Wells, Pete. “Filipino Food Worth the Wait at Bad Saint in Washington.” Review of Bad Saint in Washington, D.C., The New York Times, 29 November 2016.

I chose to read a restaurant review written by Pete Wells, the restaurant critic for The New York Times. He wrote the review for a Filipino restaurant called Bad Saint in Washington, D.C.. Wells set the scene by describing the line he had to wait in and what he did while he was waiting in line. I could picture what the place looked like; he wrote how regular customers brought their own folding chairs and drinks to make themselves comfortable while they waited. He also described how he “tried not to eavesdrop” on other people’s conversations and chatted with Black Elvis.

Once Wells was seated at the restaurant, he gave a description of what the interior of the restaurant looked like. Tables at the restaurant seat four people maximum, which helps give potential customers an idea of what to expect if they were to come in with a party of more than four. Although Bad Saint is a small restaurant, it makes use of the tiny space and Wells writes how it is easy to talk with others while sitting in the open kitchen styled restaurant. This helps readers picture the restaurant and feel included in the experience of Wells at this restaurant.

Following this, Wells talks about the Filipino food offered at the restaurant, giving short descriptions of the food. He explains what an adobo is, and how Bad Saint’s adobo of squid is “still astonishing.” He includes some recommendations for dishes to order; here, he says the oxtails and bok choy stirred in peanut sauce is an amazing dish to try. Wells writes how his guests were doubtful that pancit canton, a supposedly bland lo mein, would taste good, but were delightfully surprised when they tasted it.

Wells gives a brief background about the restaurant owners and the inspiration for their food. He talks about how the owners are Filipino but were born in the US, and some of the cooking “has a homey simplicity.” Laing is made differently in the Philippines, but the way the chef makes it at Bad Saint is “so luxuriously flavorful,” it’s clear that he knows how to incorporate the local ingredients to make this dish.

Wells wrote this restaurant review to share his experience and help other people decide whether or not they should try out this restaurant. I think this is a good example of a restaurant review because it is written by someone who has a lot of experience writing reviews and since it’s in The New York Times, a well-known newspaper, it should be quality writing.

I’m doing a Tasty Video as my rhetorical piece. Tasty Videos are a new phenomenon that combine recipes, blogs, ~aesthetics~, and mindless TV into one quick and easy watchable and make-able piece. The purpose of Tasty Videos from a production standpoint is to have as many views, likes, and comments on Facebook.

The Tasty Videos make use of Facebook’s autoplay feature on videos by being short 30-60 seconds and being easy to follow. None of the videos have incredibly complicated recipes and most use basic ingredients that the novice cook knows how to use. It cuts out all the prep work of a recipe that is mostly time consuming in video format. The cuts to pre measured and time jumps to frozen or cooked foods lets the viewer follow the recipe without being fully engaged.

While food blogs and Tasty Video page both are fully about recipes the Tasty Video cuts straight to the chase. There is no ‘about’ section or intro; instead just straight video of the food being made. That is part of the appeal; you can watch it without looking for something to make. It pops up on the Facebook timeline after a friend has liked or shared it. Much like reality TV you don’t have to be fully engaged in the ‘episodes’ to understand and follow the recipe.

Most viewers and likes of Tasty Videos never really intend on making the food. It is the aesthetics of the video that appeal to most viewers. It is quick break to scrolling through timelines. The videos are short and the images clean. The viewer never sees chopping, dicing, or other prep work unless directly needed for the recipe. The indigent are neatly put into bowls and added to the pot or bowl as necessary. The background clean of debris and relaxing music playing in the background. To me at least this is the ideal cooking situation; most of the hard work done for you, and no mess. All together this makes for lots of views and returning viewers on the multiple posts a day.

Tasty Video as a corporation is under the Buzzfeed umbrella with different versions sprouting up both from the company and independent. Currently there is Buzzfeed’s Tasty, Tasty Junior, Proper Tasty, and Bien Tasty; all looking at different groups in terms of recipes. Outside of Buzzfeed other groups have propped up mimicking their recipe of Tasty Videos; some of these are Jewishlish, Delish, and Cooking Panda. Each of these groups have a slightly different market in mind in terms of audience; some are categorized by age, region, or even religion but they all aim to get views.

