Beijing Gourmand Blog: China Through The Food Door.
There are two kinds of people. Those who hate going grocery shopping, and those who love it. I fit into the second category.
I love it for various reasons. I love food. Going to the grocery store is for me what going to a stereo store is for an audiophile or going to a book store for a bibliophile.
But I also like grocery stores for what they reveal. A Whole Foods executive once told me that Whole Foods chooses locations with a high level of educational attainment. So just seeing a Whole Foods tells you there are a lot of people with advanced degrees living nearby. But going into one will tell you a whole lot more. My "home" Whole Foods here in Seattle has a massive seafood selection. The one in my brother's Houston neighborhood has a smaller fish section, but a much larger meat section. From this I conclude that educated Seattleites eat more fish than educated Houstonians, while the reverse is true for meat.
I went into "my" Whole Foods this evening and I noticed two things. One, it was less crowded than probably any other Sunday at around that time, and two, there seemed to be more of an emphasis on the "value" of items and their sale prices. Shucks, if I hadn't gone shopping this evening, I would never have known we are in the midst of a financial crisis.
Seriously though, whenever I go somewhere new, I love going to the grocery store. It gives me a better feel for the local culture and the local economy.
So I was delighted to learn of a relatively new blog out there that feels as I do regarding grocery stores and food in general. The blog is Beijing Gourmand and its subtitle is just perfect: "Understanding China through its stomach and my own." It further describes itself as looking "at not only what and where to eat in Beijing and China, but also examines the social and economic aspects of our food and where it comes from." I like that and I like the blog. I also know have known "Benjamin," the force behind this blog, for years and know him to be a very thoughtful guy and an excellent writer.
Some of my favorite posts:
1. "Like a (kaoya) Virgin," which waxed so poetic (along with photos) about a Peking Duck restaurant that it had me momentarily reconsidering my decision to give up meat more than 15 years ago.
2. "China's Crops Challenge," which does an excellent job explaining why China's agriculture policies are progressive.
3. "Lau Kin-Wai: Decline of Chinese Cuisine Since the 1950s," explaining how the old ways of cooking were better, yet are fading out due to it being so time consuming.
I just added Beijing Gourmand to our blogroll.
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Comments
So all this time we've had a secret veggie in our midst!?! One question for you hotshot: How do you survive on your visits to China without eating meat?
Posted by: FOARP | October 27, 2008 5:56 AM
Sitting here in Shanghai and missing the Whole Foods on Roosevelt Avenue in Seattle.
Posted by: Brian Fogarty | October 27, 2008 6:14 AM
Brian,
That's my store!
Posted by: Dan | October 27, 2008 8:25 AM
FOARP,
I am not a veggie, and my eating habits have never been a secret.
My old firm represented one of the defendants in the Jack in the Box e.coli case of around 16 years ago. At that point, I ceased eating any meat, but I did not give up seafood and, in fact, I am a sushi addict.
I never have trouble in China as the veggies are great and there is plenty of seafood. The only time I have trouble is when a veggie dish comes with pork on it, even though I stressed no meat, but that is rare.
Posted by: dan | October 27, 2008 8:28 AM
Dan,
Coming from a vegetarian household (my mother and all of my siblings were vegetarians), I'm amazed that anyone can stay vegetarian in China. Firstly most dishes seem to include it, and secondly because it's so delicious. I spent a few weeks working on a pig farm back in the day, I guess if that didn't put me off meat, then nothing would, but I admire anyone who can swear off meat and stick to it.
Posted by: FOARP | October 27, 2008 10:11 AM
@Snake Bile - Here in the UK 'Veggie' is an accepted term for vegetarian - not so in the US? Once again, two countries divided by a common language!
Posted by: FOARP | October 27, 2008 3:01 PM
Well Dan looks like Whole Foods is the barometer for the economy. Whole Foods was to build one of its largest stores this past year in Madison. They bought the land, ripped down the old building on it, dug the footings out and then there was a sudden halt in the activity this spring. Whole Foods just announced last month that building a new store during the poor economy was not in their best interest. So, they are still operating out of their older, much smaller, store. And, we are stuck with a huge eye sore in the middle of town. Who knew Whole Foods would an important economic meter for the country.
Posted by: Colette Wagner | October 27, 2008 8:05 PM
Actually, I'd say Whole Foods places their stores in areas with a high concentration of yuppies and others who like to brag about how much they spend on food. They are a lot like Starbucks - you're paying a lot for the name and ambiance, and they definitely have room to lower their prices if they want to.
For example, they have a store in Fresno, a noted center of higher education (after all, everyone knows about the Fresno State Bulldogs!). At first, they tried Bay Area prices, but that didn't work, so they reduced their prices.
OK, to be honest, they do have some very nice food, and some of their prices are within reason. But, for example, in Silicon Valley, you're much better off (both in quality and price) by shopping for veggies at local farmer's markets, getting your organic food & alcohol at Trader Joe's, and seafood and ethnic food at Asian markets such as 99 Ranch (which have live fish, crabs, lobster, shrimp, geoduck, etc).
Posted by: Tony | October 28, 2008 10:25 AM
I'm very happy to see links on food and eating in China, but I have yet to find a blog on eating healthy there over time. I'm talking where to eat organic in the cities, tricks for avoiding refined flours (besides white rice), what are the up-to-date secrets? Who is inventing the healthy eating market? I know this is hard enough to navigate in the U.S., but there must be someone fanatic in China that has some secrets to share...
Posted by: Eric v. | November 1, 2008 11:39 PM