I love seeing ube out and about a lot more! I was pleasantly surprised the other week hearing two non-Asian girls in Deptford vigorously discussing the difference between taro and ube - "it's a purple yam, it's a Filipino thing".
But sometimes I do feel a bit blasé about it when I see it on a menu. For one thing, sometimes it feels a little gimmicky, and I have some nagging doubts about the sincerity of its inclusion, especially if it's not a business with links to ube-using communities.
For another thing, what I often encounter is artificial ube flavouring being used; that in itself is not a bad thing given how hard it can be to get the fresh or even frozen stuff (I use it myself often), but you can tell when it's being abused and added in large quantities to get a super deep and vibrant purple colour, as it tastes a little chemically and unpleasant. And I worry about that does to the public perception of what ube (in its many different variants and breeds) is actually meant to be like. For example, someone once complained that my ice cream made with frozen grated ube was not purple enough!
It's also interesting to note that ube's global virality and surging demand contrasts with the struggles of the farmers who grow it, affected as they have been the past few years by climate change, a lack of infrastructural investment and other economic pressures. The widespread availability of artificial flavouring and, to a lesser extent, consistently-processed ube halaya, means that we are shielded somewhat from these problems. The guys at Meryenda wrote quite an interesting piece that covered this disconnect https://meryenda.substack.com/p/wheredoesube
This (from the concluding para): "the aesthetic-driven nature of social media can flatten people’s understanding of different food cultures, heritage, and history by stripping away context". So true. The double-edged sword of (social) media attention. Great piece.
still can't get over pandan being called the "new matcha" when i've known it all my life alongside ube. commercialization of these flavors also occurs in southeast asia—you can buy a tub of ube ice cream off the supermarket or buko pandan halo-halo. but i suppose the locals know nothing beats the sorbetes you can get off the road. other places don't get that cultural context.
Really loved this piece (and Sinjin Li’s illustration for it)! I’m definitely thrilled to see more Asian foods available at restaurants and bakeries (especially from Filipino, Malaysian, and Viet culture—not just Chinese/Japanese/Korean reference points!)…but it sometimes feels strange for it to be a “trend.”
Also—was very intrigued by the discussion on what ingredients/foods are more popular and which ones are still unfamiliar to many.
"Asian cakes’ subtle sweetness and featherlight texture (compared to their stodgier, richer Western counterparts) meaning they were often lost in translation" >> "(...) Although they’re laden with flavourings, preservatives, and unpronounceable ingredients" - speaking from a personal perspective, this would be the reasons they've not taken off, rather than a preference for 'stodginess'
I love seeing ube out and about a lot more! I was pleasantly surprised the other week hearing two non-Asian girls in Deptford vigorously discussing the difference between taro and ube - "it's a purple yam, it's a Filipino thing".
But sometimes I do feel a bit blasé about it when I see it on a menu. For one thing, sometimes it feels a little gimmicky, and I have some nagging doubts about the sincerity of its inclusion, especially if it's not a business with links to ube-using communities.
For another thing, what I often encounter is artificial ube flavouring being used; that in itself is not a bad thing given how hard it can be to get the fresh or even frozen stuff (I use it myself often), but you can tell when it's being abused and added in large quantities to get a super deep and vibrant purple colour, as it tastes a little chemically and unpleasant. And I worry about that does to the public perception of what ube (in its many different variants and breeds) is actually meant to be like. For example, someone once complained that my ice cream made with frozen grated ube was not purple enough!
It's also interesting to note that ube's global virality and surging demand contrasts with the struggles of the farmers who grow it, affected as they have been the past few years by climate change, a lack of infrastructural investment and other economic pressures. The widespread availability of artificial flavouring and, to a lesser extent, consistently-processed ube halaya, means that we are shielded somewhat from these problems. The guys at Meryenda wrote quite an interesting piece that covered this disconnect https://meryenda.substack.com/p/wheredoesube
This (from the concluding para): "the aesthetic-driven nature of social media can flatten people’s understanding of different food cultures, heritage, and history by stripping away context". So true. The double-edged sword of (social) media attention. Great piece.
still can't get over pandan being called the "new matcha" when i've known it all my life alongside ube. commercialization of these flavors also occurs in southeast asia—you can buy a tub of ube ice cream off the supermarket or buko pandan halo-halo. but i suppose the locals know nothing beats the sorbetes you can get off the road. other places don't get that cultural context.
Really loved this piece (and Sinjin Li’s illustration for it)! I’m definitely thrilled to see more Asian foods available at restaurants and bakeries (especially from Filipino, Malaysian, and Viet culture—not just Chinese/Japanese/Korean reference points!)…but it sometimes feels strange for it to be a “trend.”
Also—was very intrigued by the discussion on what ingredients/foods are more popular and which ones are still unfamiliar to many.
"Asian cakes’ subtle sweetness and featherlight texture (compared to their stodgier, richer Western counterparts) meaning they were often lost in translation" >> "(...) Although they’re laden with flavourings, preservatives, and unpronounceable ingredients" - speaking from a personal perspective, this would be the reasons they've not taken off, rather than a preference for 'stodginess'