Archives For food photography

Hace años luz que no escribo algo en español (o contundente) en este blog.

¿Por qué el título de “las alternativas asiáticas sin chifa“? Porque tengo cierto nivel de ética pues. Muchos de nosotros tendremos nuestros favoritos (cuando escribimos de películas, de música, de actores, etc.), si un bloguero/periodista/crítico es amigo/conocido del tema principal de una publicación, pues es ético decir “Es mi pata. Yo lo conozco.” Será por eso… o ¿sencillamente será porque no me gusta conocer gente y disfruto de ser introvertida?

La cosa es que, los que me conocen saben que tengo relación con uno o más chifas– familiares, amigos, amigo de un amigo, primos de un amigo, etc. Así que es por eso que ésta es la lista de comida asiática en Lima sin contar los miles de restaurantes chinos que hay. ¡Bada-bim bada-boom!

alternativas-asiaticas-de-lima-comida

A mi me gusta comer… no desde hace mucho— como todos (o la mayoría), era quisquillosa. Al graduarme de la secundaria, me fui a vivir a la ciudad canadiense de Vancouver (casi) por mi cuenta; primero, con una tía abuela, y luego sola. Ser quisquilloso (hasta los 17 años) para comer en una ciudad como Vancouver es difícil, especialmente si no sabes cocinar y todos tus amigos han crecido comiendo cosas distintas. Fue ahí, sorprendentemente, que creo que me convertí en foodie. Poco a poco, pero llegué.

Desde mi regreso, el boom gastronómico no solo se dio en la cocina peruana tradicional— todos le damos fuerte; los anticuchos, el ceviche, un buen shambar, o un buen juane con su presa de gallina. ¡Uy! El boom gastronómico también se dio en la comida asiática. Ayuda que el Kpop haya entrado con fuerza con el Hallyu Wave, pero también la colonia japonesa se abrió al paladar… aunque no estoy segura si atribuírselo al anime.

Así que comencemos… ésta es una lista de años de investigación. No hay ni una lista publicada que ofrezca tantas opciones, y por supuesto- como tomó tanto tiempo, muchas de las listas originales ya han cambiado. ¡Ja! Pero la mayoría se ha mantenido en un 90%.

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I ran into this article in Japanese that talked about the heat wave in Japan and how the shaved iced business has increased (to like $40B USD worth or 4000億円) with a brief mention of Yu-chan. Because Yu-chan LOVESSSSSSSS shaved ice. Even has her own machine at home, and writes monthly articles and whatnot, and apparently that’s a thing with other young women who eat their shaved ice while walking back and forth.

Yu has also talked about the perfection that is the shaved ice parlor in Taiwan. Dude, she’s serious. Taiwanese shaved ice is serious business. My Mandarin teacher told me he missed them because the raspadillas [1] here are so wishy-washy. Then I saw Taiwanese shaved ice.

mango-shaved-ice

The mango shaved ice that I saw in one of the brochures is still in my to-eat list. but I’m still scared of going over there in the summer season, because I’m a total city wuss that can’t take extreme weathers. I’m one of those lucky ones that can only take temperatures between 14-27 Celsius without complaining. LOL

Real vs. Fiction

It’s a tough one, isn’t it?

We’re bombarded with fiction and fantasy in nearly everything we consume… there’s something about my food, though, and I don’t like it when it’s re-touched. I’m a firm believer that food photography — as tasty as it may look like when it’s styled and re-touch — should be “as natural as possible,” then again~ that’s just me.

I believe that whatever you photograph in food, you should be able to eat it afterwards — so you don’t waste food.

I’m not against re-touching photos of food… I’ve done minor color enhancement, and I’ve definitely erase bumps or spots that may distract your attention. But I’ve eaten everything that I’ve photographed.

So my question with this McDonald’s ad is… could you eat the burger, after you’re done? If not (I seem to notice that they’re spraying something on it), why throw away a perfectly fine patty, a fine bun, fine pickles, lettuce and the slice of cheese? It’s such a waste of food… just for a photoshoot.

After we’re done photographing a model, we don’t throw her away.

Banana Caramel French Toast

We’re in Los Angeles… after 10 years. Food on the plane was awful, so we’re treating ourselves with some Denny’s breakfast~^o^

I don’t get to watch Nigella on tv any longer, mainly because I’m not stuck to it — and when I am, it’s only on the news channel. But I used to watch her show as often as I caught it running.

I had always thought Nigella had a way with words because she had an MA in language and, as such, knew the right way of talking to get you interested. LOL and then my friend told me she didn’t watch her show because she felt Nigella was flirting with her through it all xD

I guess I got caught in between all the flirting.

Anyway, Nigella is the guest editor for this month’s (?) Stylist Magazine, so all their frontpage at the moment is covered with Nigella content ranging from videos, recipes, tips and things~ and with that a lusciously dirty cover with Nigella’s face covered with salted caramel.

Her post on her love affair with salted caramel is also a good read, with loads of good dirty quotes. Like “I don’t want merely to experience pleasure, I want to wallow in it – gloriously and gratefully – while it lasts.” or:

Not since the first ever infant suckled at its mother’s breast had a food – it felt – had so much instant impact. If I’d been in a cartoon, my eyes would have bulged, stars would have emanated from my head, and I would have been licking my saliva-spurting lips wolfishly.

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