First post:

The selected reading that I liked the most this semester was the Guy Fieri restaurant review.  I thought it was just shockingly funny and definitely a bit too dramatic.  Over the course of the semester I read many restaurant reviews but this one stood out to me by far.  The tone that the author uses and the repeated rhetorical questions make this review a ridiculously entertaining read.  The self-chosen reading that I got the most out of was Jennifer Lee’s “The Search For General Tso.”  I thought this article was super interesting because it talked about the origins of the popular Chinese dish and gave me a completely different perspective on it.

Second Post:

The term “rhetoric of food” is very broad and encompassing, but after this semester has finished I am able to come to terms with its definition a lot better.  Writers express their thoughts about food in many ways.  Some choose to review restaurants and pass on recommendations to other people.  Others write recipes, or write about the history of food and culture.  There are many different mediums, but some that we discussed in class are print, blog, online journal article, podcast, and movie.  Writers use a mix of formal and informal language, depending on their intended audience.  At first this semester I didn’t know anything about the rhetoric of food, but I now tremendously more about the strategies and skills used by authors to create food texts.

As this semester is wrapping up, I am reflecting on how much my understanding of the rhetoric of food has expanded. One of my favorite readings this semester was Lucky Peach‘s “A Guide to Venezuelan Arepas.” Just like with the rhetoric of food, arepas were something that I have always enjoyed without really understanding the context behind them. This article, by Allie Lazar and Gustavo Castillo, gave me a deeper understanding of both the iconic Venezuelan dish and of food writing in general. An arepa is a flattened disc of maize dough that is often served with choose, meats, alone, etc. Not only did this article provide me with a rich history and cultural background of the arepa, it also gave me a great appreciation of the dish. Before reading this article, I did not even know how arepas were made. Lazar and Castilla, however, do a great job at providing the readers with a brief, informative history on the dish and its preparation, the anatomy and fillings of arepas, and different variations, from the nourishing, colorful “huevos pericos” version (with creamy scrambled eggs, tomato, and garlic) to the dessert “arepita dulce” (a sweet version of the dish that is full of authentic, unrefined sugar cane). I did not know how much labor and effort it took to make the delicious circles of fried corn dough. What really stood out to me though was the authors’ connecting of the Venezuelan dish to Venezuela’s present state of affairs. In the past few years, Venezuelan life has been so inflicted with political turmoil and inflation that the Harina P.A.N. flour, that was once so commonly used to make the simple arepa, is now scarce and difficult to find in Venezuela. Still in spite of these obstacles, the people of Venezuela still find ways to consume and make the dish by returning to traditional preparations and using cassava root or sweet potato. By making this connection, the authors of this piece of food rhetoric taught me that the meaning of food is so much deeper than a sensory experience. Both food writing and food itself are ways to bond and connect with people during tough times and can even be a symbol of solidarity and strength. This text illustrated how. behind the delectablly rich, fried arepa, there is an even richer history and meaning. In addition to the actual text, I enjoyed this article for its unique, engaging animations of the different variations of arepas. Though I usually prefer real-life pictures of food, I think that the authors made a stylistic choice that is consistent with Lucky Peach‘s other publications and one that made me remember the authors’ words long after reading.

One of my favorite readings that I chose as part of my outside reading was Smitten Kitchen‘s “blood orange olive oil cake” recipe blog post. While I have been a long-time fan of Deb Perelman’s blog, I did not really fully appreciate her warm, personal writing style until I, myself, had to write an original composition that describes food in a way that’s original and expressive and not hackneyed, which was a lot more difficult than I thought. However, this recipe blog post is an exemplary example of how to write in a way that makes the readers feel as if they themselves were eating the food with the author. With phrases, such as “I was hoping for it to bake in a loaf pan, as rustic everyday cakes should, have a slight crunch at the edges, like a beloved one at a nearby coffee shop does…”, this text creates a personal, homey feeling and connection to the reader. Beyond that, I really enjoyed the time and effort that Deb Perelman took in taking and editing her aesthetically-pleasing pictures; they were the extra cherry-on-top that I needed to be convinced to make this recipe. ASAP. As for the recipe itself, I appreciated that she also took care to provide the reader with additional instructions on special techniques (i.e. how to supreme an orange); the recipe itself is clear and very approachable for beginning bakers. Overall, this piece showed me how all food rhetoric, even recipes, have more than a surface-level meaning. Perelman shows that through her very personal food writing, she creates a community and welcomes her readers into her home.

