Melting Pot by LASA Ezine

Melting

Pot

Ezine 2022 Spring

TABLE OF CONTENTS Meet the editors The Tex-Mex Ascent BY EJ SIMON

The Takeover of Tex-Mex BY EJ SIMON A Bite of Two Worlds BY NIMAH AHMED

Diversity of Fusion BY NIMAH AHMED 4 | Melting Pot

Italian Cuisine in BY JEFFREY NORMAN Austin How to make Italian Pizza BY JEFFREY NORMAN Japanese Food In Austin

24 26

BY SAVANNAH CUTTILL

Japan vs. America BY SAVANNAH CUTTILL

Word Search! Survey about LASA’s favorite foods

32 33 Melting Pot | 5

MEET THE

EDITORS

Dear Readers, Welcome to our magazine! We created this magazine all about food in Austin to try and show the effects of food on the Austinite culture. From TexMex to Japanese restaurants to Indian fusion, there is a cultural melting pot in Austin, and each of these restaurants impacts the city in their own special way. If you're wondering why Tex-Mex is so popular in Austin or what different fusions exist or the differences between Japanese and Americanized sushi, this magazine is the perfect fit for you. We covered all these topics and more as we explored the wonders of food on the streets of the city, and learned so much about the different cuisines that we found.

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EJ SIMON Hi, my name is EJ Simon, and I am looking to try to go into computer science or soccer when I graduate. I've always enjoyed Tex-Mex, so I decided to focus on that in this magazine. I chose Tex-Mex over other cuisines because of its popularity in Austin. My favorite things to do in my free time are to play video games, soccer, football, and frisbee, because they are very fun. I've also been to many places in the world, such as 3 countries (other than the U.S.), and 23 U.S. states.

SAVANNAH CUTTILL Hi, my name is Savannah, or Savi for short, Cuttill. I love baking desserts in my free time and I hope to open a bakery when I get older. I also love reading about Japanese culture, which is why I decided to write about the differences between Japanese food in Japan versus that in Austin for this magazine. Some of my hobbies are coloring, watching anime and playing video games. I love Dungeons & Dragons.

JEFFREY NORMAN Hi, my name is Jeffrey Norman. Italian food is very good and has always been a favorite of mine. I was wondering how it evolved and came to Austin, so I wrote about that. I like to ride my bike because it is faster than walking. I have two younger siblings.

NIMAH AHMED Hi, my name is Nimah Ahmed, and I've always been interested in how food fusion can influence people and cultures. I'd like to write about how big of an impact fusions have on different food cultures, particularly Indian food. I also enjoy reading (especially Harry Potter), writing, and swimming. After I graduate I'd like to become a doctor or a computer scientist. The best color is green, and no one can tell me otherwise.

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The Tex-Mex Ascent Why Tex-Mex is such a popular phenomenon in Austin By: EJ Simon

Casa Chapala Tex-Mex offers many different delicious meals. Photo courtesy of OpenTable.

Walking the streets of Austin, you’ll see countless restaurants from other countries around the world. They could be Indian food, Chinese food, or Peruvian. While walking, you smell a distinct but pleasant smell coming from a Tex-Mex restaurant, and it pulls you in. It seems to feel like there’s a whole new world in every Mexican restaurant ranging from karaoke nights to parties to sit down dinners. Tex-Mex food is a core culture of Texas, particularly

many pull factors for starting up Tex-Mex restaurants in Austin rather than anywhere else. Casa Chapala is a very popular Tex-Mex restaurant in North Austin featuring karaoke, decorations, and a huge menu. A man with a vision named Guadalupe Barragan created Casa Chapala in 2014, and is now run by his entire family. “He [Guadalupe Barragan] started off at 20-years-old with big dreams coming from Mexico, with the bright idea of starting his own

always covered in seasonal decorations and host big parties, B’nei Mitzvahs, and dances. “I liked this location [central Austin] and it’s been a good spot for a Tex-Mex restaurant,” Bernal said. “There are more and more Tex-Mex restaurants opening up everywhere, especially in neighborhoods. You’ll always find two, three, maybe even four Tex-Mex restaurants within a mile of your house.” Roberto Espinosa founded the very first Tacodeli in 1999 after

