THE DISH

ALCUDIA
MONA

MACGUFFIN

DAE CD I
I. The Plate
II. The Dish
III. The Ritual
THE DISH
I. The Plate: An It-Narrative

THE DISH
Twice a day, I wait for the feast.
I begin to anticipate the table
journey while delicately balanced
on both her arms: placemats first,
the familiar clink of utensils and
glasses, and finally, I, the plate.
Once the whole family is present,
the eating ritual begins, with meaty
shapes, textures, saliva and cutlery
tips sliding across the expanse of
my tempered glass surface. Once
she clears off her meal, I am stacked
with my fellow dishes and subjected
to the post-meal protocol of sponge
bath, rinse and towel-dry. Finally,
I spend time on the rack, drying
the day away in varying positions:
a precarious, balancing act of
THE PLATE

tableware she treats as a daily jigsaw

puzzle.
This is the existence I’ve been

THE DISH
accustomed to since she bought
me off the shelf 5 years ago. Before
that, life began at the Assembly:
molded from a Master, brought
to life by clay, water, glaze and
heat. I used to believe we were all
made from ceramic, but such is
not the case after seeing the wide
array of tableware come and go
in the retail store: glass, pewter,
melamine, earthenware, and, almost
unbelievably, a porcelain material
with animal bone mixed into it. I
have been acquainted with a few of
these peculiar yet expensive bone
china dishes myself, after her mother
gifted her a set on a seemingly
grand occasion. Curiously, she has a
special term for them, “heirlooms”,
and seems to hold them in a higher
THE PLATE

regard than the rest of us, keeping

them locked in a special, separate
cabinet.
I do not mind being the ordinary

THE DISH
kind of plate. On the contrary, I find
comfort in living out my purpose as
an everyday, reusable, household
item. Our kind has come a long
way from the prehistoric days of
dispos- able leaves, shells and wood.
Would you believe that humans
used to eat off edible vessels called
trenchers? Long predating the paper
plate, trenchers were flat sheets
of stale bread that held food but
were not consumed, as they were
normally fed to animals or poorer
folk. Genera- tion after generation,
our lifespans grew toward sturdier
materials and a wider variety of
roles. Beyond nourishment, some
plates led grand lives as status
symbols for wealth and power. For
the rest of us, however, it was still all
THE PLATE

about the feast.

My existence revolves around food

THE DISH
as much as it matters for humans,
maybe even more so. Our kind has
witnessed the growth, development
and fusion of the world’s food
cultures and traditions. Ingredients,
cutlery, and even table setting vary
from east to west, but each meal
sits upon a variation of plate. I know
my role in the larger scheme is
that of a supporting one, ushering
a communal ritual of nourishment
between humans. It’s always been
a simple, singular task that I try to
uphold with much dignity.
THE PLATE
 THE DISH
However, I believe that is about
to change soon. In recent years,
the human has been paying more
attention to me, as evidenced by
her constant photographing of our
daily sessions. She takes great care
in documenting our meals on her
phone, and takes great joy in sharing
these beautiful moments with other
humans. I may just be another plate,
but its seem now that I bring lot
more to the table.
THE PLATE
II. The Dish: Ubewafels,

A Recipe Designed for Instagram
STROOPWAFELS
9 cups AP flour
3/4 cup of white sugar
1cup of warm water
1 cup unsalted butter
4 large eggs
pinch of salt
2 tablespoon ube jam
2 tablespoon ube powder
2 purple food coloring
1/8 pandan flavoring
THE DISH
CARAMEL
2 cup of brown sugar
2 stick of unsalted butter
10 tablespoons of pancake
syrup
2 tablespoon ube jam
2 tablespoon ube powder
GLAZE
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. ube flavoring

1. In a kitchen mixer, mix all the stroopwafel ingredients

until it creates a soft dough you can handle with your
hands. Knead the dough for a minute or two until it’s nice
and solid. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.

