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【The Omnipork Phenomenon】 Some of you might remember I put up a poll on if you liked Omnipork’s Luncheon Meat or not, there was an interesting observation I found from it. At first it wasn’t my intention to do so, I posted a story about how I like the taste of MacDonald’s Omnipork Breakfast Burger on close friends, and I got few responses on it. One of my friends, who dislikes the taste of Omnipork’s Luncheon Meat, thought it was salty and had a weird texture. She later asked what brand I usually eat and made a conclusion that because of the brand I usually eat, it leads to my liking towards Omnipork. So it spiked my interest in if others felt the same way and if they have the same preference or not, I put up the poll and made follow-ups, the results were quite similar. The following observation had a very small sample size, feel free to ask your friends and see if it renders the same or not.

The phenomenon: People who like Omnipork’s Luncheon Meat usually eat Spam, but also consume and has a wider acceptance of other brands. Whereas people who dislike Omnipork do not eat Spam but other brands. (The other brands I mostly received are Greatwall (長城牌) and South Korea brand Lotte.)

Out of the 12 respondents, 7 likes Omni, 5 dislikes it. Within the 7, 5 usually eats Spam, with 2 discrepancies who does not eat Spam at all. The 5 averse, 4 consume Lotte and Greatwall, with 1 discrepancy who eats both Spam and Greatwall. Taste is very personal, I tried to look at it more objectively by evaluating its saltiness and texture, and here’s what I found. Sodium level (mg salt/g): 1. Lotte 8.5mg/g 2. Hormel 8.036mg/g 3. Spam 7.321mg/g 4. Greatwall 6.2mg/g 5. Omnipork 4.85mg/g

Texture: • Lotte – chewy • Hormel – tender, softer side • Spam – tender • Greatwall – Soft, bites, and easily crumbles • Omnipork – bites and crumbles, but also with similar texture as Spam

Now you came thus far, let me tell you the objective evaluation does not match the preference haha. My friend who dislikes Omni said it was too salty, but she consumes Lotte. One other said he liked the bites and crumbles of Greatwall but hated Omnipork. Even the discrepancy in the averse indicated no correlation between the evaluation and his aversion. One thing I don’t like about Omnipork’s luncheon meat is its lingering aftertaste, a bit strong if eaten on its own, but when I first ate it, it was served with mayo, so it covered the bitter aftertaste. Why Spam occurs in the positive side remains unclear, and why similar textures do not provoke similar preference as well remains unclear, for now. Maybe after all, this preference has to do with Hong Kong people’s nostalgia towards luncheon meat. Finally I want to thank all participants who partook in this unscientific and super informal research.

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【Comfort Food】 So about a month ago, I was having insomnia and stressing over assignments and group projects, so I decided to go for breakfast. I had just watched a video about Cha Chaan Tan’s Macaroni Soup by @Chinesecookingdemosified, so naturally I had the craving for it (TBH I don’t even eat breakfast normally). Macaroni Soup typically contains a sunny fried egg, two pieces of luncheon meat, and sometimes blend, infamously hated mixed vegetables of peas, corns, and carrots. Served with a cup of milk tea with condensed milk on the side (茶走, there is no literal translation for it), a breakfast that can be enjoyed without stress and worries on one’s mind. But the weird thing is, this experience couldn’t be replicated at home, no matter how hard I tried or if I got the soup right.

Any Hongkongese would have some sort of memory or nostalgia towards this dish, it’s a collective memory that could not and should not be erased, it represents our culture and how our identity is shaped, which matters now more than ever. While I was having my breakfast, other than scrolling through memes, I kept thinking how to replicate the soup, I even drank more than half the bowl to get a precise and accurate memory of its taste. I tried to recreate it the next day but kind of failed, I used evaporated milk and Campbell’s Cream Style Corn, but it didn’t resemble the taste. Then exam came on and I stopped experimenting for a while, until today. I think I got a very similar result, but obviously different tea houses have different recipes, there will always be discrepancies. Anyway, this is the recipe I use to create the Macaroni Soup, basically mix everything and bring it to a boil:

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp Chicken Stock (Swanson) – if not Swanson, salt to taste 2/3 cup Water 1 tbsp Campbell’s Cream Style Corn Condensed Soup 1 tbsp Milk Pinch of Black Pepper (optional)

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【What to do next?】 I guess this is a personal comment after watching Seaspiracy. I had been thinking about this a lot ever since, just quite busy to type up this post.