“We have a lot of culture in Austin” -Giovanni Barragan Austin. There are over 100 different of the so called “Americanized Mexican food” chains in Travis county, the county of which Austin resides in. Austin is known as a hub for Tex-Mex food, for so many different reasons. Beginning as a phrase to reference the Texan and Mexican railway in 1875, Mexican and Texan culture became more intertwined, especially in food. After in the late 1960’s when a cookbook writer named Dianna Kennedy wrote a book calling Mexican food in Texas ‘Tex-Mex’, the cuisine spread rapidly through not just Texas, but Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and even California. Entrepreneurs have so

restaurants,” Casa Chapala manager and son Giovanni Barragan said. “It’s actually my family’s restaurant. They are the owners of this restaurant and I’ve been working here pretty much my whole life.” A man with a dream named Eddie Bernal was already living in Austin and had attended the University of Texas when he created the restaurant Santa Rita Tex-Mex Cantina in Central Austin. He was already familiar with the Austin area and knew that a Tex-Mex restaurant would succeed in the city. Eddie Bernal currently owns two restaurants, one in central Austin and one in south Austin which are

attending the University of Texas, inviting fellow owner Eric Wilkerson to co-own Tacodeli with him. Espinosa thought of the idea to create a Mexican style restaurant from his childhood memories of his home in Mexico City. The Tacodeli chain spread incredibly fast, now numbering with 11 locations and counting. With so many Tex-Mex restaurants being started up in Austin, it’s a question as to why exactly so many people chose Austin for starting up a business. The most logical reason for the Tex-Mex takeover in Austin is the very high Mexican-American population. According to the U.S. census bureau, nearly 25% of Austin Melting Pot | 9

Casa Chapala Tex Mex Cantina has a fun and vibrant environment. Photo courtesy by Community Impact.

is Mexican-American, and in more southern cities in Texas such as Mcallen, the Mexican-American population is more than 86% of the city. It makes sense that in a state with such a high Mexican community that Tex-Mex would be a very popular food choice. “We have a lot of culture in Austin.” Giovanni Barragan, a manager at Casa Chapala said. “As of right now, a lot of people are coming from all over the place. We’ve got people coming in from California and we’re right next to the border. That has a lot of influence on Tex-Mex as well. That’s why I think Tex-Mex is very famous and why a lot of people love Mexican food in the USA.” Tex-Mex restaurants also pride themselves on being fresh and local. Healthy and local food is considered to be homemade, nonpackaged, and above all fresh. In the Midwest states such as Missouri, Ohio, and Colorado, the Mexican-style restaurants get different materials such as guacamole in cans. Some of these foods found in cans are queso or tomato sauce which aren’t 10 | Melting Pot

as healthy nor as tasty as the ingredients made in restaurants themselves. A Tex-Mex restaurant that is widely known for their fresh food, Tacodeli, works hard to make sure that their customers know exactly where their food is coming from. “We don’t have any fryers and there’s no fried food in our restaurants,” Tacodeli CFO Scott Grossfeld said. “I think for us, it is about providing something that has good flavor, but it’s kind of true to what you’re eating. We get a lot of feedback from customers that they definitely appreciate that and just feel comfortable that they know what they’re putting in their mouth. We also make everything fresh in house, which is not as common in other restaurants. Whereas you can go to some other Tex Mex restaurant, and it

involves opening food up out of jars and heating it, so that’s why people appreciate us the most as a brand. When you think of healthy food, Tex-Mex will never come up in your mind. However, according to Bernal, the owner of Santa Rita Tex-Mex Cantina, the misconception of TexMex being unhealthy is simply not true. A look at ingredients further supports this claim. The basic ingredients of a taco are a tortilla (corn tortillas are significantly more healthy than flour tortillas), onions, chili peppers, tomatoes, cheese, taco seasoning, and whichever meat is in your taco. None of these ingredients are necessarily damaging unless you have fried meat, only offered in a few TexMex restaurants. “A lot of people are coming to Texas and Austin in

particular. And they want to eat Tex-Mex. But to people, Tex-Mex means unhealthy.” Bernal said. “That’s just not true. Beans are healthy. Rice has carbohydrates in it, but it’s still healthy. Avocados, corn tortillas, all peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce can all be healthy. We even have salads.” With all of this, there’s also a level of comfort seen

with Tex-Mex restaurants, they know it’s going to be fun and colorful.” Austin is home to the University of Texas, which according to TopUniversities, is the 29th ranked college to attend in the USA. Being a college town further boosts how casual most neighborhood restaurants are, and the atmosphere of those restaurants.