Because of texts like these and because of the diverse collection of classmates’ original compositions, my understanding of the rhetoric of food has greatly expanded. Before this class, if someone had asked me about the rhetoric of food, I would have automatically only thought of recipes. Clearly, though, I have come to understand that the rhetoric of food is so much more. Food writing is a way to describe a culture, tell a story, advocate for change, connect the current generation with the past, etc. Additionally, the rhetoric of food can take on so many mediums. Not just limited to traditional texts, the rhetoric of food can also be a video, a “listicle”, a food quiz, etc. Simply put, the rhetoric of food is diverse and unlimited. There are so many genres and topics that I cannot believe that I never even considered. After engaging with my classmates’ original compositions, I realized that the rhetoric of food can give great insight into someone’s personality or other talents. For example, some videos showed a person’s tongue-in-cheek humor, while others’ review displayed the writer’s artistic, stylistic skills. This class opened my eyes to the broad world of food writing that I hope to continue to explore outside of our course!

Favorite Texts

We read a lot of great, informative, and unique texts for class.  I think my favorite assigned text was Pete Wells’ review of Guy Fieri’s restaurant.  Although I didn’t like how harsh and sarcastic the author was towards Guy Fieri (who I enjoy watching on television), I thought the language was pretty funny and unique.  It took the meaning of “rhetoric of food” to another level by combining a restaurant review with a comedy vibe.  It was also quite informative even though it was mainly comedic.  It showed a lot of the glaring issues of Fieri’s restaurant, and a small summary of various judgement factors was included at the end.

My favorite text that I chose to read on my own was the Lifehacker article on sushi etiquette that I used for my annotated bibliography.  I really love how compact, versatile, and useful this graphic is.  As someone who loves sushi (it’s my favorite food), I have always wanted to improve my etiquette when eating so that I can have a nicer experience.  This graphic really helps achieve that goal, and I know I’m not the only one in the class who thinks so.  When I presented my annotated bibliography, the two classmates who I presented to both enjoyed this text the most out of all the texts I included.

What Does the Rhetoric of Food Mean?

When I started this course, my only knowledge of food rhetoric was recipes and restaurant reviews.  This course really expanded my interpretation and understanding of how many texts the rhetoric of food truly encapsulates.  As I noted above, food rhetoric can include but is not limited to comedy, drama, theoretical analysis (Consider the Lobster), and instructions (such as recipes).  The medium that food rhetoric takes on is also very diverse.  Images, videos, and text are all thoroughly represented in food literature.

Post 1: The reading I found interesting was “consider the lobster”. It was little shocking to me to think that boiling lobster or cooking lobster is cruel, I only loved eating it while on the other hand, I did not want to see the process of cooking. This article gave me new perspective in cooking lobster and I thought that it is hard to decide whether it is right or wrong because it is a dilemma for people who eat any kind of meat, and everyone will have to be vegetarians. I saw how people’s thoughts can vary widely depending on who is reading it. The reading I found that was interesting was the article which I read during my annotated bibliography, “6 countries around the world where curry is a big deal“. I chose curry because it is one of my favourites and I knew it is in many countries with different styles, but I did not know how exactly they differ and the article explained how they differ in details.

Post 2: I did not know what exactly is the rhetoric of food before this class. I can now say that it is one distinct genre of rhetoric, a communication topic. People write, talk, record about food and interact with the readers. Foods are different and distinct in countries, cultures, races and more. Food is essential for people’s living so it has grown up to be one huge medium in our lives. I can see at least one things that is related about food it I spend no more than 5 minutes on the internet. It is a common language across the world. People communicate, agree or debate their own thoughts and share them. The rhetoric of food will grow together with the internet.

The article that I enjoyed the most was the Fieri review. I thought it was interesting in how harsh it was. This reviewer came across as completely biased to the point where it seemed he was reviewing the man rather than the restaurant. However, at the same time it was still pretty humorous for how direct it was. While it was entertaining to read this, the sarcasm and tone took away from the actual message as well as the author’s credibility.

I chose to read “19 Lazy But Brilliant Recipes That Won’t Let You Down, ” a Tasty by Buzzfeed article. This was my mentor text I used to guide my original composition. This article is great, because it was written for millennials and the content was intended to be sharable, which were two characteristics important to my writing. It also promotes a simplicity to cooking which is very valuable.