The video should have someone making the recipe, as you pour the ingredients say what and how much you are putting in. And be edited to be short with good music. The video I chose does all of these things and makes me want to make the recipe; and yes I did ‘like’ it.

Fed Man Walking

This website serves as a good representation of a restaurant review. Unlike other reviews, Fed Man Walking focuses on a certain category then provides a top 10 list of restaurants for that given category. In this case, the review is of the top 10 Austin BBQ restaurants. This text lists each restaurant then provides individual reviews for each place. The layout is easy for the reader to understand, as each restaurant is numbered and followed by its review. The pictures also provide the reader with a visual of what their dish may look like. Sutter is also able to rank different categories within BBQ such as where each restaurant’s sausage ranks among the rest of the top 10. Another feature of this text that makes it very user friendly are the updates on each of the restaurants since the article was written. This lets the reader know if any major changes have taken place recently that may affect the rankings such as the chef leaving.

Restaurant reviews can be a pivotal factor on whether someone decides to eat at a certain restaurant. Reviews can also play a large part in whether a restaurant stays in business. If a restaurant constantly receives negative reviews, people will stop eating there and the restaurant may shut down. On the other hand, positive reviews can help restaurants generate growth and maintain their business for years. Today, many people will look up a restaurant on Yelp before trying it themselves. While these reviews are not as lengthy and in depth as the ones I am looking at, they still have the same function as typical restaurant reviews and can persuade someone to try or to stay away from a certain place.

Sutter, Mike. The Austin BBQ Top 10. Fed Man Walking, 2017, http://fedmanwalking.com. Accessed 21 March 2017.

     An unconventional piece of writing, Buzzfeed’s YouTube video “Mexican People Try Taco Bell for the First Time” depicts a few Mexican families trying United States fast-food giant and “Mexican” chain, Taco Bell.  The short is set up interview-style, with two to four people in each section.  The video begins with a question asked to all of the participants before they try the food: what do they expect? After each person gave their answer, the tasting process began.  Each dish was presented to the audience and was followed by the reviews, in which each set of people conversed about how they felt about the food: its taste, how authentic it was, and whether they would eat it again.  The interviews were wrapped up with a follow-up question about their newfound thoughts regarding Taco Bell.

    The video contains bright and clear visuals, easy-to-read subtitles for the audio in Spanish, and a coherent flow between each dish and set of people.  This video falls under the broad genre of food reviews, but defined narrowly, it is a filmed series of critiques with a humorous undertone.  This texts functions primarily for entertainment: it is short enough to keep the audience’s attention, funny enough to make the audience appreciate it, and relates to an establishment many audiences will be familiar with.  It additionally functions to provide feedback about Taco Bell’s dishes, but this is not the only purpose: after all, most of the audience have tried these foods before, they just want to hear what the interviewees have to say about it.

    I think this text represents a good example of the genre of video food reviews because it serves both the normal purpose of a food review, to inform an audience about what the authors think of a particular restaurant; and a different purpose, to entertain an audience for a short period of time, a task which I think is greatly influenced by the video’s distribution via YouTube.  This text should serve as a mentor for my own writing because it was extremely successful (currently, it has nearly 13 million views), the content is both funny and insightful, and the quality is extremely high in terms of audio-visual production.  

“Mexican People Try Taco Bell for the First Time.”  Youtube, uploaded by Buzzfeed, 8 March 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWSOiZrs3oA.

Steak With Garlic Butter. Youtube. Tasty, 11 Apr. 2016. Web. 20 Mar. 2017.

 
The text I have chosen is a video recipe, which is a sub-genre of recipes in general.  Video recipes have exploded in popularity within the past two years or so, most likely due to their easy-to-digest format and visual appeal.  I believe that this specific recipe is a good example of the genre because it includes multiple archetypes of the video recipe genre.  For example, the video instantly starts off with the ingredients and directions.  The visuals are very attractive and bright, which catches the eye of the viewer, and because no time is wasted with talking or intermissions, attention is sustained throughout the video.  The descriptors shown during the video are concise and only serve to elaborate on the image, which means that the viewer is not forced to depend on them.  Finally, a shot of the completed dish is shown, which gives the viewer a reference for what their own creation should look like if they choose to follow the recipe.  While the effort of producing a video like this is quite high compared to a formal written recipe, the payoff is very rewarding, as more people are likely to view and subsequently be inspired by such an appealing video.  Another great thing about this sub-genre is that you can convert the video into a GIF image, which takes up less file size and time to load, which is extremely important in the increasingly digital world of today.

