Picture Perfect

11/20/12
Zephyrin Tsoi
100231347

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From the right, you see the crispy and crunchy nachos. From the left, you see the cheddar cheese, the guacamole and the jalapenos. From the bird’s view, you see it all; except for the way the cheese melts on the side and the little bits and pieces hiding at the bottom. But really, which side is the perfect side of the plate of nachos?

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In this generation, you don’t see the flashing lighters at concerts anymore or disposable cameras in the hands of little children. Now, you see the flash from iphones, htcs, samsungs, and all different kinds of technology. Since these devices were introduced, there are those functions that we once could not use right away, like capture a moment right in the palms of our hands without regretting that we forgot our digital camera laying at home. More importantly, in these days, there’s been something lurking in our social media that’s tempting everyone to start foodtography.

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 This has become a great hit among students, teachers, parents, and children and mostly in the Asian countries. This is only because Asia spends so much time creating the perfect picture of food that it has become a moment to commemorate. With the social media we currently use, like facebook, flick, tumblr, instagram, foursquare and a lot more, it’s easy to take a picture and post it. Whether it’s to show what you’re currently munching on or to show where you are having lunch or breakfast, it’s a way to share and remember the places that you’ve been.  “Researchers have recently completed a research study on the psychology of food” says Weiss. Weiss defined the psychology of food as a way to document and commemorate our everyday lives. As if every plate of food we devourer is a statement or page of our own personal book. Right before you stab your fork into that plate of nachos and destroy that perfect image that was once beautiful when it arrived at your table, you have the chance to capture it and put it into your own personal book.

The best part is, food looks good and it makes us feel good. If we ever have a bad day, you can still find a beautiful bowl of ramen or a green tea cheesecake. Even if everything isn’t going the way it should be, food can always go the way you want it to. It can still promise you that even when the day’s dark and nightfall is coming, something good will happen as long as you want it to. Something perfect can be a part of that day and every other day.

Related Links: 

Pictures of Asians Taking Pics of Food

The Psychology of Foodtography

Speed shopping.

11/06/2012

Nicole Amaral

100257087

Credit: [x]

Speed has become one of the main factors in almost everything we do in modern day life today. In societies throughout North America, and other parts of the world, the acceleration of communication has shaped the society. With communication devices and tools such as the internet and cellphones, we instantly and unknowingly demand of everything to be at our fingertips, and within our reach, in the blink of an eye.  The society today has been shaped in such a way that we can virtually do anything with our handheld devices, cellphones, computers, laptops, tablets, anything that can connect us to others, may it be someone who is 5 meters away from you, or 5000 kilometers away.

So how would the topic of speed relate to food one would wonder? Well, while I was away on my trip to the United Kingdom, London to be more specific, I came to a realization that everybody there shops online. Not only do they shop online for clothing or electronics, but also for their groceries. Almost every well know grocery store there had an option where customers could do some online grocery shopping.

 I then proceeded to ask both my aunties and my cousins that live there if they shopped online for their groceries. 3 out of 4 of them said that they do, only because the amount of time it took them to go on the internet and order for the food hardly took 10 minutes, as compared to going to the grocery store and shopping around. Even the delivery of the groceries comes right to the doorstep and it arrives within 4-6 hours of your placed order.

Credit: David Pearson/Alamy

This is a play on the cycle of production, distribution and consumption. As mentioned in the textbook, “businesses manufacture a product or a service [in this instance]; the product or service is made available to consumers; consumers purchase the product or service; and the profits from that sale are directed back to the business owner.” So the faster there is a sale made, the faster profits are delivered to business owners.  

Credit: Super Delivery

Credit Super Delivery

Like I mentioned previously, speed is becoming a main factor in the way we live life in this society today. There are various stores in Vancouver itself that have an online grocery shopping option; technology is advancing at a high speed level, no pun intended, and there is hardly anything we can do to stop it from integrating itself in our everyday lives.

Related Links: 604 anytime ; The new age of online grocery shopping

The Brightest Night of the Moon

10/2/2012
Zephyrin Tsoi
100231347

There is one day of the year where every family comes together to celebrate the moon at its fullest and brightest night. Some people see it as a reason to give and share, to others it may seem like a remembrance of how china revolutionized during their different dynasties. But to me, it’s a day to remember why families are united, why it is so important to create these days to just remind yourself how important it is to be together.

Credit: Zephyrin Tsoi

Mid-Autumn Festival, or as most Asians would call it the Lunar Festival, is celebrated every year on the 15^th day of the 8^th month according to the lunar calendar. This may be just another day of the year, but to some people, this day is more then just another festival. But of course, everyone sees this festival differently according to his or her religion, vision, and mostly, family traditions.