“When you’re a small company, you really start from the ground up and have to find the cheapest ways to do things,” Grossfeld said. “As you continue to grow, you have to find ways to use technology to automate and become more scalable.” Today, TexMex is one of the most widespread cuisines

“[Texas] is a place where I think that people of all shapes, sizes, education levels, families, and businesses can thrive” at Tex-Mex restaurants not seen at many other restaurants and chains. If you ask most people what different cuisines feel more formal to them they’ll answer somewhere in Asia such as Japanese food or Korean food. On the other hand, the connection in people’s minds with TexMex is a lot more casual and easy, and a more simple experience. “Texas is casual. It’s a place where I think that people of all shapes, sizes, education levels, families, and businesses can thrive” Bernal said. “All kinds of people feel comfortable

Tacodeli restaurants are also utilizing technology to spread word or enhance their businesses. Some examples of such technological advancements are food services such as Grubhub and Yelp, or internal technologies such as payroll systems.

Tacodeli has quickly become one of the most popular restaurant chains in Austin. Photo courtesy by Eater Austin.

in America right now stretching from Mississippi and Alabama to the Midwest to California, and it will keep spreading. While Austin is the capital of Tex-Mex, all forms of Tex-Mex can be found around the Southern USA, and will continue to spread.

The Takeover of Tex-Mex Starring every Tex-Mex restaurant found in Travis County

By: EJ Simon Information provided by The Latin Post, The Culture Trip, and Sidmartin Bio

= 12 | Melting Pot

A Tex-Mex restaurant in the Austin area

Photos provided by The Guardian, 10Best, and SanAntonioMag

Origin of the term ‘Tex-Mex’ An English born author named Dianna Kennedy unintentionally created Tex-Mex when she weeded out its differences from “authentic” Mexican food in her cookbook, “Cuisines of Mexico”, written in the late 1960s. While she meant for Tex-Mex to be considered a negative, Texans embraced the phrase and the division was permanent. Because of Kennady, we now view Mexican food and Tex-Mex and different cuisines.

Different Tex-Mex foods The phrase “Tex Mex” originally referenced a Texas-Mexican Railway. The railroad was built in 1875 and was a popular trail to transport sheep. Hispanic women known as ‘chili queens’ achieved fame in the 1870’s when they set up in plazas of San Antonio. They spread chile, tamales, enchiladas, and chili verde to Texans. A man named Ignacio Anaya created nachos for the first time in the 1950’s, putting together toritlla chips, cheese, and jalapeño peppers. His guests loved the dish and it spread across the border gaining popularity quickly.

Influence of the Spanish Missions Spanish Missions influenced Tex Mex. They com`bidned Aztec’s beans and rice with the Spanish cilantro, onions, garlic, and oregano. Spanish ranching in Texas formed the ‘basis for the American cattle industry, increasing the popularity of red meat in Texas. The Spanish brought pigs, goats, cattle, and a lot of different fruits and vegetables to Texas.

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A BITE OF TWO WORLDS

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How authentic and food fusion restaurants battle By Nimah Ahmed change

Chicken Tikka Masala sits in a traditional golden Indian pot, layered with white curry. Photo courtesy of Azmaan Baluch. Photo on right provided by Unsplash.

pices fly in a blurred rush as oil frizzles out of a pan. Chefs scurry around in their white aprons, as yells and shouts ring throughout the steam clouded room. Wooden spoons dip into curries while masala is sprinkled on top. Everything turns into a faint buzz as the first customer opens the door. The clacks of spoons and forks, quiet. Everyone stills as the customer envelops the first bite. As social media trends and culture evolve, so does the taste of every new generation. Restaurants like Zaika Kitchen in Austin, TX, who are prized for their authentic Indian cuisine, are struggling to accommodate the new tastes brought on by youth today while still trying to remain true to their culture. Meanwhile other restaurants, like Nasha, are using food fusion as a way to attract more customers. Food fusion cuisine is a cuisine that takes different elements of food from different cultures and brings it together to create a "fused" dish. Nasha, a food fusion restaurant in Austin, TX, has been fusing Mexican and Indian food for over four years. Anusuih Shinde, the co-founder of Nasha and culinary chemist, described the process of fusing the two cultures together. "If you ask about the most popular Indian food, most will say Tandoori chicken,"Shinde said. "That was easy for me to make into tacos. So using all my spices with the chicken and using the curry and

cheese, we made a taco with salsa and garam masala in it. It has become one of the best dishes at our restaurant." Shinde said that ever since she fused Tandoori chicken with tacos, she has gotten customers from age groups she hadn't seen in her restaurant before. She argues that many other Indian restaurants lack diversity in customers because they lack diversity in their food. Restaurants, she stated, need to change

