Issue 03 - Feeding Body and Mind
Food and our way of thinking
Feeding Body:
On the subject of Asian food in the Netherlands: This is by no means a “Top 10 Restaurant Guide” or “Best Authentic Eats Ranking” but a record of places that nod towards feelings of “home” out here in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
C🔮: When I first arrived in the Netherlands, I felt comfort seeing signs of chinese food around town. Knowing I could get a single serving of a familiar meal rather than attempting to make a batch, only to accept I have no idea how to cook for less than a family size pot of curry, broth, noodles, -whatever I wanted to make, to remind me of home. I commonly spotted afhaalrestaurant (takeaway restaurant) serving chinese food, but also saw the labels “indonesian” and “surinamese” on the same door. I thought, two out of three countries are located in the Asian continent, one located in South America…?(˘･﹏･˘)¿
Z💫: When I first came to the Netherlands and saw 'Shin Ramyun' at AH, I was genuinely happy. The fact that Korean food is so easily available in a European country! How happy it is to find Asian food in Europe. What I felt while reading C's text was, In Korea and Japan, Surinamese food is not a well-known category of Asian cuisine. I haven't had the opportunity to try it or learn more about Surinamese food.
C🔮: I can barely blame my poor sense of geography to be honest, the country of Suriname was never on my radar. It was only until I ordered something, I realized there’s a reason similar ingredients like char siu (roasted pork). [pause and google: “Immigration history of Suriname” here] All to say, wherever I go, I am constantly learning more about the resilient asian diaspora.
✨👉💕👈🥹 Moments in an asian restaurant
C🔮: A common fear that’s been internalized and discussed within many asian circles comes when sharing food with peers from other cultures.
Z💫: When I share food with Non-Asian internationals I have concerns, mostly regarding my preferences and choice for Asian cuisine.
C🔮: From the strong fragrances like fish sauce to the aesthetic like the dozen forms of tofu (silken, firm, rubbery, wrinkly textures), even in translations (“fermented bean curd” or “grass jelly” or “pork floss” or “anchovy chili paste”) I can understand how such foreign qualities trigger a knee jerk reaction of “😧🫤😩🤢😷” for some.
Z💫: This is because the ingredients and spices that resonate with my taste/preference may be unfamiliar to those who haven't experienced our food culture. Of course, experiencing the food culture of other countries from time to time becomes a valuable and powerful asset.
C🔮: For others here, historically, “Dutch families who returned from living in Indonesia to The Netherlands were used to eating Asian food, so Chinese restaurants started serving Indonesian food also. I got this brief overview from a local artist of Rotterdam, who curated a whole guide to asian cuisine in Rotterdam. So to walk into a dimsum restaurant (or more popularly hot pot and korean bbq) where there are just as many uncles and aunties speaking in chinese dialects while the other half of the room is filled with dutch/english/other western language speaking people is a warm feeling.
Z💫: Sometimes, when I visit a restaurant run by a local (real Korean or Chinese), it gives me a sense of being at home, offering a pleasant and little shelter from everyday cuisine (bread 🫠).
C🔮: So after a few racial slurs while biking through the city just to reach this restaurant, their presence is a nice reminder there is acceptance and appreciation. :’D
🥖Bakeries
C🔮: I won’t go on to catalogue every bakery, but I can certain trust QQ Bakerij in Rotterdam to commemorate chinese cultural festivities through food. For the dragon boat festival, a friend helped me call (in a fluent combination of mandarin and cantonese) and reserve 5 zongzi, they were selling like hotcakes! They also sold individual mooncakes for the mid-autumn festival which was nice since the groceries only sold boxes of 4+ being 40 euros at a minimum :’)
Z💫: It might sound a bit unusual as a person living in the Netherlands, but I've never visited a bakery in the Netherlands. Perhaps it's due to my personal preferences. Not only do I not particularly enjoy eating bread, but I also find it quite challenging to decide which bread is a good bread especially there are tremendous different bread types. I heard from my friend there’s Korean bakery, but I don’t enjoy eating bread in general. so I haven’t been there yet. Perhaps, it is time to try ?
Groceries
C🔮: When I ask my friends where they get their asian goods, some go to the indian market for spices and rice, some order specific products online for scheduled pick up (e.g., Ochama having “good deals and stuff” and Amazing Oriental).
Z💫: When I had a crazy craving for spicy food, someone suggested that I should visit an Indian grocery store, as they sell red pepper powder that suits to Korean flavours. I did followed their advice, I went to the Indian groceries and got some holy moly spicy red pepper powder.
C🔮: As I’m typing this on 16th of October I’m seeing that Thuisbezorgd just launched Amazing Oriental Delivery !!!! This is a big deal.
Z💫: Omg I didn’t know that as well. Thanks to Thuisbezorgd <3 Asian Life saver. When I lived in Japan, it was easy to find Korean ingredients, but since coming to the Netherlands, I can't find all the ingredients without going to an Asian market. So, I'm always grateful for the little things, such as the situation with the start of deliveries.
C🔮: Mostly because now I don’t have to wait for my scheduled delivery [For some reason deliveries are not allowed to be left at the door in the Netherlands…which makes sense…but terribly inconvenient for a non-routine person like myself] Going to the physical store is still eventful to me because you get to see all types of people perusing the different sections of the stores. Dutch-born-Chinese locals (do they dub the acronym “DBC” the way we do for American Born Chinese-ABC?), adventurous drink tasters (one time, I reached for a drink in front of a person who had been staring at the cold beverage section for a solid minute, looking at every drink on every shelf. They saw I grabbed a banana milk and stopped to ask me if it’s good? I was just trying it out myself so I said, “mmmmaybe?” They shrugged and leaned in, grabbing the same banana milk and a snack, straight to checkout) It’s always fun to explore these stores because every store has a unique selection of things and is organized a little differently.
