Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Good, fast and cheap. in Book Two

Food is central to Taiwanese culture. People talk about food all the time. People think about food all the time too. People watch food videos on Youtube. In fact, every Taiwanese YouTuber eventually becomes a food vlogger.

I never cook at home. Maybe once a week I will have toast. Maybe once an every 2 weeks I will make some泡麵. I have a bag of frozen dumplings in the freezer that has been there since the last typhoon. When was the last typhoon?

When I shop for groceries, don’t you love that word groceries, an old fashioned word, when I shop for groceries I only buy, fruit, bread, crackers, beer, peanuts, sometimes instant noodles.

So why is this?

The food in Taiwan is delicious. The food in Taiwan is diverse. The food in Taiwan is available. Walk down any city block and you will pass many places to eat. The food in Taiwan is cheap. It is cheaper to eat out than to cook at home. Good, fast and cheap. The trifecta of a happy experience.

But there’s more. The food culture is real. It is not formal. In the western world, eating out is an event. We have servers and hostesses. The tables are set with utensils and napkins. Someone brings you a menu. There will be a paper bill that you have to pay at the end. Maybe your server will bring you the credit card machine. And don’t forget tipping. Eating out is a ritual in the western world. An event.

In Taiwan you just wander past a food stall or into an open air restaurant, tell the laoban what you want and Bob’s your uncle.

Bob is your uncle. You should call him.