“America’s taste has changed a lot” Anusuih Shinde

in order to accommodate America's taste. "America's taste has changed a lot," Shinde said. "If you give tasty food to an animal, it will like it. The next day it will not eat bland food. We are also rational animals as per science. America's taste has changed because we see so many cuisines. There's always some restaurant coming up from different cuisines." Shinde went on to elaborate, saying that the variety of cuisines found in the world today influence the population's taste. She said that as each indiviual tries a new spectrum of food, their taste and viewpoint on food changes as well. This is why she believes that a restaurant must change its food to attract more individuals. For her, it was fusing something a lot of Americans loved, like Mexican food, into

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her own culture’s cuisine. Shinde, as well as many others, believe that many other Indian restaurants are failing because they have not tried to appeal to the new tastes brought on by the change in society today. "Restaurants, especially Indian restaurants, always try to copy other restaurants,"Shinde said. "Ours is the only restaurant that has a totally different food set from other Indian restaurants. We don't follow anybody because we have our own spices. We grind in house. Everything we do is from scratch. Most Indian restaurants follow other restaurants that have already made food that everyone knows about." This becomes an apparent vicious cycle, according to Shinde. There are only a handful of dishes that come from the Indian cuisine. With so many restaurants producing the same dishes, it becomes hard to be popular. And with this, Shinde said, a restaurant fails. A restaurant must be able to adapt to its surroundings to be its city's top destination. But Shinde warned of straying too far. Shinde

argued that while change can be beneficial, it is also important to stay close to your roots. “We have not changed any of the basic dishes, like the ones which come from Mumbai," Shinde said. "Some of those, the

“The lure of a new, unknown dish attracts people.” BHUPENDER RAWAT Somoza and the Mumbai style biryani, the tikka masala and even the saag paneer, still stay the same. Those are all very authentic dishes. We have not changed any of those. We have added some fusion dishes along with those. We have used some

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Alina Cardenas, a collaborator of Nasha India, smiles as she serves the latest meal. Behind her stands the mural of the well-known restaurant. Photo courtesy of Nasha India.

sauces in our fusion dishes. That's the beauty of it. We still have our authenticity with our cuisine. But at the same time, we try to use the same sauces and prove to people how they go good with this

Bhupender Rawat, the owner of Zaika Kitchen, stands smiling. Zaika Kitchen’s popular buffet is shown in a picture underneath him. Photo courtesy of Zaika Kitchen. Mexican cuisine." Others, however, disagree with Shinde's opinion. Bhupender Rawat, the owner of Zaika's Kitchen, argues that while food fusion might appeal to some customers, it might not appeal to customers who prize the authenticity of his dishes. "Many times, I tried to merge Indian food to Spanish style tacos," Rawat said. "When we put those things in our buffet, the people who were coming for Indian food said, 'we are coming for Indian food, not this food.'" Rawat realized that while his brief food fusion lost him a lot of customers, it did attract a small handful of newcomers. He noticed that many of the newcomers that came into his restaurant were frequent visitors of food fusion restaurants. "People change and they think new things create new attention," Rawat said. "The lure of a new, unknown dish attracts people." While his experimentation with Spanish style tacos did not work in his favor, Rawat replied that other small forms of change were beneficial to his restaurant. In America, he said, health is held to a higher degree of importance than in India. By being more health-conscious, Rawat was able to attract more customers. "The taste here is very different from the taste in India," Rawat said. "People here are more health conscious. Befoe, we put in more cream or more butter. The people here, complained. They did not ingest the food because it had too much oil. That's why we reduced those things." Health and the new evolving culture are two factors that every restaurateur has to keep in mind. Nevertheless, Rawat's Zaika Kitchen is adamant on being purely authentic. "Many people love our restaurant because