The big question a lot of people have in mind is “should we still eat fish or meat?” I’m not a vegetarian nor planning to be one. Human are born omnivores, so as a lot of animals. Fish for crying out loud are OMNIVORES, so we should cancel them too? We drink breast milk, it came from animals too technically. Human since the dawn of time hunt and gathers food, it’s nothing out of the ordinary but it is also so trye that we can change for the betterment for the earth and the sea. Afterall, it’s the way we treat animals we eat and how much of a damage we are doing to them and the environment.

More so, if we stop eating fish altogether, imagine the amount of damage it will do to the whole ecology of human life. Millions of people will be out of jobs supply chain operators, seamen, fishermen, retailers, intermediaries, quality control evaluators, chefs etc. and so much more. Say the situation does present itself, we all start eating plant-based food, what will be the effect on agriculture? Modern agriculture is no treat for the environment either, the pesticides we use, stripping nutrients from the ground, destroying forests to acquire more land, genetic modifying everything for finer produce etc. So destroying the earth this way is more acceptable than eating fish?

What we can do, I’m no expert, some others probably have better ideas. On top of my head, slow food movement, pushing for more well-developed sustainable certification, build companies that does sustainable farming. I guess what I’m trying to say is, there is always consequences for whatever path we choose, there is no one solution but only things we could do to minimize the harm we incurred from the wats we are living.

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【Satay: From Indonesia to Hong Kong】

 Hong Kong people are no strangers to satay beef noodles, it is one of the very few dishes that managed to break through social classes which everyone will have an equal chance to enjoy. Satay is also very popular in other south-east Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore etc. but each version has its own adaptation, Hong Kong has none the less adapted from another place too. Now, let me to take you through its etymology, history, and recipe difference.

 Surely human race started using some sort of stick to grill meat long time ago, but there’s just not one “official” word to describe it. Arabs used to roast meat with their swords, later middle eastern nomads will roast meat on metal skewer, and basically that’s how Kebab was “invented”. Kebab is probably the real ancestor of “Satay”, the OG. It later spread to Indonesia, where the word “Sate” is formed to describe meat on skewers. “Satay” is the English translation with the same meaning. Sate started to popularize in the island of Java, Indonesia, while its origin date and the official story remained uncertain, historians are convinced that Java is still the origination of this iconic dish. Indonesia’s adaptation uses wooden skewers instead of metal ones, which became the foundation of satay. Satay was never a sauce to be exact, unlike how Hong Kong people describes it, it is actually a skewer of seasoned meat grilled on fire with a side of peanut sauce. The sauce’s recipe is mainly roasted peanut, coconut milk, palm sugar, and spices (Sri Owen’s Indonesian Regional Food and Cookery book has more detail of the recipe). The sauce is a bit sweet and spicy.

 Indonesia spread this meat on skewers to other south-east Asian countries, which it also became an iconic dish in Malaysia. In exchanges of Chao Zhou (潮州) workers and immigration, Chao Zhou people brought the sauce back home, but not the skewer, thus satay became a sauce in Cantonese and Chao Zhou culture. However, many Chao Zhou people couldn’t adapt to the taste of the peanut sauce, they started to alter the recipe by adding dried flatfish powder (大地魚), dried shrimp (蝦米), more spices, removing coconut milk, and changing it to an oil-based sauce rather than a water one. This became the recipe of Hong Kong’s satay sauce; salty, flavourful, heavy in peanut, with slight heat. Even with the new adaptation, Chao Zhou people was not entirely a fan. Hence, making a new sauce, Shacha (沙茶), the relative of satay. This sauce adjusted the ratio of peanuts (less), adding saltier flavours, more umami with dried seafood (海味), and much less heat. This sauce also became the mainstream, and Satay was out of the picture.

