This blog post, written by Daniel Gritzer, provides insight to a dish that is unknown to most in the U.S.: Japanese Mentaiko Spaghetti. Gritzer starts off by intertwining humor into his piece. He introduces this unique dish by framing it as a “drunk food”. In other words, Japanese Mentaiko Spaghetti is something that is available late at night in certain restaurants and contains flavors such as salt that is satisfying for the stomach. However, he also mentions that this is a food that should (probably) be eaten sober. The rest of his blog post explains not only how the dish should be prepared, but also where to find the exclusive ingredients. This blog post is somewhat of a recipe, but written in a different style: one that is written in almost a story or essay form. He also provides pictures throughout his post, giving a visual aid as to how stir the pasta or when to add the egg yolk.

This rhetorical piece falls under the category of a food blog. However, to be more specific, it is a blog post that discusses a certain dish and how to make it. This text is unique in that it keeps the reader’s attention by starting off with a humorous introduction while also providing helpful information on where to find ingredients, which most recipes don’t include. Instead of simply listing out ingredients and the steps, he writes in a colorful way. I think these things make it a suitable mentor text for my writing. A blog post is meant to be informal and elicit personality, which is something that this text represents and what I want my text to look like. The pictures give insight into what the dish should look like, which I also think is necessary. This piece is from a very credible and successful food blog (Serious Eats) and the author spent years cooking in American, Italian, and French restaurants.

Gritzer, D. (2017, March 21). Japanese mentaiko spaghetti: Drunk food so good,
you can eat it sober [Blog post]. Retrieved from Serious Eats website:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2017/03/how-to-make-japanese-mentaiko-spaghetti.html