Socio-cultural globalization in the development of fusion cuisine
Globalization is the mechanism in which humans, ideas, and products are disseminated all over the world, bringing more communication and integration among all cultures. Socio-cultural globalization is when the transference of ideas, people, and products across the globe has achieved such an extent that it leads to more interconnectivity between people from different cultures (Choong 2019). The world is becoming more interconnected as most nations have trading agreements, people with various cultures are learning more about each other, transnational companies are becoming worldwide, etc. which also produces some drastic changes in humans’ lifestyles and media consumption. In this entry, we will examine how socio-cultural globalization has contributed to the development of Asian fusion cuisine as popular culture.
Figure 1: Reproduced from: Emaze n.d.
First, contemporary lifestyles offer fusion cuisine business more opportunities to meet global customers. According to McGuire (2015), some people nowadays travel to primarily experience food which is the third-line item of spending after airplane tickets and hotel reservations. When people sit down to enjoy a meal on their vacation, the experience is preserved through photographs by many. People treat their foreign food consumption the same way they visit a famous tourist attraction. Those pictures of their dining will be posted on social media, sent to their friends and family as recommendations, and so on. Moreover, dining lifestyles in time of globalization urge customers to seek passion and authenticity in-restaurant experience. According to Zarling (2018), a third of people surveyed in the US consume ethnic food at least once a week and 32% are willing to pay extra for the authentic ethnic fare. Therefore, many ethnic restaurants across the States including Asian ones attempted to invent more authentic dishes with borrowed ingredients and cooking methods from other ethnicities to meet the customers’ demands.
Figure 2: Reproduced from: Medium 2018
Figure 3: #fusioncuisine on Instagram
Secondly, globalization and the drastic growth of food and cooking shows massively educates viewers more about the existence and popularity of numerous cuisines including fusion. According to McGuire (2015), there is 91% of people surveyed responded that they watch food shows, 36% of them said that they watch cooking shows multiple times per week, 63% watch for entertainment, and 79% watch for new cooking ideas. For example, at least 14 cooking shows are airing on the streaming platform Netflix now and at least 4 of them starred an Asian-American celebrity chef mentioning several times about fusion cuisine such as Ugly Delicious with David Chang or The Chef Show with Roy Choi. Furthermore, the role of social media in the distribution of fusion cuisine once again plays an essential part, especially in the time of COVID-19. Social media is a treasure chest for foodies. From novice cooks to Michelin-star chefs with visual platforms have also altered how professionals can publicize their skills and share them with the world. For example, celebrity chef David Chang has been sharing his fusion recipes on his official Instagram account during lockdown to help people ease the boredom and enjoy quarantine with high-quality videos and lively narrations (Martin 2020).
The Chef Show | Official Trailer | Netflix
Figure 4: David Chang shares his cooking recipe on Instagram
Word count: 490
Reference:
Choong, S 2019, ‘Socio-cultural globalization: are we all becoming the same culture?’, ArcGIS StoryMaps, 4 October, viewed 24 May 2020, <https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/9eaef1d1274240fa9167016467771dc3>
Martin, A 2020, ‘The best chefs on Instagram to follow during lockdown’, Elite Traveler, 9 April, viewed 24 May 2020, <https://www.elitetraveler.com/finest-dining/best-chefs-instagram-follow-lockdown>
McGuire, S 2015, ’88.2% of people travel the world to get their hands on this… [INFORGRAPHIC]’, Venngage, 29 December, viewed 24 May 2020, <https://venngage.com/blog/88-2-of-people-travel-the-world-to-get-their-hands-on-this-infographic/>
Zarling, P 2018, ‘Consumers crave authentic ethnic food – and will pay more’, Food dive, 13 August, viewed 24 May 2020, <https://www.fooddive.com/news/consumers-crave-authentic-ethnic-food-and-will-pay-more/529282/>
Image reference:
Emaze n.d., 'The cultural side of globalization', image, Emaze, viewed 24 May 2020, <https://www.emaze.com/@AORFTFLF/cultural-globalization?\>
Mezz, S 2018, 'Top 25 #Foodporn Accounts on Instagram', image, Medium, viewed 24 May 2020, <https://medium.com/@crackheadbones14/top-25-foodporn-accounts-on-instagram-2cd912bf8ad>