 Fact: In Cantonese, SATAY (沙爹) is pronounced as “sa-de”, with the Cantonese syllable of “saa1-de1”; the Chao Zhou language pronounces it as “sa-de” which has a very similar sound compare to Cantonese, with its syllable of “sa1-dia1”. SHACHA (沙茶) in Cantonese is pronounced as “sa-tza”, with the Cantonese syllable of “saa1-caa4”; the Chao Zhou language pronounces it as “sa-de” which actually sounds very similar to satay in Cantonese, with its syllable of “sa1-dia1”.

 Moving on to the end of World War II to 1960s, Chao Zhou people started immigrating to Hong Kong and introduced us with both the Satay and Shacha sauce. Obviously, satay became more popular by making its way to Hong Kong style cafe, Cha Chaan Teng (茶餐廳). One of the first-generation restaurants to actually put satay beef noodles in the menu is Sun Wah Cha Chaan Teng (新華茶餐廳), founded in around 1976. In 1980s, Wing Shun Food Shop (永順食店) was founded and started to serve satay beef noodles as well, still very popular amongst Hong Kong. There aren’t many restaurants that still make their own Satay sauce, many Cha Chaan Teng uses industrial-made instead since satay requires a lot of manpower and effort. Min Hong (綿香) is probably the only brand (couldn’t verify) that makes Hong Kong/Chao Zhou-style satay in Hong Kong and retail their products to few restaurants and local SME supply stores.

 Satay, in different contexts and cultures have different meaning and taste. Skewers or sauce, it surely is the one of the staple foods in south-east Asia, a dish served to all social class without stigma.

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【Single Origin Spices?】

You’ve heard of single origin coffee, possibly single origin chocolate as well, but have you heard of single origin spices? Maybe not. The concept of “single origin” has always been associated with fair-trade, to cut intermediaries in the food supply chain and to pay farmers better. Most single origin produces are organic by default, but many farmers do not apply for certification due to cost, even if there is one, it is not a guarantee for quality. Like coffee and chocolate, single origin spices aim to provide traceability, quality flavours, and sustainability.

 The biggest spice export in the world is India, meaning Indian farmers face the biggest inequality in spice trade. The spices we get go through a long list of intermediaries, including agents, auctioneers, brokers, food processors, wholesalers, and retailers, where some intermediary’s roles might even duplicate in the process (Rajkumar, 2012) (if interested in knowing, read the reference). The end product we get usually includes a mixture of different regions or farms. The spice’s supply chain is insanely complex, and based on good sense, intermediaries earlier in the chain earn lesser than higher spots in the chain, it is so easy to imagine how little farmers actually receive in the first place.

 With the lack of references, based on The Standards (HK), the first wave of spices started in 1890s, second wave in 1920s, but fair-trade spices were never mentioned, clearly not the new sexy in the industry. In my opinion, I consider fair-trade spices to be the third wave, started in early 2000s. The first fair-trade spice company I found was Steenvergs (UK), founded in 2003, in which they focused on organic and ethical trading, but it wasn’t “single origin”. Moving on to 2016, 2017 and 2018, DIASPORA Co. (US), Burlap & Barrel (US), ROOTED Spices (UK) were founded respectively, all focused on single origin spices. Farms will deliver their spices to the aforementioned companies, and consumers will purchase the spices from the companies, a much simpler model. Reqado (Philippines) (year founded unknown) also promotes single origin spices, but not specific packaged as which farm is it from. Obviously, these single origin spices have it own unique tasting notes, displaying certain qualities that might only be found in that specific farm. For example, according to Burlap & Barrel’s Royal Cinnamon (grown in Quang Nam Mountains, Vietnam), the tasting notes include brown butter, buckwheat honey, and orange peel. It will be interesting to find out what kind of effect will surface when using these spices in recipes.

