Mindy Hong- ENG2150 Creative Re-Mix Presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOegop0hc48

For my third food media review, I am picking a food podcast from YouTube by Chef Billy Parisi. In his podcast, he shared his favorite restaurant, cookbooks, chefs, etc. To start off his podcast, Parisi talked about his favorite chef, Jordi Cruz. At first I had no idea who this chef was but it was interesting to see all that he has done in Spain as well as his achievements. One thing that I learned about Jordi Cruz was that at age 24, he got his first Michelin star. He was one of the youngest to receive this award. Now Cruz is a head executive chef at a restaurant in Barcelona Spain. The next thing that Parisi talks about is his favorite restaurant. He mentioned that he has recently moved to Northwest Indiana and has been to a restaurant called Provecho. Once again, I have no idea what this restaurant is and I have obviously never heard or been but the way Parisi describes puts an image to my head. Provecho is a restaurant that is Latin infused and serves food such as carnitas, chorizo, yucca fries, woodfire mussels and much more. Although this restaurant is nowhere near New York, I think it’s cool to learn about food places in other states. One food news that Parisi brought up was about restaurants closing down. When this podcast was filmed, it had just been the start of the pandemic and we see now how many restaurants have been impacted. Talking about restaurants closing down due to the pandemic had a really tough impact on the business, business owners, and employees. I think that it was so important for Parisi to talk about this at the time because it helps spread awareness to people out there that if they had the opportunity to do so, they should support small businesses. One thing that I really enjoyed from listening/watching this podcast was when he talked about food books. I feel like I enjoyed this part a lot because no one that I really know of now reads a book about food. In my opinion, in society today no one really reads cookbooks because everyone can just look at recipes online. The books that Parisi mentioned all had to do with some type of cuisine and also stories to go along with them. This made me want to get books about food because I feel that not only are we learning something about each culture and cuisine but we are also looking at each recipe. One good point that Parisi mentioned about having cookbooks was how it gives an insight to the older generations. This definitely opened my eyes because we may not have been alive during these generations but we have information and recipes about those foods that may bring people together. 

Overall, I really enjoyed listening to this podcast. This is my first podcast that I have ever listened to and I think that I enjoyed it so much that it’s something that I will do in the future. Listening to this podcast taught me a lot and it was definitely informative. For example, I learned about a chef whom I had no idea about prior to this and different types of cookbooks that Parisi recommended. My favorite thing from this podcast was probably when Parisi talked about the cookbooks because he brought out an interesting point to why cookbooks are so important. I definitely would recommend people to listen to podcasts or even listen to this podcast by Parisi because you just get a lot of information about the food world.

For my creative remix, my plan is to create a menu and have people pick options on what they would choose from it. This connects to my research question because it will show their behavior on healthier options. In order to execute my plan, I will have to create the menu first and then come up with some questions to ask. Some obstacles that I am concerned about is not knowing what exactly are “healthier” options that I can include in my menu. I guess some advice that might assist me with thinking through and executing this project is if I should target a specific group or if I should include something specific. I am wondering what exactly I can do in order for people to answer honestly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8UCrKxv3ic

For my second food media review, I decided to pick a YouTube video from Delish titled “I Turned The Smelliest Fruit in the World Into The Best No-Bake Pie”. One reason why I decided to do my review on this video is because of my own personal experience with the fruit. In this video, the smelliest fruit is referring to durian. Durian is a fruit that is spiky and is usually known for its strong odor. In the video, Saeng, the cooking instructor and chef, brings up different kinds of durian and even ones that are packaged. Later on, he demonstrates how to cut into a durian and how to use the durian to make a pie. First, Saeng tests out the packaged durian from Malaysia and Thailand. When you open up these packaged durian or cut into any durian, there will be a smell and most people will describe the smell as a foul smell. However, this smell does not stop Saeng from testing and trying out how packaged durian is different from a fresh durian. After testing two different packaged durians, he mentioned that the Malaysian one is more creamier and a good option for beginners. As for the Thailand durian, it is stronger and has a clear taste of durian. Going on, he shows how to cut open the whole fruit. Durian is weirdly shaped so in order to know where to actually cut open the fruit, you have to look for cracks. After demonstrating how to cut a durian, he goes on to the main point of the video which is to make a pie out of durian. I found this no-bake pie really interesting because growing up eating durian, I never really thought about a durian pie. Saeng showed step by step on how to make the pie and it makes me want to make a durian pie when the fruit is in season. One thing that I did learn in this video that was shocking to me was in the beginning when he mentioned how there are many parts of the world in Southeast Asia where durian is banned. The reason for a durian banned is due to its smell. I never thought of how a durian smell would cause the different places to put a ban into it. 