it is an Indian restaurant," Rawat replied. "They say we are coming for only authentic Indian food. Personally, I don't like fusion. So that's why I'm not doing it. [Fusion] was really not a good response for me." Both Food Fusion and authentic Indian restaurants have their own advantages and disadvantages. Rob Balon, a former reviewer of FOX 7 and KVUE TV, described the pros and cons of Food Fusion. "[Food] fusion has been around for a long time, basically taking the cuisine of one country, fusing it with the next and try to come up with something creative and irresistible in the process," Balon said. "And there are some countries' cuisines that fuse better than others do. A good example of that is Indochinese food. The northeast corner of India has a lot of Chinese immigrants in it. So all these lo-mein type dishes developed in that area, with traditional cumens and spices that are in Indian food. And it's great example of how that's blended together. I like a lot of fusion restaurants. But you got to be careful not to overwhelm the original idea." As for authentic restaurants, Balon believes that change is inevitable. To be a good restaurateur is to accommodate the changing society while also being true to yourself. "I think as a nation we've been through 15 or 20 epochs, cultural epochs if you will," Balon said. "The good chefs will figure out how to accommodate that." In the end, Food Fusion and authentic Indian restaurants are astounding in their own way. And it takes only one bite to realize that. Rob Balon, pictured below, runs a public food website which brings attention to many local restaurants and their food. Photo courtesy of Dining Out with Rob Balon.

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DIVERSITY IN FUSION

THE CULTURES FOUND IN NASHA’S FEATURE DISH: CHILI RELLENO By Nimah Ahmed

TIKKA MASALA - INDIA From the South Asian community in Great Britain,

and now made largely in India, Tikka Masala is a red, drippy curry coated with spices.

Rice is grown in

all countries, but most major rice plantations were found in Africa and the Carribean before being grown elsewhere.

NAAN - INDIA

A thick flat bread, called "naan" by the majority,

is made primarily in the Indian subcontinent. This delicious bread is perfect to eat with chicken or curry. 18 | Melting Pot

Information provided by Encyclopedia Britannica, Nasha and ExploreWorldWide

SALAD - ROME EMPIRE Eaten by the Romans, Greeks, Persians and Indians, this side dish, layered and dressed in oil, ranch and greens provides an amazing side delicacy.

CHILI - BOLIVIA

Originating from Bolivia, and then later brought

into Mexico, Chili provides a spicy addition to any dish. Chili Relleno is adorned with lettuce and curry at Austin's Nasha.

GUACAMOLE - MEXICO Avocado seeds in the Tehucan Valley in Mexico made the first

guacamole. This mush-like substance provides a subtle spiciness to go along with Chili Relleno's crunchy delight. Melting Pot | 19

Italian Cuisine Cedro’s Italian Restaurant. Photo courtesy of Yelp user Lillian A.

in Austin How can a cuisine so different from other cuisines still be successful? Map of Texas highlighting Austin. Photo courtesy of David Benbennick

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By Jeffrey Norman

bottom." Sun said. "I decided to open my It's the opening day When asked about what he own Italian restaurant, Cedro's of your brand new Italian would do differently, Plackis Scratch Italian.The first thing restaurant, and you've never jokingly responded "[I'd] do is finding the right location to opened one in Austin before. hamburgers." Italianfood is start with. We moved here new You have some experience different than many other to the area and everything, we working at Italian restaurants cuisines in Austin, if you needed to know the produce while you were in high school or supplier, the meat supplier, college, but never owning your compare it to other cuisines such as hamburgers, start construction from a new own restaurant. As the meal barbecue, or tex mex, those all space." time begins, customers start contain many meats whereas Piper Mangieri is one to enter the restaurant. Will with Italian food there are a lot of the owners of Mangieri's they like your food, or will they of noodles and herbs used. Pizza, the other owner is Tony reject it as too alien compared "Italian isn't like barbecue Mangieri, which is another to their usual meals? or Tex-Mex," Plackis said. successful local Italian Italian restaurants can restaurant. "We relocated be very successful and popular "People here are a lot more critical of Italian than they from the Dallas area to Austin if it works out. It is an essential are of the other two." Italy is to open our business," Ms. part of Austin culture however located far away from Austin Mangieri said. "The support of restaurant owners will likely unlike the other cuisines such local businesses was a huge encounter many problems as barbecue, which originated draw." and difficulties when opening Plackis said an Italian that he came restaurant in to Austin for Austin. his restaurant Craig “Italian isn’t like barbecue because of the Plackis has or Tex-Mex, people here are a "Big Tech and opened a the colleges successful Italian lot more critical of Italian and the service restaurant in than they are of the industry is down Austin called other two” here," Plackis Craig O's said. "We Italian and -Craig Plackis thought that attended George we could really Washington make an impact, University. He from the carribeans, and Texin the schools and all that stuff understands the difficulties Mex which is a combination here." that can be involved. of Texas cuisine and Mexican The future of Italian Austinites have very different cuisine. restaurants in Austin was a expectations of what they James Sun is the owner question with different answers expect on their pizza, they of a local Italian restaurant from the restaurant owners, have a different consideration called Cedro's Scratch Italian, "I think you're going to see a of what they want on their and has graduated from lot more quick serve type of pizza. "Italian isn't like Johnson and Wales university. restaurants," Plackis said. barbecue or Tex-Mex, people Cedro's has been serving food "You're going to start even here are a lot more critical to the community since March seein higher end restaurants about Italian than they are of 2014. go to this type of: you walk in, the other two." Plackis said. "I've come to Italian you order or you kiosk order, "We found out very quickly Cuisine, is very unique, a lot and then food or drinks will be that they don't like their pizza of flavor combined together," brought to your table. And I charred too much on the Melting Pot | 21