2. For the caramel, melt the syrup ingredients over a low

heat, stirring occasionally until you reach a soft ball candy
consistency.

3. Heat up your waffle iron while you prepare the dough.

Divide the dough into 40 round palm sized balls and lay
them out on a sheet. Take one ball and press down the iron
for around a minute or when it is a nice shade of violet
brown. Carefully remove it, cut with a round cookie cutter
and slice it lengthwise.

4. Spread the caramel syrup on the inner side of one

stroopwafel and sandwich the two together. Put on a cool
THE DISH

racking to set.
Taste, nutrition, source of
ingredients, price: these
are some of the aspects we
consider when deciding on
our next meal. Aesthetics,
however, are taking a whole
new level of importance in the
realm of social media. “This is
definitely an Instagram-friendly
restaurant!” for a Trip Advisor
comment elevates itself into a
badge of honor for any cafe.
 Did you see it in an influencer’s IG feed
recently? Check. Does it have an exotic
sounding superfood ingredient? Check.
Does the cafe have good lighting for
a flatlay shot on your plate? Check. Is
it colorful or in rainbow unicorn hues?
Check. Does it look good on a 1:1 framed
shot? Check. Will it guarantee likes from
my anonymous followers? Check. Will it
give me a sense of validation? Check.

“If you have a meal

and didn’t Instagram
it, did it really
happen?”
I. The Ritual: Social Eating

THE DISH
Consider the 21st century phenomenon of eating
alone, together: In South Korea, the social eating
trend has garnered a specific name. Mukbang,
a portmanteau of the Korean words “eat” and
“broadcast”, is a unique social media trend of
people broadcasting their meal times in front of
a live-stream online audience. These large meals,
good for more than one person, are consumed
by the Mukbang performers (or Broadcast
Jockeys/BJs) in loud chomps, slurps and talking
between bites; something mothers with their
manners would defintely not approve of, but
the viewers definitely do. They enjoy it so much,
that top BJs can earn up to $10,000 a month for
these seemingly voyeuristic culinary pursuits.

Famous Mukbang BJs like BJ Banzz, BJ the Diva

and BJ Fitness Fairy have very straightforward
episodes that are structured around introducing
all the meals, describing each dish, and eating
into them at a regular pace, albeit at a not-so-
regular quantity. Sometimes they acknowledge
their viewers on livestream, and occasionally
video chat with other BJs on screen as well.
It feels very much like having a ridiculously
THE RITUAL

large korean meal with a friend, except this is

a stranger, you are watching with thousands of
other people, and you may not even have a meal
in front of you.
So what exactly is the appeal? I spoke to a few

THE DISH
Korean friends who have watched mukbang videos
on occasion and acknowledged their prevalence in
South Korean society. One of them explained that
the combination of high speed internet accessible
on phones and the large number of unmarried men
and women fuelled the demand for Mukbang. The
solitary nature of living in impersonal cities lends
a validity to watching Mukbang videos while you
have a meal alone.

Michael Hurt, director of cultural studies at the

Busan University of Foreign Studies, told Quartz
magazine: “[Mukbang] is a part of the spectacle
culture in the sense of [French Marxist] Guy
Debord [author of Society of the Spectacle]. Korea
is a society of the spectacle, and it’s gotten to the
point where social interaction can’t happen—can
barely be understood—without being mediated in
some way. (…) They have a different understanding
of how media is used, It’s become truly a part of
life.”

As for the large quantities of food? You could chalk

it up to the clickbait appeal, or read into layers of
mindless overconsumption and culinary excess.
Some people enjoy watching a large, eclectic
spread of food, especially if a mukbang video is
labeled ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian
Response) and creates highly audible chewing,
smacking and slurping noises for the pleasure
of certain types of people. Taboo behavior or
not, the internet landscape has developed its
THE RITUAL

own set of customs and manners that may no

longer resemble what previous generations would
consider acceptable. Today, you can eat alone with
a Mukbang video and find no shame in it.
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