Tasty morsels offer food for thought
Print Edition
FOR Xu Qianlai, food is much more than just nourishment. The creativity of cooking and the camaraderie of sharing a meal around a table with friends and family can turn the simple pleasure of eating into a very special experience, he says.
And Xu admits that the opposite is also true, as a bad restaurant meal is guaranteed to put him in bad mood.
This ultimate foodie has turned his passion into a pastime. He used to write a food column for a local newspaper and also worked for an ad agency. In 2010, he quit all outside work to stay home and write food stories that he uploads on social networking platforms.
Xu, 37, said he was happy writing a food column for eight years, free to choose his topics. That idyll ended when the newspaper told him his columns needed to “cooperate” with certain restaurants to help the paper turn higher profits.
About that time, apps were gaining popularity, and Xu thought he could harness the new online trend for his own interests. He formed a team with a technician and two freelance writers.
“Everybody faces great pressure at work nowadays,” he said. “So it’s a delight to be able to eat something you really like, whether sitting in a restaurant or munching at a roadside food stall.”
He devised an app related to food and last year opened a WeChat public account. A website soon will be launched, and Xu also has a Weibo microblog account.
The WeChat public account is called “Daguaimeishi.” “Daguai” means big monster and “meishi” translates as delicious food. “Daguai” was also the pseudonym he used as a newspaper food columnist.
“Many food writers have pseudonyms like ‘apple pie’ and ‘egg soup,’ and I wanted to be different,” he said.
Ten writers currently contribute stories to his food sites. Topics range from food tasting and cooking to food culture and travel guides to good eating. They cover all kinds of food — from French meringue to steaks to Chinese cuisine.
Xu’s app now has about 10,000 followers, and the WeChat account boasts nearly 50,000 followers.
‘Do you know Ang Lee?’
“People sometimes ask me, ‘Why don’t you have a regular job?’” Xu said. “And I answer, ‘Do you know Ang Lee?’"
The reference is to the six years when the famed film director played house-husband while his wife, a molecular biologist, worked to support the family of four. Lee used the time to develop his dreams.
Xu’s wife is cut from the same cloth. She is the breadwinner.
“She treats me well and tells me that it’s OK as long as I am not extravagant,” he said.
At home, Xu cooks for his wife and takes care of their dog and cat.
“I’m working every day,” he said. “I write stories and upload them, which is no easier than working in an office.”
He also answers an avalanche of questions from followers and organizes activities for them.
“I am still moved every time I see that people are reading the articles we’ve posted on our WeChat platform,” he said.
The average reader is aged between 26 and 34, he said.
There are some advertisements accompanying the articles, but they are strictly controlled.
“I try to pay writers, but I won’t do anything to make money at the expense of the interest of our readers,” he said.
Restaurants that seek some sort of “special arrangement” are rebuffed. When it comes to recommendations, Xu said he sticks to the truth as he sees it — or rather, tastes it.
Whenever he hears about a good eatery, he hops on a bus to check it out. He doesn’t care whether it’s high-end or humble, as long as the food is good.
Xu spices his articles with a wide and erudite vocabulary to describe the smells, tastes and colors of dishes.
But the best part of all these foodie activities is cooking, Xu believes.
“I draw inspiration from outside, and then serve a new dish to my wife,” he said. “I like watching her reaction and then listening to what she says.”
Xu also believes in that old saying “you are what you eat,” and heads for the kitchen when he visits someone new.
“You can find out a lot about people and their lifestyles by just looking in their refrigerators,” he said.
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