Even though everyone sees this festival differently, there is one thing that will always be the same, moon cakes.

As mid-autumn festival arrives, the sight of moon cakes become more and more visible everywhere you go. Moon cakes is a traditional chinese pastry made out of lotus paste with a salty egg yolk right in centre with a golden brown crust that is shaped in symbols of the festival. The taste of moon cakes was so sweet that people could barely finish one on their own. Families usually come together to open one moon cake, split in 4 or 8 pieces, and matching it with a strong herbal tea. If good weather, some families would even have a barbeque or hotpot outside under the moon to celebrate this festival as if they were celebrating with everyone else under the same bright moon.

Credit: Amy Yeong

As years went by, chefs became so creative and even made different types of moon cakes for the festival. Some became green tea flavored, red bean paste, peanuts, beef bits and even the taste of xo sauce.  Some even lost the lotus paste and filled it in with a creamy paste that required moonc akes to be kept in the fridge.

Sweetness has already pampered people’s mind that sweet is happy. Despite the many calories that each moon cake carries, just having the opportunity to be there with family, watching every single smiling face, enjoying that tiny piece of moon cake is already brightening the night before it ends. Being together really helps relationships grow stronger and help understand one another. Despite all the differences that people might have, festivals are ways to bring people together to just brush the little things off and appreciate the things that you have at that very moment. 

It would only be right to indulge a bit and enjoy the sweet taste of moon cake during this mid-autumn festival under the brightest night of the year.

Related Links:

Mid-Autumn Festival

Traditional Moon Cake Recipe

Nourouz- The Spring Festival

10/02/2012
Nerissa Magol
100215010

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Welcoming spring with warmth by saying goodbyes to cold breezy winters is what majority of us look after. Goodbyes to gloves and mufflers and hellos to shorts and tank tops is my favourite slogan. Along with the spring season we welcome the Naurouz festival which is a spring festival, celebrated in Persia and Middle Eastern countries.  Nourouz is made up of two Persian words, Nou meaning New and Rouz meaning Day, Says a Persian Philosopher, Fariborz Rahnamoon. Naurouz falls on the 21^st of March each year and is celebrated by Zoroastrians and other Persians around the world. Nourouz heralds the beginning of Spring, the day of Spring Equinox, when day and night stands equal in length, space and time as the Sun shines directly over the Equator, entering the Zodiac Sign of ‘Aries’ Says, Fariborz Rahnamoon. Customs and traditions have been an important aspect for the Zoroastrians, right from the heart of Iran’s ancestral history and spreading as a gift for the entire humanity. Spring is the time when Nature blooms into a festive season, a fusion orchestrated to Natural endeavours. It’s also the time for grooming our body, life and soul with humanitarian values and morals. It’s an opportunity and the right time to better ourselves and our surroundings, to revive, re-grow and re-start so that we can live with positivity, happiness and success.



Credit:  Fatemeh Keshavarz



            Nourouz is well known for laying food ‘Tables’. Seven items are laid on the table, starting with the letter ‘S’ or ‘SH’ in Persian dialect. Why seven? This is because it represents the seven Archangels of Zoroastrianism. The tables have Sabzeh (wheat sprouts, signifying rebirth), Samanu (a wheat germ pudding, signifying affluence), Senjed (dried fruit, signifying love), Sir (garlic, signifying medicine), Sib (apples, signifying beauty and health), Somaq (berries, signifying sunrise) and Serkeh (vinegar signifying, age and patience).  Today, along with the food on the table, some other important elements are also kept on a Haft sheen table are Sheeshah (mirror), Sharab (wine), Shilooneh (jujube), Shiir (milk), Shirini (sweets such as white and pink fondants), Sharbat (juice) and Shaanin (candles).  It is said to believe that at the exact time of the vernal equinox, the pomegranate that is placed on the table moves and the mirror catches its movement. It is also believed that if you look into the mirror which has already reflected Nouroze, you will have good vibrations throughout the year!



Credit:  Sedreh Pushi



            In Zoroastrianism, it is taught from a child is born until death to be united within the community, offer help to the needy people in form of charity and follow on the path of ‘Good thoughts’, ‘Good words’ and ‘Good deeds’. Celebrating the Nourouz festival every year brings togetherness within families and relatives. The day starts of by family visiting the fire temple together, where offerings are made for our wellness and later the family visits at home to see the decor of the table followed by lunch and exchanging of gifts. The layout of the table is arranged four days prior to Nourouz start and kept until three days later, which adds up to seven days of offering which signifies offerings for seven days to the angels on Earth and the Archangels around us.

“My greenness (spring) to you, my yellowness (fall) to me,” which means “I wish the best for you in Persian.”

