22
My 'authentic food' obsession made me look dumb in Guangzhou
For like 3 years I bragged about finding the 'real' spots in Chinatown, the ones with no English menus and weird looks. Then I moved to Guangzhou for work and my coworker took me to this random noodle shop near our office, nothing special, and I realized I had been treating Chinese food like a museum piece instead of just, you know, food. I kept ordering the most obscure thing on the menu to prove something, and my coworker finally asked why I never just got the beef noodles he was having. That hit me hard. I was the tourist in my own head, and the locals just eat what tastes good, no performance. Now I ask what people eat on a Tuesday, not what's 'authentic'. Has anyone else had that wake-up call where you realize you're overthinking a whole cuisine?
2 comments