Meet & Eat: Emily Koh
Our intern Emily Koh comes into our office regularly to help round up food-related news and cool stuff on the Internet (which is tough; have you seen how big the Internet is?) along with anything else we force nicely ask her to do, such as translate anything written in Japanese or Korean. Get to know Emily's food loves, desires, and hatreds in this week's Meet & Eat!
Name: Emily Koh
Location: New York City
Occupation: Student
URL: flickr.com/photos/meltingnoise
Favorite comfort food?
Carb-y breakfast foods. Milk and cereal with sliced bananas, toast with peanut butter and honey, oatmeal with blueberries and almonds...I could go on and on and on. As you can tell, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, whether it's at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m.
Guilty pleasures?
Asian bakeries' baked goods. The combination of red bean paste with pastries and cheap prices...I am completely and utterly powerless.
Also, anything heavy on dairy. My body decided to betray me four years ago by becoming super lactose-intolerant. I'm pretty good about not over-indulging in creamy or cheesy food...but if it looks amazing and worth the discomfort, I'm always down.
Describe your perfect meal.
Eating with good friends who enjoy eating/good food. I'm not a huge fan of eating by myself, since I consider eating a communal experience—everything's better when there's someone else help you stuff your face!
Also, full-out Korean feasts such as these are awesome. This particular restaurant in Seoul brings the entire table to you already loaded with all the food...the sudden onslaught of all the food at once in your line of sight is pretty much laughing at any sense of face-stuffing self-control you have at that point...
What food won't you eat?
Oranges...or anything citrus-y for that matter. I can't describe what it is, but that tangy smell and taste just turn me off. It was so bad when I was younger that I'd get nauseous if someone was peeling oranges even ten feet near me; I'd have to hold my breath the whole time and breathe through my mouth.
What's an unexplored food you'd like to try?
Horse meat. Specifically horse sashimi. And ALL of those wacky Asian pizzas.
Favorite food person?
Anthony Bourdain holds a special place in my heart, since it was around the time I was reading "Kitchen Confidential" that I was slowly becoming a "food person."
When did you first realize you were a serious eater?
Probably when I first moved to NYC for college. I've always loved eating, but NYC was unique to me in that it was such overstimulating food environment. If anything, the NY food scene has definitely made me a much more adventurous eater.
What do your family and friends think of your food obsessions?
My family is by and large responsible for my love of food—I love eating with them the most. I tend to surround myself with people who appreciate food as much as I do, and so most of my friends understand—or at least tolerate—my food fixations of the week, whether it's paninis or pho.
Favorite food sites or blogs?
Best time distraction: all the beautiful, drool-inducing photos up at Tastespotting. I'm only convinced to try certain recipes if they're accompanied by photos, and Open Source Food is a great recipe-sharing social networking sort of site. As for blogs, I check up on Food In Mouth, FoodMayhem.com, This Is Gonna Be Good and Umami Mart pretty regularly.
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12 Comments:
Nice to meet you! Thanks for introducing me to the idea of a table of food brought to you -- I have a new goal. Why hasn't this caught on this the US? :)
Rich at 4:29PM on 03/07/08
Thanks Emily---it's always great to learn more about the person behind the computer screen!
JEP at 6:13PM on 03/07/08
You speak 3 languages and love carbo-y breakfasts. We like you already! Nice to know more about you Emily! :)
White On Rice Couple at 8:20PM on 03/07/08
Hi Emily -- Thank you for the shout-out!
I think our taste buds are compatible. Maybe we can grab a bite one day.
Foodmayhem_Jessica at 9:11PM on 03/07/08
Perhaps I'm just sensitive, but "Meet and Eat" anyone?
I would like to meet Emily, but eat her? We would have to go
on at least a couple of dates first.
Don Luis at 6:04AM on 03/08/08
Heh. Hi Don Luis. I came up with "Meet and Eat" when we started these little mini interviews a while back. Of course it's supposed to be a pun on "meet and greet." Yes, it might be a little awkward, but I think it's what happens when you have two people (me and Ed Levine) who LOVE the puns. Perhaps we need an intervention.
Adam Kuban at 11:27AM on 03/08/08
Not at all. In fact I was a feature of "meet and eat" nearly a year ago. It's a lovely idea.
Don Luis at 9:26AM on 03/09/08
Heh. Yeah. I was going to mention that, but I wasn't sure if you wanted to link your "Don Luis" identity to your previous "Lou" screen name.
Adam Kuban at 9:56AM on 03/09/08
It seems that no one likes me by either name, so it matters little. :-)
Just kidding, what's not to love?
Don Luis at 11:20AM on 03/09/08
Asian baked goods! No oranges though? Does that extend to things like lemons and lemonade?
foodinmouth at 12:13PM on 03/10/08
Lemons are OK -- they've definitely grown on me. Lemonade... eh, let's just say I'll drink it if there's absolutely nothing else and I'm parched. I think my whole deal with citrus stuff is that the smell just reminds me of Pine-Sol or fabric cleaners, heh.
Emily Koh at 4:05PM on 03/10/08
Emily Koh's friends love going to Emily for all of their food outing recommendations :)
caroline22 at 12:58PM on 05/06/08