 Unfortunately, none of these companies ship to Hong Kong, ARGH!!! Hong Kong’s spice companies I know don’t consist of either “organic” or “fair-trade”, with lack of demand, single origin spices are hard to be supplied. Hopefully, one day fair-trade spices become more mainstream.

 References:

·        Rajkumar, P. (2012). SPICE ROUTE: LOGISTIC JOURNEY OF SPICES IN RETAIL SUPPLY CHAIN PERSPECTIVE. UTMS Journal of Economics, 3(1), 9-20.

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【Ugly Delicious Food】

From Kimchi to Century Eggs(皮蛋), or Chicken Feet to Shirako(usually Cod Sperm, aka 白子), many of these foods are deemed “unappetizing” to the western palette, often described as the most disgusting food in the world. Obviously, Kimchi has gained its popularity in recent years due to the rise of Korean culture and its cuisine, but many other foods mentioned above (and more) are still frowned upon in western culture. People of color (here refers to all foreigners of heritage that are not native of where they live. I think “BIPOC” is a very American-centric term and I refuse to use it.) who eats them are stigmatized because they don’t “fit in” to the western eating norm. To note, this article is to promote respected food and ingredients with deep cultural meaning, and not to tolerate certain food that proved to carry viruses or extremely unsafe for consumption, such as Bats.

 Media portrayal is crucial to how people view food and how the norm is constructed, especially in modern days where food trends changes at a rapid pace. Let’s use James Corden’s “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” videos from YouTube as an example, in which it featured many food that is consumed commonly in Asian, such as Century Eggs, Bird’s Saliva, Cow Tongue, Chicken Feet etc. Many of these are delicacies, made unto appetizers, entrees, or desserts (Bird’s Saliva in Milk is to die for). When the food is presented to audiences and guests, we hear only two different sounds, laughter and the sound of disgust. This media portrayal is unhealthy and fashions into a stereotype for people of color who eats them as part of their culture. The show might mean well, but it is also their (both the show and audiences’) ignorance that should be scrutinized. Before we show our contempt towards certain food, shouldn’t we educate ourselves of why it exists and why it is served?

 Another question to examine is, are these “disgusting” foods discriminated due to the origin? Century Eggs most often eaten in China, Shirako in Japan, Chicken Feet is also eaten in China and used to make Ramen broth in Japan, Durian eaten in Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia. As we can see, all came from Asia. Are there “disgusting” foods in western culture? Yes of course, but somehow the reaction of revolt is not as strong as food from Asia. For example, Roasted Guinea Pig from Peru, and Sweetbread from possibly British or French (I’m not sure, sorry). If we judge food based on appearances, why do people love Kombucha so much? You think SCOBY (the symbiotic culture that makes Kombucha) looks appetizing? None of the fermentation process is pretty. Fish sauce are made of fermented anchovies (usually anchovies), the end product smells funky and weird to a lot of people, most commonly used in South-East Asian cuisine. Still, its acceptance is still somewhat ambiguous, which I believe many of friends won’t like the smell or taste either. If we are to treat others as how we want to be treated, food is a great starting point because it is THE common language between cultures and heritages.

 A final scope worth noting is “exotic food”, specifically food that doesn’t subject to modern day norm, such as dogs and cats. I am not here to discuss whether it is “ethical” or “right” (quotation is used here because this term changes through time) to consume, but rather to draw your attention on how the “tradition” of consuming such food has changed across the years. Eating dog meat has a very, very long history in China, South Korea, Vietnam, and even Switzerland (cats are consumed in some of these places as well), and almost all of these countries still serve it. Clearly a lot of NGOs and public voices are advocating the banning of such, but who, why, when, and how are the lines are drawn? If the premise is based on domestic animals, why are rabbits still served (Guinea Pigs also applies here)? Or if it is based on cuteness, why Koala and Kangaroo meat in Australia is ok? Or if it is based on the cruelty of raising such animals, should we ban chickens, pigs, sheep, and cows altogether? Many farms obviously still crowd our “common meat” in small places for efficiency. Food for thought.

