texasmesquite

Saturday April 5, 2008

Source: The Star Online
Food for thought

By Alice Ching


The abundance of free food can be hazardous to a food writer’s health. Our life is not always one big feast — it’s a crock-pot brimming with deadlines, human idiosyncrasies and sticky situations!
My family, friends and acquaintances reckon I have the ultimate dream job – getting paid to scarf down all that free food and imbibe some of the world’s best wines. Not to mention getting the red carpet treatment at fancy restaurants and special events.
Yes, it’s definitely an occupation any food lover would kill for. But I wonder how many would willingly swap places with me if they knew I often have to work till the wee hours of the morning to meet deadlines or how I have to placate outlet owners who blow their top when the reviews are delayed.
Don’t get me wrong; I love this part-time job of mine. After all, not everybody stands a chance of getting the first bite of the cherry when it comes to reviewing the latest eateries in town.
The only snag is most people tend to forget that there is indeed no such thing as a free lunch. What we food reviewers don’t pay in cash is duly compensated for in the form of a review. Also eating for pleasure is quite different from eating for “work”, which requires thinking and taking down notes after each mouthful.
I try to review the outlets as objectively as possible. Food writers do use guidelines in the reviewing process. A food writer must be knowledgeable about ingredients, food origins, costs, cooking techniques and restaurant operations.
One of the biggest hazards is when we try to do food reviews incognito. Not only do we have to be subtle and surreptitious about our note and photo-taking, we also sometimes run into problems with the jealous eatery owners and security personnel of shopping malls.
I never knew trade espionage was such a serious issue until a successful kuih entrepreneur (who prefers not to be named) shared her experience with me. Apparently, her competitors had sneakily photographed her creations and then went on to reproduce an exact range of confections. Once, she even found unauthorised snapshots of her Nyonya kuihs in other people’s cookbooks!
I guess this was why a fellow food writer was roundly berated in public recently by an outlet manager for taking photos of the dishes she had ordered, while I myself have been ordered to stop taking snapshots in a few restaurants.
Nowadays, more and more restaurants do not take too kindly to customers who come, eat and shoot photographs of the food! Doing so without first getting permission may just land you in hot water.
Another hazard is that some restaurateurs – for reasons best known to themselves – are incredulous that I have to taste their food first before I write about their eateries. “Can’t you just write your review based on the menu?” they would ask irritably.
Maybe this is because I look like the “eat and run” type?
Some outlet owners also don’t take too kindly to the long interminable wait for their reviews to be published. While public relations people usually call and ask politely, some restaurateurs will tick me off for not pressuring the editor to print their stories quickly. They would accuse me of dilly-dallying and not knowing how to do my job.
Despite repeated explanations that it’s the editor that decides, they would continue to hound me until the review in question is finally published.
Dealing with temperamental chefs is another occupational hazard.
Most chefs go to great lengths to prepare for a review but there are also those who just don’t care. I remember one case when this newly-appointed chef of a fine-dining eatery was so stressed out, he told me and the other reviewers present to share the single portions of a set menu between the five of us.
A fellow writer once related an experience that left a bad taste in her mouth. Apparently, bad blood between the service and kitchen teams of a renowned five-star Chinese restaurant was so evident that members of the press who attended the review waited so long for the food that when the dishes were finally served, they were stone-cold.
Worst of all, the manager simply shrugged off the complaints when this was brought to her attention!
Things are even worse off for the photographers. Some restaurant owners, and even PR personnel, get all hot and bothered at the thought of the pixmen joining in the meal. Apparently, they are only supposed to take pictures of the food and then get lost.
I have been embarrassed on a number of occasions when my photographer colleague was not allocated a seat nor offered any food or drink. Why the second-class treatment for photographers?
It is, after all, their photos of the food that will have readers drooling. Never belittle the power of a picture, which – as they say – can paint a thousand words.
On the other hand, there have been many generous souls out there who have welcomed us with open arms.
When it comes to the perks of this job, I guess I sometimes get to have my cake and eat it too.