This May, Andy and I had a life-changing bowl of noodles in New York at David Chang's restaurant Momofuku Noodle Bar. Chang is a Korean American wunderkind who came out of top kitchens in the the States and France and won a bunch of awards. Now, if you drop his name in culinary circles, people will poo poo you because he's so popular, he was even on Charlie Rose (read: not that cool anymore).Still, the food was highly memorable and people are going to his restaurants in droves. Chang''s even been named on of the most influential people of the 21st century so far. The secret? PORK PORK PORK.
Chang is largely regarded as one of the world's premiere lovers of pork (number two behind Andy). That's why it's come as a huge surprise that he urged Esquire readers to slow down on their bacon-loving ways. In the upcoming issue, he writes:
"At the hyperglobal megachains that feed most of America, the only way they'll be able to keep selling one-dollar hamburgers is to grow their "protein units" in petri dishes, add even more filler to their products, and outright enslave the workers whose backs they're already breaking to keep costs artificially low."
Mmm yes, Chang says more fruits and veggies. Especially interesting (and relatable) is how Chang explains the prominent place of meat in his diet growing up:
"Ever since my parents came to America in 1968, it has been meat and milk 24/7. They emigrated from war-ravaged Korea and, like Americans coming out of World War II, they couldn't believe--and didn't resist--the Crazy Eddie abundance of the American agricultural industry. As far as my parents are concerned, meat grows on trees."
More on "What the 21st Century Will Taste Like" here
1 comment:
You'd love the pork here in Zambia. The butcher leaves the fat and the skin on and since the pigs here are half wild they have an intense piggy flavour that just isn't present back home.
Also, nice blog.
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