 We always have the choice of choosing whether to eat these foods, like David Chang refuses to eat donkey meat in Ugly Delicious (s1, ep5) when he visited Beijing, and what he said afterwards really displayed the understanding of cultural interpretation. Just because we don’t consume “ugly” food, it does not mean there isn’t a cultural significance behind it. The Disgusting Food Museum in Sweden challenges the notion of “disgusting” vs “delicious” and educates the public on the evolution of food. We can not change the history of food, but we can change the perception of it.

 Suggested reading:

·        https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unless-you-like-toxic-chemicals-skip-this-chinese-delicacy-696090/

·        https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/15/korea-eating-dog-meat-animals-food-west

·        https://cafemom.com/lifestyle/128409-eating_koala_for_dinner_isnt

·        https://www.thelocal.ch/20160212/swiss-restaurant-serving-cat-food-sparks-outrage

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【Viral Epidemic】

It came as no surprise that everyone gets bored during home quarantine, so people started finding new things to distract themselves from the horrible reality. Suddenly everyone is a chef, families cooking with their children and posting it on social media even though it’s more probable that the parents did all the work. This interest became clearer that it is a survival skill rather than a hobby, people learns to take care of themselves properly. At the same time, this opens a can of worms, from businesses taking advantage of the situation to increase the price of products to the public panic buying everything to stock up their shelves.

 One of the issues is blindly following food trends without truly understanding the essence of it. There are 3 major food trends that dominated social media during this period, which are sourdough starter, Dalgona coffee, and growing vegetable scraps on windowsills. Surely the pandemic incited more people to take part in the food journey, but it also undermines the purpose. Dalgona coffee is a perfect example, Dalgona in Korea is better known as a candy rather than whipping up instant espresso mix 400 times with sugar, in which the correct version of the Dalgona honeycomb candy is made with sugar and baking soda. This social media sensation completely twisted the authenticity of it, with no relevance to the origin at all. And meanwhile, everyone is so eager to post about it on the internet and spreading false information. It is appalling and alarming. The second and third issues are jumping into a rabbit hole without commitment and panic buying ingredients. Sourdough starter plays the example role here. I started looking into the fermentation of yeast about a year ago, and experimented on it for a few times, so I had enough unbleached flour at home to make a successful batch. But when I had to refill my flour stock in order to feed my starter, the problem surfaces. I had to search for a lot of bakery supply stores and supermarkets to find the flour I needed, in which basically every type of flour I needed for my general needs (AP, 00, cake) were completely out of stock. This problem does not only occur to flour but also to dairy products I needed. It is one thing to pick up a new interest during this time, but it’s another to aimlessly buy the ingredient just for the sake of it. I have heard multiple times that customers do not know the usage of different flours and still bought it for some reason. Creating a sourdough starter takes a tremendous amount of care, the question is, how many will continue to feed and maintain the starter after the pandemic ends?

 It applies to everyday life, ask yourself whether you are willing to commit or is the thing you are doing a one-timer. Of course I encourage everyone to take course in home cooking, but if your intention is just to brag about it on social media and not actually learn from the process, I sincerely ask you not to take course in it.

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【FAQs of a Home cook】

I liked to cook since I was small, so I encountered a lot of questions asked by relatives, friends, and strangers. Sometimes I just get tired of answering the same question as I meet new people. Obviously, affection for cooking and food co-exist, it is merely interdependent and impossible for someone to like cooking but does not like food, only vice versa might not be true. Thus, as the receiving line, I get inquiries about everything, e.g. reason for the passion, recipes, restaurants of choice, terminology explanation etc. I actually don’t mind answering all the questions, it’s fun to share and might arouse the questioner’s interest. So, here it is:

 1.      Why do you like to cook? – Just like everyone with their hobby, it’s fun, challenging sometimes, enable me to gain confidence, end result is enjoyable, and it actually helps me destress.

