On social media

ruining everything.

“The best Chinese food in Sydney.”

That was a caption for a story by a white man I know on Instagram. I involuntarily and immediately screwed my face up because the food didn’t look very Chinese (think: beef and broccoli; lemon chicken) and everything looked inappropriately gloopy. Every dish had been smothered in a corn flour slurry, congealed under an MSG blanket, suffocated by soy sauce, and destined to be incorrectly eaten with “special fried rice.”

My first thought was: how the fuck would you know? This man, not being a Sydney-sider, who rarely spent time in the state, would definitely not have eaten at every single Chinese restaurant within those borders. If you haven’t sampled everything, or at least the majority, how can you make such a claim?

I also thought: with what fucking experience? Yes, yes, the man is white and could have lived in China and gleaned some cultural knowledge and developed a palate that could only be honed by eating the food in high frequency in the appropriate context. He hasn’t. What part of China are you referring to bro? Which ethnic group are you referencing? How does it compare to the original when you consider geography has a huge influence on the flavours and techniques? How has regionality (Sydney) influenced the version you’re eating today?