Image courtesy of: @texasfoodgawker Instagram

For the History Major: Pizza: A Slice of Heaven 

Ed Levine, a respected New York food writer and creator of the website Serious Eats, takes us back in time to memorialize the evolution of what is now arguably America’s favorite food. Originally made by and for the poor, pizza was a staple among Italians and Italian immigrants in the United States. Once the WWII GIs stationed in Italy returned home, the demand for pizza quickly expanded across both race and class. This excerpt from his book highlights the battle between pizzerias versus the “big dog” pizza chains and how what was once a food with close ties to a cultural identity has been transformed into a mainstream, convenient meal.

For the Party People: October is National Pizza Month

Charrise Van Horn gives pizza lovers a reason to celebrate. This text shows readers the history behind National Pizza Month in October and features different marketing campaigns that pizza chains and independent pizzerias have to offer during this cheesy-filled month. The article is flooded with tweets and hyperlinks to different pizza promotions during October 2016. In the past, some pizza chains have even donated part of their proceeds to breast cancer during this celebratory month because October is also Breast Cancer Awareness month. Other companies typically use the month to introduce new fall flavors. Be on the lookout for any deals your favorite pizza company might have to offer this coming October 2017!

For the Strategy Guy:  A Case Study in the Pizza Industry 

In this study, information science specialists, Wu He, Shenghua Zha, and Ling Li, looked at “the big three” pizza companies’, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, and Papa John’s, social media use and the affect that it had on their sales and client engagement. The researchers looked at both Facebook and Twitter as social media platforms and defined “engagement” as a customer liking, sharing, commenting, or leaving reviews for a chain. The study found that customers have in fact become more valuable since the evolution of social media because the act of engaging with a chain establishes brand loyalty and created active brand advocacy within a customer. Researchers also discovered that 1 in every 3 customers ordered from a certain pizza chain because they saw something their friend might have reposted or liked on a social media platform. Pizza chains are furthering their brand by using their customers as strategic marketing tools.

Image courtesy of: Beehex. Leanna Garfield/Tech Insider

For the Tech Savvy: This Robot Can 3D-print and Bake

Leanna Garflied, a tech reporter that covers stories on innovations in food as well as other things like architecture and urban planning, takes the reader on a journey of what quite literally seems “out of this world”. Beehex, a start up company in California, invented a robot that is able to 3D print pizza. Originally NASA helped fund the project in an effort to innovate space food, but the bot has since been modified for the enterprise market. Since its invention, the bot has been named Chef 3D and is expected to make a debut at various entertainment locations, such as sporting events and theme parks. The dough, sauce, shape and cheese are all programmed into the computer prior to printing and  customers will even engage in the tech savvy production by custom ordering their pizza on apps or at kiosks. The shape possibilities are endless with Chef 3D because the bot is able to make any JPEG image into pizza form.

Image courtesy of: @texasfoodgawker Instagram

For the Rule Follower: Perfect Neapolitan Pizza

Believe it or not, there really is only one right way to make a Neapolitan pizza. In an episode of No Reservations, host, Anthony Bourdain travels to Naples in hopes of discovering how to make a “perfect” Neapolitan pizza. He tells us that in 2004, the Italian Ministry of Agriculture actually said that the dimensions, ingredients and cooking temperature all must be regulated to declare a pizza authentically Neapolitan. In the video, Bourdain also compares New York pizza to Italian pizza, one difference being the way people consume their slice. In New York it is common to see people eating pizza with their hands, but in Naples it is normal to eat pizza with the help of a fork and knife.

For the Wannabe Chef: Ree’s Easy Homemade Pizza

Ree Drummond, host of Food Networks’ Pioneer Woman and author of best-selling cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes From an Accidental Country Girl, is here to help with all of your pizza cooking needs! She provides both an instructional video and an easy-to-follow recipe for a date night at home spent making “his and her” pizzas. Ingredients for the dough, sauce, and necessary essentials for both pizza options are listed on the left hand side. The right hand side includes instructions divided into “how to” sections including: dough, sauce, basic pepperoni pizza, a four-cheese pizza. With Ree’s simple breakdown you and a friend will soon be able to make these pizzas with utter ease.