2.      What is your signature dish? – This is actually a question I find annoying because I like to try different recipes, and seldomly repeats the same dish. Yea I’m weird like that. If I fail, of course I will try making it again until I succeed.

3.      When will you cook for me? –

4.      Which restaurants would you recommend? – For this, I actually answer it differently each time, depending on the person who’s asking. Clearly, the one who’s asking might have a preferred cuisine or dining under certain occasion, so I should reply differently based on their situation. However, that’s not what I meant. I actually answer it differently by how close I am with the person who’s asking, or how likely she/he is going to listen to my recommendation. Why would I go through all the research and think process for a person who I barely know or has absolutely no desire of accepting my suggestion? It’s just common sense.

5.      Can you teach me how to make *certain dish* ? – I love replying to this because I don’t have a lot of friends who’s interested in cooking, so to get people involved in cooking, I will always answer this question in detail and nicely (unlike the usual sassy and sometimes toxic me).

6.      Where do you buy *certain ingredient* ? – I’m a price sensitive person so I do a lot of comparing between supermarkets, wet markets, individually owned stores, and online stores. Not only do I normally know where to buy certain ingredients, I also know where to purchase at a lower price compare to overpriced chained supermarkets in some cases.

 So, to answer question 3, it’s not like I will not cook for the person who asked (provided that she/he is a friend), but the thing is, I’m more of a savoury home cook than a baker. It is hard to cook for the person who asked especially when I don’t feel like that person is close enough with me to get invited to my house (and my house cannot accommodate too many people). So, if I were to really let others to taste my food, I usually bake and bring it out to them rather then inviting them to my place.

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【Café Cultures】

We all love to visit cafes (not corporate chained ones, e.g. Starbucks), to get that energy and spiritual lift from freshly brewed coffee. As more coffee addict grows, a subculture is developed, for better or for worse. For baristas, there is nothing more annoying than a difficult customer, which they encounter quite often. Even as a customer myself, I noticed a lot of pet peeves customers carry when they visit a café. The following are some of things you should and should not do at a café, to ensure you are not one of the difficult customers baristas complaint about.

1.      Understand the basic terminology of coffee. If not, listen. This may seem like a shock to you, but there is actually a lot of customers who do not even know what espresso is!!! Other lesser known drinks include Piccolo and Dirty. Granted that you really do not know what it is, you can always ask the barista for guidance, and follow the instruction of how to consume that coffee accordingly and not do the opposite.

2.      Avoid asking for an extra hot coffee (or order an iced coffee and ask for no ice). A lot of cafes, especially specialty ones, have excellent coffee beans for espresso-based drinks or hand drip coffee. If water or milk is heated to an undesirable temperature, the end result will be affected, and the coffee will lose its flavours. If what you desire is simply that dose of caffeine and does not aim for that beauty in coffee, please be my guest and visit a corporate chained cafe.

3.      Do not sit for hours and only order one drink. A lot of customers, including myself, like to work or study at a café, and that’s ok, but what you should not do is only order one drink, and occupy a seat for hours. Cafes earn money (or maintain survival) through guest turnover, it is incredibly rude to enjoy all the complementary (e.g. wifi, AC, services) the café provides and take advantage of it. The benchmark I usually uses, is to order a drink every 1.5 hours if I were to stay for a long time.

4.      Taking photos for wayyyyy too long. Like myself, I like to take pictures of the cup of coffee whenever I try new cafes. There is nothing wrong with it, sharing it in social media also helps increasing the café’s presence, influencers and foodies do that all the time. However, if it takes you 5 to 10 min to take pictures of the coffee or yourself whilst not touching the drink itself, please do not complain why the taste of the coffee changed or why it is not hot enough. Ask yourself, are you here for the photo or for the coffee?

5.      Be patient. Especially at busy hours or when the cafe is at its full capacity, baristas might not be able to delivery your order swiftly. Understand that all they want to do is to provide a quality drink for you and rushing them won’t help.

6.      Do not put your uncontained mask on the dining table. In times of pandemic, for your health and others, please be considerate and correctly store your mask while enjoying that beverage.  

