Recent Morsels

As I am on the cusp of considering another culinary quest, I’ve been wondering how I want to present the experience. I could do something similar to the Fifty site, which felt more documentary. Here’s where I was and this is what I ate.

I had an Instagram account where I’d post photos of the food but their post format felt a bit constraining, being limited to 10 photos and a description. It amounted to little more than to say I was here.

Am I trying to tell a story? Am I trying to begin a dialogue? Am I trying to inspire interest in others to begin or continue their own fine dining journeys? Or do I just like eating and want to remember where and what I ate?

Matthew Smith has started blogging his trip to Japan. What’s interesting to me is following him on Instagram and seeing this layered approach to the experience. It’s like watching a TV show and then getting to watch behind-the-scenes footage. It’s been fun to see the coffee shops and restaurants he visits.

Last night, the girlfriend and I watched Tampopo, a Japanese film that was released in 1985 and dubbed a “ramen western,” a play on the term spaghetti western. It was, to say the least, a movie with something to say about the love of food—at times, literally.

One scene featured a homeless person breaking into a restaurant kitchen to make omurice. Due to the popularity of it on social media, I imagined it a more recent invention of the last decade or two, but upon reading up on it, the dish has been around for over 100 years. However, the popular version of the dish—with the omelette sliced open on top of the rice—was created for the movie. That’s still 40 years ago. That was neat to learn.

I signed up for a food writing course. My goal going into it is to develop some new techniques and ideas for how I write about food. Perhaps I’ll develop a stronger sense of direction in my writing, food or otherwise.