While I was watching the video, I personally don’t really have a problem with durian mainly because growing up I always ate it. In some cases, I don’t even smell the strong odor that most people describe it as. I feel that if you grow up eating durian, you’re more likely to enjoy it and you won’t mind the smell. For example, my cousins never grew up eating durian and until this day, they won’t eat it. One thing that I do want to try in the future after watching this video is the no-bake pie. It seemed fairly easy and it would make up a good snack or dessert. Finally, I would say that if anyone has a chance to come across this fruit, I would say to give it a try despite the smell even though no one likes to eat stuff with an unpleasant smell. You really don’t know whether the food tastes good or not by just smelling it.

https://www.newfoodmagazine.com/article/143569/myth-breakers-spicy-food/

For my first food media review, I decided to pick an article from New Food Magazine. The article titled, “Myth Breakers- spicy food helps prevent foodborne illness” talks about Darwinian gastronomy and why spicy food is more common in the hotter countries rather than the colder countries. I decided to pick this text because in the past I have heard that spicy food helps with your body so it would interest me to read an article that talks about the connection between spicy food and foodborne illnesses. While I was reading this article, I found the part of Darwinian gastronomy the most interesting. Darwinian gastronomy in other words is when food from each culture/cuisine is thought to help with adapting to our natural environment. For example, in this case, the article mentions how spicy food is common in  more hotter countries such as Thailand and India because it can prevent you from getting sick. However, this text proves that this is not the case. The text states, “We found that hotter countries do use more spices per recipe, but this is largely due to patterns of similarity between related and neighboring cultures.” This quotation from the article proves that spices do not actually help with keeping people healthy but instead it tends to be more culture related. To prove this, an experiment was conducted where they collected 33,000 plus recipes from 70 cuisines. To conclude, their hypothesis that spice could prevent airborne illness was proven wrong. As I continued reading, one thing that shocked me was that spice could lead to poor health outcomes and lower a person’s life expectancy. This shocked me because rather than being helpful to foodborne illnesses, it actually could lead to a higher risk of infection from diseases such as malaria. That being said, it is found that spicy food is much more common in places with lower socioeconomic status. In my opinion, being in lower socioeconomic classes ties in with a lower life expectancy because people in these areas are not consuming enough nutritious intake daily. After reading this text, it made me wonder if there is an effect of the spice that many Americans consume daily. 

I think that this text was really interesting. I never really thought about the fact that spices came from the much hotter countries or how eating spice could have health effects. It was something that I never paid much attention to. I feel that after reading this text and knowing about how spicy food decreases life expectancy, it makes me not want to consume too much spice. Like mentioned before, I found the Darwinian gastronomy super interesting because I also always thought that eating spicy food could actually help you when you’re feeling unwell. Although it is proven that spicy food doesn’t actually connect with preventing airborne illness, I think that this text from New Food Magazine was overall really interesting. It allowed me to have a better general understanding of spice from other countries and the effects that it poses.

1. Pandemic Effect on small businesses
2. Organic vs Inorganic (GMO vs Non-GMO)
3. Fast food

I recommend eating fruits. I specifically love fruit salads where you are able to throw in all different types of fruits that you like in a plate or bowl. Strawberries, blueberries, grapes, oranges, apples, and kiwis are some of the fruits that I would add in my bowl. It sounds silly but fruits make me happy. I love when I see so many colors in my plate of fruit. Whether it be blue, red, orange, green, yellow, purple, etc. I love all the different flavors of sweet and sour each fruit gives. Strawberries and blueberries originate from North America, grapes from Central Asia, oranges and kiwis in Asia, and apples from Kazakhstan. It is so fascinating to see how different fruits in a bowl have originated from different parts of the world.

Going to the supermarket for me meant that it was time to restock and buy more fruits. I could never go wrong with buying too much fruit because of how often my family and I eat them. It was so easy to just go grab some and wash them. My favorite fruits have to be either strawberries or oranges. When I was younger, I loved all the fruits that my mom would wash and cut for me. The round apple that would be cut into slices, the small round blueberries scattered everywhere, the oval shaped purple seedless grapes, and red sweet strawberries sliced in half were some of the fruits I love so much. I had fruits with me in school, at home, and almost anywhere I went. It was something I never got sick of eating. I love the tangy flavor that the oranges give, the sweet flavor from the berries, and the crunch of sweetness from the apple. When I was younger, my mom would always cut some fruits up to show her love for me after I had gotten in trouble or after she would yell at me. It may not seem like much but preparing and serving fruits for us is one way of how we show love to each other. 

