Introductory Thoughts on Food
I really like food. In fact, I relish it. 
My favorite part of traveling is definitely getting the opportunity to try new restaurants and seeing what the food scene is like in each city. In bigger cities like New York, I tend to be overwhelmed by all of the options whereas in smaller cities, it's easier to discover where the "stand-out" places are on Reddit. Certain restaurants have a reputation. Sometimes, I am underwhelmed by a place and wonder how it ever got so popular.
Everyone has different standards. For me personally, Asian cuisine is the most important to me, so when a city lacks good Asian food (or Asian food at all...), I am thoroughly disappointed. For instance, Madison, Wisconsin really lacks Korean food. West Lafayette, Indiana (where I attended Purdue University) lacks Vietnamese food. Providence–also lacking (from what I've had so far).
In some ways, food is political and personal. Many Asian Americans can relate to many shared experiences surrounding food:
- Your parents giving you cut fruit as an apology
- Food being your main link to your cultural heritage (especially if you're an Asian American and you don't speak your family's language)
- Kids making fun of your stinky food
Food plays a large role in Crying in H Mart which is a book by Michelle Zauner where she talks about her relationship with her Korean mother who is dying of cancer (Zauner is half-white). There are also lots of rituals surrounding food, such as the traditional Thanksgiving turkey in the United States, Korean banchan, a tendency to eat "family-style" in some cultures whereas it is less common in others, regional differences, and even "appropriation" or other cultures taking credit for the invention of a particular dish. You can even trace political and colonial histories through food. For instance, Vietnamese "banh mi" was influenced by French colonialism (baguettes and pate).
Even the right to charge a certain amount for food is political. Often times, people are less willing to pay more for Asian foods because there's this expectation that it should be cheap/affordable, regardless of the labor involved. Very rarely have I ever come across a Vietnamese "fine dining" restaurant until recently–except, it is not Vietnamese-owned or has a Vietnamese executive chef. On a related note, many Asian Americans are critical and wary of gimmicks (e.g. deconstructed pho) whereas others embrace "inauthentics".
What about the naming of menu items using generic terms (e.g. Asian salad), even though Asian cuisine and culture can't be reduced to one identity? It is hardly different from how Asian Americans have been treated up until recently. And still, Asian Americans are reduced to one region of the globe (East Asia).
Anyway, another reason why I love food? Because I am really bad at cooking. Like really bad. So, I have come to appreciate it because it's almost like witch craft to me. And, food is my family's love language.