7.      Customers are not always right.

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【Lemon Balm】

I traveled to Bali in early 2020 before the pandemic for a service trip, and part of it was visiting the Green School Bali and a permaculture farm called Kul Kul Farm. Only at the final day I got a better grasp of what they actually do grow at the farm. The guy who works at the Green School knows that I like to cook, and we got to chat about herbs and different produce. He gave me a green passion fruit (relatively sweeter) which I later learned that the flavours of it is different from what I usually have (purple ones, sourer). He also showed me a lot of different herbs they grow at the premise, including kaffir lime leaf, and lemon balm etc., which these are extremely rare to see it fresh in Hong Kong. I remember smelling the fresh leaves a lot because it was like a gem to me and it gave me nature high, and the lemon balm was the most exquisite. Thus, taking this picture.

 When it comes to food trend regarding green culture, farm-to-table is undeniably the most popular one. More diners and chefs search for greener ways to enjoy and create meals, and more importantly to promote sustainability. After my visit at Bali, I started looking into sustainable farming and zero waste cooking, one that cannot be unmentioned is permaculture farming. To simply put, permaculture is a collective planning, designing, and operating of sustainable approach in farming to live in harmony with the nature. To work with, rather than against, the nature. I stayed at the farm for 3 days and truly witnessed the closed loop system, aka closed ecological system. From food waste to people’s excrement to livestock’s manure, all of it are used as fertilizers for plants and produce. Perennial crops are grown (crops that regrow after harvest), small section of aquatic food plants is included at the school which provide food for fish, co-dependent plants are planted as well like how agroforestry works. It was an amazing experience to learn about how it functions sustainably. The farm offers classes and workshops to tourist, ranged from permaculture farming to mushroom growing (not a paid promotion, just really intriguing information), definitely my to-do-list next time I visit Bali again.

 I do not get to taste or smell fresh lemon balm often, that is why I value every sniff I get from it (haha). BUT it should not be like this, with climate change and all, we should educate ourselves on how the food served in front of us are made and treasure every bite of it before we run out of quality produce. More so, to develop a greener and sustainable way of living.

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【Foodie?】

Finally finished reading @selftaughtgourmet ‘s <LIZ關鍵詞> about foodie and stuff, I actually started reading it last year but stopped after reading few chapters since a lot of the concepts I already knew, I was getting bored. I started to pick it back up since social distancing, learned more about Taiwan’s food culture and its trends, by putting some of the issues into Hong Kong’s shoes, it’s really relatable and intriguing to think about. Now I’m waiting to read @yanwei525 ‘s <The Vanishing Flavours of Cantonese Cuisine> since I’m a Hong Konger and I want to learn more about Cantonese cuisine. It sold out last Christmas and I’ve waited ever since.

So, what exactly is a foodie? In the era of social media, this word has been lavished. At the same time, you can’t deny their existence because without them, a lot of restaurants will not be discovered. We can’t help but wonder their legitimacy, whether they really know food, or wrote an excellent review because the restaurant paid them or wrote a poor review because the restaurant denied to offer them free meals. Foodie, to simply put, can be defined as a person *who likes to try different restaurants, who likes to cook and has a vast knowledge on food (whether it is ingredients, history, trends etc.), and last but not least the willingness to learn new things all the time.*  At least that’s my interpretation. The word “foodie” is relatively new (first appeared in 1982) compare to “gourmet” or “Epicurious”, so its definition and controversy are still up for discussion, but after all it’s all about identity. Some of you might think that I’m a foodie, but I don’t try out different restaurants in Hong Kong that often, except when I’m traveling. I’m more like a home cook in Hong Kong, or a level 2 chef *cough*. Of course, I keep check out global and local trends/news on a daily basis, and lately I’m more into the relationship between food and social issues (eg gender and identity). It’s your choice to judge the importance of how we address others as a foodie or not, but the most important thing to me is the willingness to learn continuously, rather than only eating and posting it in social media.

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