At the beginning of the semester I would have thought that the rhetoric of food was just simply writing about what we eat. I thought it pretty much would be cookbooks and restaurant reviews. As the semester progressed it became apparent that who was writing was also just as important as what was being written. Also, the content of what was being produced took on many more forms than what I expected. It encompasses everything from cookbooks to Tasty videos to Buzzfeed articles. I never realized how many different genres can be used in food writing. All in all, I learned that the rhetoric of food is the way in which we express and analyze our experiences with food.

The rhetoric of food is more than just words or language. Its about communicating a variety of ideas. Each of these pieces, whether it be recipes, podcasts, Tasty videos, annotated bibliographies, or reviews, all have a reason for existing. It’s because the author wanted to share those ideas that they had. And there’s always a reason for why the author wants to share these things. That’s why we have to look beyond just what is written and look at the context, the history of both the author and the time they lived in, as well as the audience he wants to speak to. By looking at these things, we can see why a piece of work is so successful (or not). That’s why it’s important for us to be able to communicate with each other so we can share in these experiences.

For some people, they write because they want to show the disparity between certain groups of people. For me, I found a photo essay that demonstrated how different school lunches can be across the world. For other people, they may want to share something that their mother cooked since it brings back so many wonderful memories for them. Sometimes, these recipes have been passed down for an even longer time. All of these things tell us about each other as people, and with the written word, these experiences can last for a very long time.

The assigned reading that I most enjoyed would definitely have to be “A Guide to Venezuela Arepas.” As I am very interested in online content/media, I found this piece to be a joy to read and just see the animations that must have taken hours to make. The commentary was also humorous, making it easy to digest. There are so many versions of the arepas, and it made me understand that each person makes it their own way. It reminds me of the Japanese savory pancake, okonomiyaki, because like arepas, okonomiyaki is also a dish that is made “your own way.” It was also once a staple, back when Japan was still struggling after World War II. Since reading, the article, it has made me interested in trying out the arepa, and that’s the kind of work that I want to be able to create. I want to make something that gets other people curious about Japanese food and culture so they can try it out for themselves.

The favorite reading that I have chosen for myself would definitely have to be “Rice, Noodle, Fish” by Matt Goulding. Matt Goulding has such great narrative voice as he describes his travels and naturally, as an award winning writer, he is great at describing experiences with food. I didn’t expect for him to make me care about okonomiyaki, as much as I did, but he told Fernando Lopez’s story with such great detail that it made me care. Lopez was pretty much a nobody, an outsider from Guatemala in Japan, until he found his way to an apprenticeship under an okonomiyaki chef. And even being released from his apprenticeship didn’t mean he was successful immediately. He had to struggle to build his top-selling restaurant in Hiroshima. Matt Goulding tells stories about food that I had never read before, and I absolutely love his writing, so check out his books or the website he contributes to, Roads & Kingdoms.

Post 1: For the required readings, I liked reading “Consider the Lobster” by Foster Wallace. I learned a lot about lobsters and I didn’t know they used to be considered low-class food, since now they’re really expensive. The article was really informative and I thought it was interesting that there could be a whole article written about lobsters, including the ways it can be cooked and a little bit about its history. From my own readings, I liked this article, History of Ice Cream, which talked about the history of ice cream and included a lot of fun facts about ice cream. I love ice cream but I didn’t know much about it until I read this article.

Post 2: I think the rhetoric of food connects everyone around the world. Every culture has their own food and unique recipes, and by writing about food, we can share our culture with other people and learn something new. Writers can express their thoughts on food, whether it be about the food itself, the history of that dish, or their thoughts on a restaurant they went to. People write restaurant reviews to express their thoughts on a restaurant, and in today’s world, Tasty videos have become a popular way to show how to make food in a short video clip. The rhetoric of food brings us together and is meant to be shared with everyone. Anyone can read about food and write about it, and by doing so we can learn more about food and its importance to people around the world.

The rhetoric of food does not have one simple cut and paste definition. It is a very flexible term that expands across many mediums and genres of texts. Perhaps one of the oldest and longest lasting genres, the rhetoric of food can range from videos, movies, reviews, recipes and even stories- along with much more. Our class has proven that there is no set thing that is the rhetoric of food, but we have demonstrated that the rhetoric of food is meant to be shared and enjoyed by everyone. It is a subject that wants to inform, and in some cases, entertain as well. It is a subject that is important and prevalent in every culture and society, and has informed us about certain cultures and their histories. The rhetoric of food will continue to live on as long as humans are still alive and eating, and will continue to be one of the most universal and basic human connections.