flair for conspicuous consumption all lead to one hobby: food blogging.
Half of me agrees: it’s probably the same reason so many of us Yelp. Many of our families place a huge importance on food. Some of us don’t consider ourselves as disadvantaged minorities. And if there’s any racial group inclined to blog online (hello, Xanga), then it’s probably going to be a bunch of Asians with high end digital cameras.
The other half of me disagrees: it’s clear that Kevin is basing his idea on a small, select social group in a small, select area of the United States. What about food bloggers in New York, where all big name chefs begin? What about blogs and sites with a bigger web presence than individual food bloggers, like Serious Eats or Eater–or even bloggers that Kevin doesn’t even know? Do these also show the same large presence of Asian Americans? Maybe we Asians just like to hop on the same bandwagon?
I also find it hard to believe that Asian culture is unique in its focus on food. Food plays a significant role in almost every culture. I don’t know any one country or ethnic group that disregards food and eating (but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). Even in America, with its ongoing struggle with cultural identity, considers mealtime to be an important tool in communication, relationships and socializing (as Roger Ebert so eloquently wrote).
I don’t know the answers to these questions, but Kevin was brave to have posed a racially charged question that many (like me) have always pondered. So what do you think? Why are there so many Asian bloggers? Is this a question worth asking?
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Kinda funny. I ran across this blog while searching for Asian cuisine and cultures/traditions. I'm doing research for a product design class... *adds another food blog to list* :)
> I also find it hard to believe that Asian culture is unique in its focus on food.
I don't know about Asian, but Chinese culture, in my limited experience of it, seems pretty remarkably interested in food, and not just as a social bonding thing.
> Food plays a significant role in almost every culture.
> I donu00e2u0080u0099t know any one country or ethnic group that disregards food and eating
> (but feel free to correct me if Iu00e2u0080u0099m wrong).
I am half WASP, half north German, and live in France. Especially on my WASP side, the culture was: we have to eat, let's get it over with, shall we? The German side didn't go on and on about food either. With a few exceptions, this lack of interest led to not very tasty food, and vice-versa. France is another story: passion for food here compares with the Chinese (but may not match it).
One thing I didn't see mentioned is the longstanding Chinese tradition of eating out.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restaurant#China
I'd think that tradition naturally segues into food blogging.
I think he's measuring asian bloggers vs. non-asian bloggers. Good point. Now you're getting me confused.
Maybe there are cultural reasons for Asian Americans to be foodies... or at least, food bloggers (which means we're wannabe foodies?). Erin and I started using the hashtag #twEATs on Twitter and a few people use it now, and several besides us are AAPI. I've always thought of our food as an important reflection of our culture, so it just seems natural to write about it.
I've also always taken "food porn" photos -- in fact, on one road trip to Austin for the SXSW music conference with another music critic (I was one for many years in a former life), I took VIDEO of every chicken fried steak I ate -- and I think we had chicken fried steak from a different restaurant almost every day during the week!
Thanks for the "food for thought," Moye!
And, Happy New Year!
Damn you, I was about to take a stab at answering and now that I've read his entire blog, it becomes a question of what he's truly measuring ie: asian food bloggers vs asian bloggers vs non asian food bloggers vs non asian bloggers. I'm not a stats guy by any means but it does make a difference on how we might perceive an answer. For example if 75% of all bloggers were Asians, it wouldn't matter what we wrote about because we would dominate any category.
Indeed. You've pretty much summed up my point #1.
Thanks for the clarification. I do think that almost every culture values food very highly, just in different ways.
And I'm teasing about your pictures. :) They always do the food justice.
I like to think it's because we all do like to eat, having grown up in cultures that stress the importance of eating together at the table. After all, when you greet someone in Chinese, you're basically asking them, "Have you eaten yet?" or "Have you had your rice yet?'' Just shows how much we Asians value our food, which is so tasty and so varied that we never tire of it. ;)
My goal is not to state that the significance of food is something *exclusive* to Asian cultures. Rather, the intent is to propose that not all groups value food as highly, and that Asian societies tend to rank high on that scale (though they're certainly not the only ones).
Also, regarding flash photography, I'm not sure where you got that from. I pretty much never use flash, and in fact, speak out against those who do. It's disrespectful to other diners.
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