With all the negative buzz around the phrase in the Indian social media, it is tough to be a food blogger these days.
There are the chefs who think that food bloggers are not ‘qualified’ to comment on their food. Especially when bloggers get critical.
It’s another matter that the same chefs & their PR repeatedly call food bloggers over to their restaurants to try out the food…and write about it of course.
Which leads to the next problem where readers feel that bloggers have sold out and write for free food and only write sugary things.
Bit of a Hobson’s choice.
This of course skirts the fact there are many food bloggers out there who are quietly documenting heirloom recipes and local traditions and culture. Yes, food blogging is not just about restaurant reviewing. Nor do all restaurant bloggers write only about new restaurant openings. I would like to believe that it is bloggers who through their writing have made home cooking, as well as unsung hole in the wall traditional eateries, fashionable enough for mass media to start featuring these again.
Sometime back food blogger, Nandita Iyer, wrote a spirited riposte to those who questioned bloggers on attending events.
I like attending travel fams/ events the as they help me unravel food stories about restaurants and eateries in the places I visit. Travel writing is what I enjoy the most. Even when in Mumbai I like to see the city as a tourist and make new discoveries in a city which has so much to offer.
I am not too fond of hosted restaurant reviews as I feel that restaurants are on their best behaviour and give an experience which regular customers can’t experience. I normally stay away from blogger’s tastings/ tables, specially if the intent is not to get feedback but to get a blogpost. How can you give your take on what the average customer can expect through a specially designed experience?
If I do attend them I put a disclaimer about it being a sponsored event and then leave it to the reader’s discretion.
I don’t want to sound like a spoilt child. I owe a lot to the world of blogging. Have had great experiences, great meals and met some wonderful meals thanks to blogging.
Perhaps its better to relive those moments rather than vex about the negativity around food blogging.
Talking of food writing this is what Bourdain had to say about discovering cultures through the food. Yes, that’s what I enjoy the most. Making connections through food
There is no question how popular foodblogging is.As in all professions, there are good bloggers and bad bloggers.Some chefs may be worried about the power that blogging yields,lest it be misused.After all it is their skill that is being judged,a skill they spend years perfecting.The important thing is to separate the wheat from the chaff and respect each other's work
You said it my man!
True, there is a lot of generalisation
Keep writing Knife and chop off the unwanted stuff….dis-tractors are everywhere.
hey thanks Pinku. As Agent Green Glass told me in a different context, we tend to be too cynical these days
The knife! I totally agree with you but I think everyone should be loyal to his proffesion. Food blogging is just not a fun but some people read them to be getting conscious about the other region food and restaurants. I am a tourist and it is my hobby to read daily new food blogs and travel blogs. I found pleasure in them. These days I am searching about volcano tours honolulu. I want to get more and more information about this tour, restaurants and the attractions of this region. For this purpose I am trying to read some related blog of this tour. So I mean to say blogging shouldn’t be a fashion but it should be helpful for others.