For the Health Nut: Is Eating Pizza Healthy?

Andrea Cespedes answers this question by saying, “It can be!” With over 20 years in the fitness industry and exploration of both nutrition and fitness, professionally trained chef and certified personal trainer, Cespedes, offers up her expertise for how to indulge in healthier alternatives. She says that if pizza is a staple in your regular diet, you may want to reach for one of these options every once in a while to regulate your intake. When you’re trying to cut back, Cespedes says ordering less cheese or substituting meat toppings for more veggies is one way to go. If you absolutely need your meat fix, go for the healthier options such as ham or chicken. Another tip she suggests is getting thin crust instead of thick and possibly ordering whole grain crust if it’s offered. Ultimately she says making your pizza at home might be the best option because you can use ingredients like low sodium sauce and whole wheat flour. Cespedes acknowledges that everyone needs a good slice of pizza every once in a while, but in between “cheat days” she advocates for healthier ingredient changes.

For the Winner in You: How to Win a Pizza Challenge

In this video tutorial, Randy Santel, creator of foodchallenges.com and winner of 285 food challenges around the world, gives the competitor in us tips to come out on top if we are ever faced with the task of consuming a massive pizza in a limited amount of time. While there are a number of pizza challenges in existence globally, Santel provides a few tips that are universally key to successfully completing any challenge. For example, if you are able to decide the size or number of slices, he recommends going smaller and if possible having square slices because they go down easier than large triangular ones. The competitor is also reminded that taste isn’t a priority in the mission at hand. Yes you want to enjoy the pizza, but lots of distracting toppings will confuse your pallet and make eating the pizza within the time limit harder. Do you think you’re up for the challenge?

Image courtesy of: YouTube

For the Over Achiever: Italian Chefs Create Mile-Long Neapolitan to Break Record

Rachel Swatman, writer for the Guinness Book of World Records, reports on the longest pizza ever made. The record was confirmed along the seafront in Naples after 11 hours and with the help of 250 chefs. The massive amounts of ingredients required were provided by local suppliers and five portable ovens were needed in order to cook the mile long pizza in its entirety. Once the officiator confirmed that the record had been broken, onlookers were encouraged to grab a slice and indulge in the victory.

Earlier this year, when some of my friends forced me to eat Thai food for dinner, I had no idea what I was getting into. A few months later and it is one of my favorite types of food. Whether it’s chicken pad thai, a chicken curry dish, or tom kha soup, I rarely go a week without eating some sort of Thai dish. Interested to learn about how this food became so popular in America, I did some research on the history of Thai food and how its popularity spread so quickly across the world.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/18znYjNeekqwiC1lBsf38dnQz5kf_15B1huxWwlnmfNc/edit?usp=sharing

Have you ever thought about what your favorite type of food is your favorite?  Whether you love Tex-Mex, barbecue, or Chinese food, chicken is likely a big staple of your cuisine of choice.  Have you ever wondered how this came to be?  How such a weird looking bird became the most consumed meat in the world?  In this bibliography, I explore the history of the chicken and how it came to have the power and influence it has today. I also take a look at how different cultures have used the chicken over time with a journey through recipes from past and present.

Check out my annotated bibliography here:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vu8UDXHv07YB8eEXLTxou36rJChUWVZRKaw3_9gcoRM/edit# 

Traditional Sushi Etiquette

By Nima

RHE 309K

Sushi is my favorite food, there is no doubt about it.  I have been eating sushi since I can remember, and I have always eaten it the same way.  I receive my sushi, mix some wasabi into my soy sauce, and proceed to stuff the delicious slabs of fish into my mouth.  After doing some reading, however, I discovered that there was an entire world of etiquette behind the consumption of sushi, varying by the type of sushi, the condiment, and even where one places their chopsticks after eating.  I decided to write my annotated bibliography on traditional sushi etiquette to improve my manners when I eat at sushi restaurants, improve my dining experience, and potentially inform others who also would like to show respect through knowledge of traditional customs.

For more, click here.