Related Links:

 Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Fariborz Rahnamoon.

 Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Fatemeh Keshavarz 

Nourouz- The Spring Festival: Sedreh Pushi

 

Misleading Labels.

9/24/2012
Nicole Amaral
100257087

Video credit [x] ; Gif Credit: Nicole Amaral

Grocery shopping is one of those things that are done weekly or more than that for some peoples. But have you ever chosen a certain food item over another simply because of what the labels look like? Well, it might just be time to reconsider some choices made. That’s because terms like “fat free”, “trans-fat free” and “all natural” that we usually tend to see in abundance on food labels these days, might not be healthy at all.

Credit: Nicole Amaral

Annoyed? Bothered? Frustrated? Well I kind of am. Not because I’m being deceived by certain products that I thought were good for me but also because these are actually some of the food items that I love to eat! One of my favourite things to snack on during class or throughout the day are granola bars, or Nutri-Grain bars to be more specific. Even though on the box and label it says “more of the whole grain your body needs” and “made with real fruits/ fruit filling” it’s not true. These types of statement are put on labels in order to grab customer’s attention and it’s done this way on purpose. I found this out by reading the nutritional facts that are on the back of the box, which some people don’t tend to read. There are about 13 grams of sugars and 100 milligrams of sodium in every bar, that doesn’t seem as much when written down on paper, but it does add up.

Credit: Nicole Amaral

I am certainly not trying to bash on any food items but this is just an example of why people should definitely check out the nutritional facts and ingredient lists on all the food products they buy. Buying food based on just packaging and labels could potentially be harmful, and in order to cut down on that checking the ingredients and nutritional facts are a great start.  According to a Nielsen Survey and Health.com nearly 59% of consumers have a hard time understanding nutrition labels.

Food labels like this mislead the public into thinking they are getting an organic and healthy product, when in reality they are getting an opposite of what they want.  Miscommunication like this between companies and customers could be harmful not only to the customers’ health, but also towards the company.

There is a common saying “don’t believe everything you see and read” this statement factors into the essence of grocery shopping. Customers buying various food products often get deceived or have the wrong information on what they put into their body on a daily basis.  That’s why miscommunication between what people think they are eating and what they are actually eating isn’t a big surprise. Therefore people should definitely not believe all the labels they read on food products, that is, if they want to have a healthier life.

Related Links: Healthy or Hype? , Theory of Food Labels

What is EMOD?

9/24/2012
Zephyrin Tsoi
100231347

Partially Emotional, Partially Food...This is EMOD.

There are many ways to express ourselves, but how should we do it? Should we speak our minds, gesture our thoughts or taste our emotions?

"shy" -zephyrin tsoi

"vitamins vs calories" -zephyrin tsoi

Food is an essential part of life that gives us energy, happiness, joy, pain, etc. There are multiple ways to utilize food as your communication tool depending on what you're eating, when you're eating and how much you're eating. Sometimes the most common methods of communication, verbal/written/contact, are undesirable to the given situation and the delivery through food may yield the most favorable result. Communication through food can be indirect, calm and casual depending on how it's conveyed by the receiver. You may combine existing communication methods, such as written, and manipulate the food to literally display your hidden emotions by words or by doodling faces.

We already understand that faces express freely how one may feel. Clearly, a frowning face would mean sadness and a grinning face would mean happiness. Just like food, many perspectives are already set in peoples heads. When a girl is sitting in her room eating a tub of ice cream, others will eventually assume that they are depressed. When one orders a salad for their main course, people's minds are set that they are on a diet and attempting to lose weight. The most common setting is when one goes out at night, to a bar or pub, and drinks to the point where they puke, blackout, and can't remember anything that happened that night. But really, what do all these food say for them? Can people determine what message they are trying to send  to each other by looking at what they are eating and drinking?

"3 tier choco cake" - steve (oui, chef)

For instance, alcohol can be used as a way to relieve stress, to lower the levels of consciousness and allow people to speak their minds freely. The effectiveness of utilizing food as a form of
communication just emphasizes the commonly used idiom stating, "a picture is worth a thousand words", as it is able to deliver the message stimulating all five senses. The appearance of the food, the sensations felt with the captivating aroma, the crisp sound of a knife hitting the bacon, the fork plunging into a three tier chocolate mousse cake and finally the savoury taste fills your mouth with joy. Food is a type of nourishing for one's mind and body but it can also reveal to others how you may be feeling or what you may be thinking about depending on your expressions and your food choice.

So the next time you decide to choose what to eat on the menu and you don't want anyone to know how your feeling, remember that what you end up choosing is saying something no matter how hard you try to hide it.