Interview with The Food Pornographer

The hardest thing about food blogging is not being able to taste the food. The next best thing and a phenomenon that is here to stay is food photography. I am fairly certain that this is one (albeit not the only) reason why The Food Pornographer was chosen by our community as one of the Top Food Blogs of 2011. Why do we love her? Photography of course, but also the great restaurant reviews and recipes. I promise you won’t be disappointed when being a bit vouyeristic with the food pornographer.

FriendsEAT:  I know you live in Perth, Australia. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like?

The Food Pornographer:  I was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. My family lived in Petaling Jaya, known as PJ, until I was ten years old, at which point we migrated to Australia. My mum worked full-time so most of the cooking on weekdays was done by my grandmother, who lived with us. I’ve always loved food – I come from a family of talented cooks and voracious eaters, so not surprisingly, most of my best childhood memories revolve around food. I often write about my food memories on my blog.

FE:  What was your kitchen like back then?

TFP:  My grandma (we called her Mama) made us kids stay out of the kitchen most of the time. It wasn’t very big, so I guess we just got in the way. We helped with the cooking sometimes – Mama would set my sisters, my brother and me to work in the dining room and we’d get a little assembly line going. On weekends, I loved to help my mum bake – orange cake was a family favourite for birthdays. It was handy having siblings to help so we could share the more tiring tasks like creaming butter and sugar, which we did taking turns with a wooden spoon, and beating egg whites, which we also by hand, with a whisk.

FE:  What is your kitchen like now?

TFP:  I really like my kitchen now. The kitchen and living area are in a bright, airy room that lets the morning sun and daylight in. It’s a social space in our home – I sit at the kitchen counter and chat with my partner Jac as she cooks. When we have friends or family over for a meal, we often serve the food buffet style on the kitchen counter. I like that whoever is cooking isn’t stuck in a separate room away from everyone else – you can be busy in the kitchen and can still join in the conversations.

FE:  For those not familiar with your blog; how would you describe it?

TFP:  My food blog, The Food Pornographer, combines the three things I love to do most: eat, take photographs and write – it’s the blog of a creative glutton. I’m not a food critic or a professional photographer, and there’s no food snobbery here – you’ll find pictures and posts about takeaway and junk food, home cooking and family feasts, cheap eats and fine dining. I also write about Perth events, holiday eating and occasionally review interesting new kitchen tools. I’m a proud Western Australian of Chinese-Malaysian descent and this is reflected in the stories I tell on my blog.

FE:  What inspired you to start the blog?

TFP:  I taught myself HTML and had my own web journal sites before Blogger and WordPress became popular. My online journals were a way to keep in touch with family and friends, especially one of my sisters, who was living overseas at the time. I bought my first camera in 2002 and started taking food photographs and writing about the food I was eating. In 2005, one of my friends made the comment that my food photos were “like porn, but of food” and that’s what inspired me to create a new blog and call it “The Food Pornographer”. Although food was a strong part of The Food Pornographer when I started the blog, I didn’t actually set out to create a food blog specifically – in fact, I’m pretty sure the term “food blog” wasn’t yet part of the blogging vocabulary. I was surprised to discover that people I didn’t know were visiting the blog, looking for food pictures, leaving comments, and even more surprisingly, coming back hoping for more food posts. As the focus of the blog became more and more on food, I eventually started thinking of it as a food blog.

FE:  What has been the most unexpected thing that came about as a result of your food blog?

TFP:  This year, I’ve been a guest lecturer at a university, talking to students about blogging, and just recently I’ve had one of my photographs and an audio recording of me reading one of my blog posts featured in a museum at Old Parliament House in Australia’s capital city, Canberra. Unexpected and awesome!

FE:  When did you start taking pictures of food?

TFP:  In 2002, when I got my first camera, a Canon Ixus V.

FE:  Was this back in the days before digital?

TFP:  No (see previous answer).

FE:  What do you prefer digital or old school cameras?

TFP:  I can’t really answer that question as I’ve never used an old school camera, but I reckon if I did use an old school camera, it would be a very expensive hobby as I’d get through many rolls of film just to emerge with a small number of decent shots. Digital is great as it allows me to edit my photos (crop, adjust white balance, contrast and brightness) on my computer, as I often take photos in less than ideal lighting conditions.

FE:  What is the most helpful tip you can give someone who is interested in getting into food photography?

TFP:  Two essential things:

1. Make sure the subject of your photo (the food) is in focus. Your photographs don’t

need to be ‘professional’, but if they’re all blurry, the food won’t look good and people

won’t enjoy looking at them.

2. Don’t use the camera’s flash. The food usually looks unnatural and/or washed out,

and in a restaurant setting, the flash annoys staff and customers. I haven’t used a

flash for my photographs since August 2007 and you can really see the difference it

makes – I cringe when I look at my early photos now.

FE:  Where do you see yourself in ten years?

TFP:  Hopefully I’ll have found the a way to work less at my day job and blog more. Even better, I’d love to be earning my living through blogging.

FE:  What is your favorite restaurant, why?

TFP:  I can’t just pick one! I love the greasy roast duck noodles and barbecue meats at Good Fortune Roast Duck House in Northbridge. The chicken karaage served popping hot and crispy and slathered with chilli mayonnaise at Toraya Sushi in Subiaco. Favourite breakfasts are roti prata and curry on weekends at Gopi Curry Leaf in Willetton and the homemade corn fritters with bacon and maple syrup at Toast in East Perth. Best kept dessert secret is the homemade durian gelato at Amore Gelato in Northbridge. For a special night out, Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth – fantastic steak and seafood and great customer service.

FE:  What is your favorite ingredient?

TFP:  I don’t have just one. Rice, garlic, bacon, chicken.

FE:  How do you feel about Foodtertainment?

TFP:  To be honest, I never use that term – but I love food and cooking shows. If I like a food / cooking show I will buy it on DVD so I can watch it over and over.

FE:  If you had to choose between chocolate or bacon, which would you choose?

TFP:  Definitely bacon. But I’d also be happy with chocolate-covered bacon.

FE:  If you had the power to fix one food issue in the world, what would that be?

TFP:  It would be wonderful to have a world without food allergies and intolerances. No more anaphylactic reactions, no more lactose intolerance, no coeliac disease. I guess that would require not just ‘power’ but magic power.