think it's not going to be as service oriented as it used to be unless you go really high end, you know where they can afford to pay their people a lot more and you'll get those seasoned servers and stuff like

improve ourselves, to make sure you know everything is of high standard, high quality. Moving forward I will see there's a lot of room for us to continue to grow with Austin to reach a higher standard for

When asked what she would do differently now with a lot more experience in the field of restaurants, Mangieri stated that she would keep her core values the same. "It would be 100 times easier to open a new

Mangieri’s Pizza Cafe. Photo courtesy of Yelp user Paul D.

that."

"I mean I see there's a couple very good Italian restaurants in Austin besides us but I also see you know some of them, there's a lot of room forimprovement." Sun said. "We are continuing to 22 | Melting Pot

Italian restaurants." "It's hard to say in the current climate. My wish is that small local businesses can resume normal operation as soon as possible, Mangieri said. "There is always room for more good food."

restaurant now. Mechanically, everything would be different, but the core values and organizational culture would remain the same."Mangieri said. "Our focus is on the people. We would continue to cultivate a staff and customer

base that aligns with our values as a company. Community, friendship and good food." Mr. Sun and Mr. Plackis gave different responses to the question however. "I mean, nothing really different. For us, if we start again, we're still focusing on how to do things on a daily basis," Sun said. "Make sure the food is of the highest standard we can know. For restaurant business, the hard part is how you can make sure every single dish comes out of the kitchen and it meets the

standard." "I think to be honest, I wouldn't do much different at all," Plackis said. "I think this concept works. We're quickserve, you know, where you order at the counter you sit, we bring it out to you. That concept works. I probably go a little more limited menu, which we've been downsizing our menu. We've been able to figure out what are our three core pastas, what are our three core salads? What are our three core sandwiches?

So instead of having to keep adding to the mix, we're actually depleting from that mix. We're making a better product." Italian cuisine has become an integral part of Austin despite how alien it is compared to the larger cuisines in Austin. When compared with Tex-Mex and Barbecue Italian may seem very different from the others, but it has still managed to become a successful cuisine in Austin.

Craig O’s Italian Restaurant. Photo taken by Jeffrey Norman. Melting Pot | 23

pizza crust. The Italian pizza crust resembles a cracker because of its crispiness.

Dough

Its additional ingredients include oregano, garlic, and olive oil.

Sauce

Pizza originates from making flatbread in a hot stone and then seasoning it with herbs. Then it would be eaten as an edible plate with stews. This was eaten in Rome, Egypt, and Babylon. Later, people started putting mozzarella cheese on the flatbread in Italy, and in the eighteenth or nineteenth century, tomatoes were introduced into Italian cuisine. The tomatoes were used in the sauce to make Italian pizza into what it is today. After that, it slowly grew into the worldwide phenomenon that it is currently.

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Toppings

Italian Pizza By Jeffrey Norman

Cheese

Italian pizza sauce is typically more than just tomato sauce like American pizza. Italian pizza contains more herbs as well as tomatoes.

Italian pizza has less cheese than American pizza, because of its smaller size and how it’s intended to be eaten on the go. It is also intended to be more focused on the sauce and dough.

Italian pizza and American pizza have many differences and similarities. One of the major differences is that Italian pizza is smaller than American pizza, because one person is intended to eat the whole pie.

American pizza has a lot more toppings than Italian pizza because Americans have very diverse taste buds. No other country has as many toppings as are present in American pizza.