Z💫: Amazing Oriental is a fantastic store for finding all the ingredients that I need. On occasion, when I visit, I find myself impulsively grabbing Asian ingredients and Korean food. It is almost like I am at a dollar store in Korea. You grab everything because it is cheap, but you realise you spend a lot at there. When I reached the checkout counter and paid the bill, it had already exceeded 70 euros. 😮💨 For me, Amazing Oriental is like a place of spending all my money on (dangerous !).
C🔮: My favorite visits are when I get to show friends around the store for their first time. I always start with the snacks and instant noodle sections. What’s most exciting though always comes at the end, the freezer section with the loads of deserts that are simply “not too sweet” which pleasantly surprises everyone. There are so many items I know only from its bright graphic packaging; chinese, vietnamese, korean, japanese characters in bold fonts I can’t even read. I can see them sitting on a shelf in my childhood home, hoping it lands on new shelf, in my friends’ homes too. What’s most comforting From Malaysia to San Jose, California to Cincinnati, Ohio to Rotterdam, Netherlands I can find my favorite drink Milo.
Z💫: In South Korea, there is a product similar to Milo. During my elementary school days, we could apply milk for snack time (around 11:00), and during those moments, I would mix Jetty chocolate powder with the milk. On days when I brought Jetty, it was like I became a popular star because everyone would say, 'Give me a bite please!’. I heard that elementary school students these days have chocolate milk separately. However, when I attended elementary school, only normal white milk was provided.
Feeding Mind:
Pursuing Art and Design out in the “Real World” : Dutch Design Week
Z💫 My Love-hate relationship with Art
Dutch Design Week started last week, and time flies by. Two years ago, I never expected to have the opportunity to study what I truly desired in the Master's program. During my time in school, my mind was often filled with a bunch of negative thoughts about graduation and the challenges of the course. I chose to study writing and critical thinking. And I had never studied in English before, which brought concerns about my ability to complete assignments and engage in discussions for two years.
My education experience at Design Academy Eindhoven brought countless adventures and feelings. After participating in an art conference or events, I found myself questioning whether I truly wanted to be part of the artist community and whether I could survive in that society. I often reflected on my path and concerns. I didn't seem to have enough confidence in myself. While working on my projects, I struggled with self-confidence. Even before the start of Dutch Design Week, I had many doubts about my work and contemplated whether I wanted to be an artist or a designer in the future. And so, my journey continues.
[I will never become an artist!] I was the one who shouted this a few months ago. However, as Dutch Design Week DDW) began, my thoughts have become more nuanced through interactions with people. I find happiness and a sense of being alive when I receive feedback and compliments on my work. During DDW, I had engaging interactions with the public, and some of these conversations are and will be etched in my life memory forever.
During the DDW, my work and research project focus on how I can use design activism with feminist perspective in South Korea to change society. Someone told me, 'You've made me think about a topic I was already familiar with, but I rarely see it from the perspective of another country. Thank you for opening my eyes.' Another audience member said, 'Thank you for your feminist work. I'm curious about what you'll be working on in the future.' Hearing this, I realised I still have passion for creating and sharing art/design work.
Until a few months ago, I believed I lost interest in art and wanted to pursue my dream on something else. However, interacting with people, they empathise with my work and connect with it moved me deeply. In that moment, I realised my true passion for art. Although I had often claimed to dislike it, in reality, I loved art more than anything else. This journey has revealed my complex love-hate relationship with art. “Yes. I hate art as much as I love art.”
C🔮 Designer or artist, or somewhere in between
I too have a conflicting ideology with what it means to be a creator (designer and/or artist) [For me, the definition between being a designer and an artist is not a clear statement, nor does it need to be.] In whatever work I pursue, as Z said, the point of interaction with others and true connection to each other’s experiences as conveyed through my art or design, is what keeps this flame to create alive.
Looking towards the actual practice of design comes from my visit at DDW. I attended a workshop hosted by a collaboration of design professors and students. Topics included how we (as designers) can stay resilient as we tackle more complex, systematic problems. It often seems like we are conditioned to believe we can tackle all these major social issues, with no license or best practices to follow (unlike doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc., there’s no code of conduct). Everything we (student designers) create is made for an idyllic future. One student described “As you graduate and go into the real world, that bubble is very rudely popped and you realize that you can't create any true impact without other people of other disciplines, backgrounds, expertise, and most likely, your role is seen at the bottom of the food chain.” Our bubble promotes the university-to-company pipeline, leading a very strict scope of what it means to promote change in the world. This discourse leads some to believe you can find that great fit, where your values truly align with a company… ¯\_༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽_/¯ …
If this trend of “social design” and “designer’s solving wicked problems” sustains, my hope is that if design and art schools foster more space for diverse collaboration; grounding designers and artists in surrounding realities; authorities for public infrastructure, neighborhood initiatives, mutual aid networks, there are so many different groups of knowledgeable people to reach out to. Design education should show students that practice with local leaders bring just as much value as practice with corporate design teams. While I don’t deny the value of designing for a business, I’m curious to see how the future DDW community invites non-designers to the table.
I see it to be evidently mandatory that in whatever work I decide to pursue, the desired impact will not be achieved alone. It’s only when you have diverse minds at the table you will be able to make meaningful work. (Duh, but after seeing so many individual design projects at DDW it’s a good reminder to say out loud to myself).
This time, it took a little longer, but I took the time for maintenance and focused on improving the quality of my writing. Did you enjoy our little food talk and art industry’s secret thoughts ? :)
We are open to collaborative writing. Please contact us via Instagram DM!
Until our next topic, See you around, C and Z
Amoizing!
👍👍👍