Eating fruits especially having a variety is one way I destress. We all love to randomly take a walk to the fridge just to open it and close it when we can’t find something that satisfies our cravings. However for me, I love to go and find some fruits that I can randomly throw into a bowl. Fruits are able to satisfy my cravings when I crave for something sweet. It allows me to take a break and refresh my mind after sitting in front of a computer screen for an excessive amount of time completing my assignments. As I eat my fruits and take in the sweet juice from each bite, I like to also go and spend some time with my family. Being in front of the screen for such a long period of time is so tiring and it sometimes means that I am missing out on interacting with my family and catching up. Personally, I prefer eating fruits over unhealthy snacks like chips most of the time. I don’t only eat fruits when I need a break or distress but I also eat them as snacks. Fruits contain so much nutrients and vitamins that I make sure I get enough of them for my body. Eating a little portion of fruits each day doesn’t harm anyone so maybe if you need a sweet snack to destress, go make yourself a bowl of fruit and enjoy them.

• One word that I had to look up was frazzled. It means showing effects of exhaustion or strain. 
• One line that made me at least smile was “This will force us to stop looking, for a few minutes, at the bramble of tabs we’ve had open on our internet browsers for all these awful months: the articles we’ve been too frazzled to read about the TV shows we’ve been meaning to watch; the useless products we keep almost impulse-buying…” This made me smile because it is just so relatable to me like useless impulse buying.
• If I were assigned an essay like this, I would write about probably something related to fruits because I just really like fruit and I find myself eating some sort of fruit when I’m stressed or in need of a break. 

Week #2– Hamilton’s “Killing Dinner” Assignment:

• One word from Hamilton’s essay that I had to look up was blubbering. This word means to sob noisily and uncontrollably. 
• A passage from the essay that was interesting/important to me was in the first paragraph. She states, “I have butchered two-hundred-and-twenty-pound sides of beef down to their primal cuts; carved the tongues out of the heads of goats; fastened baby lambs with crooked sets of teeth onto green applewood spits and set them by the foursome over hot coals; and boned the saddles and legs of rabbits, which, even skinned, looked exactly like bunnies.” I chose this sentence from the paragraph because I find it very interesting with the way she described the process of killing the animals. Hamilton uses word choices that show the cruel process of killing animals which also helps us see an image. My question for this would be, why would Hamilton use these cruel words such as “dislodge warm guts” and carved the tongues” when describing the process of killing animals. 
• One discussion question that I would like to raise about this essay is why Hamilton would describe her dad in such a bad way and showing how her dad is constantly disappointed in everything she does.

The Chinese version of Thanksgiving, Chinese New Year. It was the holiday that our family always looked forward to every year. It meant the gathering of close family and many relatives. The beginning week of this special holiday was always busy. From being with my parents as they went through the supermarket getting groceries and planning out the dishes to seeing all my relatives come together spreading happiness. Chinese New Year’s eve dinner which was also known as the “reunion dinner” was the most important. There were so many dishes that needed to be prepared in order to celebrate this Chinese New Year tradition. These dishes were known as “lucky dishes” and by the middle of the day, the house was filled with a smell that one cannot explain. It was a mix of everything that was being prepared. Everyone in my family would chip in to make sure that this day would be as perfect as it could be. Standing there, all I could think of was the food that would be at the table and the people that I would be spending this day with. It was the sweet and savory taste of the crispy fried fish in a sweet soy sauce top with cilantro, that ginger scallion lobster dish, and a big bowl of soup that just had so many flavors and seasonings combined and even the sweet rice cake to end it all. However, this was not all of it. Each dish that is served on this day has a special meaning behind it. Eating noodles with a bit of seafood, meat, and vegetables meant longevity and that you will have a long and prosperous future ahead. For as long as I could remember, everyone always had a bit of every dish that was on the table. With all these foods that everyone was indulging, you can’t forget about the drinks. I would always have my can of sweet smooth coconut milk while others had sweet herbal tea and it was so refreshing. The last thing for us to enjoy was the homemade sweet rice cake and the glutinous rice balls that had sweet peanut filling. After all the chaos of preparing the end result was so worth it because so much quality time was spent with each other and catching up on life. Until this day, I still count down the days until I am able to experience the joy this holiday brings to all.