Italian pizza crust is thinner and crispier than American

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Curry rice, ramen, and sushi graphics by Savannah Cuttill. 26 | Melting Pot

Japanese Food in Austin

What does it take to sell Japanese food in Austin? By Savannah Cuttill

ou get a new job at a Japanese restaurant. You are so excited on your first day as you step in at noon. Immediately, the tell-tale smell of Japanese food fills your nose with delight. The dimmer light heavily contrasts with the bright, clear sky outside. You are greeted by friendly people that help you understand what you need to do. With their help, you prepare the fish until about 5:00 p.m. when you open the doors. Now your main job is to cut fish and plate the meals. You work hard until about 1:30 a.m. when you are finally done with your 13 hour work day. Within the first week of you working there, your coworkers invite you to a meal. You hang out with your coworkers, getting to know them and this job. It’s clear that this is different from the other jobs you’ve been in, but that only makes you more happy that you applied. Outside of those working in the Japanese food industry, there are very few people in general who know about what sushi is like in japan and there are fewer who know what it takes to sell Japanese food in Austin. There are some differences between Japanese food in Japan and Japanese food in Austin, but there are also places that strive to be truthful to the Japanese food spirit. There are difficulties no matter which you decide to do. Austin is a cultural melting pot, so it’s not as hard to sell Japanese food as it would be in other places, but Austin still has other foods that they like more. Austin flavors are also more potent than Japanese flavors too. Of course, even Japanese restaurants are struggling with things that everyone is, like allergies and

the pandemic. As for differences, there is a different culture, portion sizes, and the way the food is made. Japanese culture is more focused on respect and gratitude and they understand the food much better. America, in general, has bigger portion sizes than other places in the world. The way Japanese food is made is through simplicity while American food can have a bunch of different flavors and ingredients.

Difficulties Cyrus Hire’s experience was similar to what was described above. Hire has been working for Uchi for quite a while and is now the head sushi chef. He is very familiar with how the restaurant works and what it is like when actually selling the food.

“Austin is an adventurous place,” Hire said. Austin is a cultural melting pot with all kinds of different food. It is used to trying out new meals and is willing to try different cultures of food, like Japanese cuisine. It’s not that hard to sell Japanese food in Austin, then. It’s not even just Japanese food. Austin eats a lot of different food cuisines and you can find almost any type of food in Austin. In spite of this, however, the other cultures can drown out Japanese food and there are still many difficulties in dealing with Japanese food. Both Hire and Takehiro Asazu, the co-owner of Komé who has been working with Japanese food for a while, agree that Mexican food is more well known. Melting Pot | 27

Various Japanese foods. Graphic provided by Van Huynh.

a Japanese restaurant. Komé, particularly, has encountered problems with how Austinites like more salt, more spice, more flavor, and Japanese food is generally more muted flavors. “For taste, I need to adjust because the American taste has more obvious flavors,” Azasu said. Komé has learned to adjust, though, and change the taste to be more appealing to Americans. Komé is not the only place experiencing problems at all, though. Flavor is not the only problem, either. The pandemic in the Spring of 2020 brought a lot of problems to restaurants in general, and Uchi was no exception. “We put a huge emphasis on trying the hardest we could to give the exact same experience through to-go as we did in the restaurant,” Hire said. Through the pandemic, Mexican food is more popular Uchi has changed to doing to-go and deeply ingrained in Austin orders, with the goal of bringing culture than Japanese food, the restaurant to the customers. Asazu said. Hire also agrees with Many restaurants have had to this. do this, but that doesn’t mean Austin may be it’s easier. Uchi had to figure adventurous and willing to try out how to make sure the Japanese food and appreciate food would keep and still taste it, but it is different. Japanese delicious. They had to figure out food is still not the most eaten. how to package it in a safe way While the Austin culture can so it wouldn’t get messed up in appreciate it, it is still not fully the delivery process. They had to the same as it is in Japan. Which find a way to get the experience does make sense as Austin is to come through through to-go not Japan and those two places orders instead of sitting in the are pretty far away from each restaurant getting served. Not other, while Mexico is much that it can replace going to a closer. There are still difficulties restaurant, as that will always in making and selling it in Austin be different, but they tried to instead of in Japan. The flavor get it as close as possible. When differences can be the biggest asked if the to-go orders would challenge when starting stay, Hire said they would. “Yeah I don’t think they’ll 28 | Melting Pot

be as prevalent… but I think now that we’ve shown ourselves that we can do it, I don’t think it’s going anywhere,” Hire said. In the end, to-gos aren’t going anywhere. They will likely stay for the foreseeable future as an option, though nothing can beat going to the actual restaurant. The pandemic has certainly not been kind to everyone, though. The biggest difficulty Hire said that Uchi has, however, has been the allergies that people have. “The biggest challenge now is the 10 million allergies that everybody has and learning what to sell and what not to and how to modify and what’s acceptable for modification,” Hire said. “We have a ton of people [with allergies] like gluten and soy and dairy… [It’s difficult] when you have people who are allergic to onions and garlic. You have to start thinking about the entirety of the recipe from sauce all the way through the components and everything.” It might be the first thing that is thought of, but allergies are difficult to deal with. Sometimes chefs then have to go through and make some food completely separate from everything else so as not to trigger someone’s allergies. It is a very difficult thing to take care of and making sure that everything is fine can be a bit of a hassle from time to time. It is not just difficulties, though. There are also many things that are just different between Japanese culture and Austin culture. Sometimes these can lead to a few difficulties, but they are mostly just differences.

Differences In Japan, there is more respect for food and admiration of the craft, Hire said. In Austin, most people don’t truly understand what good sushi looks or tastes like. In Japan, sushi is part of everyday food. They understand a lot about sushi and can tell high quality sushi from lower quality sushi. There is a lot more respect and admiration for good sushi in Japan. And sushi is only a small part of their diet. The other foods, too, are more respected in Japan than they are in Austin. That’s for the food, but there is also respect and gratitude for the people. In Japan, it is all about “respect and gratitude,” Hire said. The respect given to an individual, especially someone older than yourself, is incredibly important in Japanese culture. Expressing gratitude for meals and anything in general is also very important in Japanese culture. There are many differences between Japanese culture and Austin culture, but this is one thing that is similar in both cultures. In both Japanese culture and in Austin culture, gratitude is an important thing. We even have an entire holiday devoted to it, being Thanksgiving. Kaz Edwards is the concept chef of Uchi and has been working for 18 years. Edwards is very used to working in the Japanese food industry and he has helped Uchi come to the place it is today. He talks about the changes in portion sizes between the two cultures.

The American portion sizes are a lot bigger than Japanese portion sizes, Edwards said. Americans are known for having large portions when compared to other cultures. Compensating for that can be a challenge that restaurants have to deal with, since the chefs have to make sure there is enough food while keeping true to Japanese food, but it is mostly just a difference between the two. There are also changes in how the ingredients are used. “The emphasis was on letting the ingredients shine, finding the best possible ingredients and not manipulating it too much,” Edwards said. While Americans will use a lot of different ingredients to make something better, Japanese food is all about using only a few ingredients. Hire puts it best. Japanese food is about “building complexity through simplicity,” Hire said. Japanese chefs take a few simple ingredients and turn them into complex, delicious food. This is very different from normal American food, which builds complexity through complexity. Sometimes, in America, food can be seen as the more ingredients, the better. Japan is very different in this way as it only has a few ingredients but they combine in different ways to taste very different. There are many differences between Japanese food and American food. Selling Japanese food in Austin can

have many challenges. That’s not bad, though. It makes sense. Japanese food is very popular and loved in Japan, but Austin isn’t in Japan, so of course there are differences. That’s okay though. Austinites can still enjoy Japanese food and work in Japanese restaurants without having to have gone to Japan. Technology has helped information become easy to obtain. It’s easier now to learn about the differences and learn about Japanese culture than it ever has been before, and it will only become easier. Japanese culture is a very welcoming one, really. Though the days can be long, being from noon to 1:30 a.m., it can be a lot of fun for many people. Through the differences and difficulties, Japanese food has engraved its mark on Austin and it is popular with many people in the adventurous culture melting pot of Austin.

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Japan vs. America BySavannah SavannahCuttill Cuttill By:

The differences between a sushi roll found in Japan and a sushi roll found in America.

Maki Roll

RICE Nori Seaweed

Wasabi

Samshimi Grade Fish

Info courstey of Spoon University, Just One Cookbook, and The Food XP and Chef Jar. 30 30 | Melting Pot

Crunchy California Roll RICE

Nori Seaweed Panko, otherwise known as breadcrumbs

Cucumber

Avacados

Crab Melting Pot | 31 31

WORD SEARCH

America

CasaChapala

ChiliRelleno

Craigos

India

Italy

Japan

Kome

Mangieris

Mexico

Nasha

SantaRita

Sedrow

Tacodeli

Texas

Uchi

Zaika 32 | Melting Pot

Survey About LASA’s Favorite Foods We asked 40 LASA students what their favorite cuisine was. Here are the results.

11 9

Tex-Mex

Indian

Italian

Japanese

Other

Melting Pot | 33

Avo good day! Peas out.

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