You probably have seen many trends revolving around matcha. On social media people have started drinking matcha and showcasing it to viewers, which has made matcha become more popular and “trendy.” If you were asked where matcha and ramen originally came from, most people would say it originated from Japan, but that’s just misinformation. Both of these foods originated from China, but have become well known in Japan, as well in America.
Matcha is a type of tea made of camellia sinensis, which is the same plant that is used to make green tea. During the growth of camellia sinensis, farmers traditionally use straws to cover the plant from sunshine, as this increases the amino acids and chlorophyll, which gives you that umami taste. Then, the leaves are left to dry out and then be grinded into a powder. That power is then whisked in hot water instead of steeping the tea leaves like most teas.
Matcha began during the Tang Dynasty in China and their tea was compacted in a brick like shape, as this made it easier to export. Matcha was first introduced to Japan during the Song Dynasty when a Japanese monk, Eisai, brought tea back to Japan. Eisai prepared the tea brick by grinding it into a powder and then adding hot water, so the powder could dissolve. The Japanese were astonished by the quality of tea leaves, which made matcha be seen as a valuable luxury. Matcha would then be used to help with health, fatigue, and cleansing your spirit in Japan.
Matcha has become popularized, as people love the aesthetic of matcha itself as well as its health benefits. Social media tends to create an appeal to viewers, similar to when kombucha became viral due to people drinking it and matcha is no different. On TikTok and Instagram brands like Blank Street are going viral for their different flavors of matcha. Promoting matcha on social media made viewers want to buy it and as more people gravitated towards it, matcha began to start trending on social media. A recent trend has started lately where the idea of drinking matcha has become associated with being performative. This trend makes people focus more on the concept of performativity rather than the drink itself.
In our minds, people tend to categorize foods, for example, pizza would be categorized as Italian cuisine. America has thousands of pizza food chains, such as Dominos, Pizza Hut, Little Caesars, etc, but these pizza chains are immensely far from being authentic Italian pizza. In Italy it’s common to have fish on pizza, but in America you will never find fish on pizza. According to an interview with Michela Bergamo, pizza in the US is richer, heavier, and has many toppings, compared to pizza in Italy, which is lighter and plainer. Michela believes that the reason behind why pizza tastes different in the US than in Italy might be due to the water in the US. Michela also explained that Italian cuisine in America is more similar to southern Italian cuisine rather than Italian cuisine as a whole. She stated that Italy has different regions, and the Northeast part of Italy, which is where she is from, the pizza tastes different than the south part of Italy. Michela also mentioned that the U.S. is full of cuisines that are fusion and Americanized. Matcha is now experiencing the same treatment as pizza. In America matcha is mixed in with milk, served cold, full of sugar and syrups, while in Japan it’s a traditional served hot and has no sweeteners. This is an example of westernization and how it impacts the authentic designs of cultural cuisines around the world. The concept of westernization alters a culture’s cuisine to better suit Western consumers’ taste, which is what is happening with matcha.
Although China and Japan have some similarities in their cuisines there should be separation between them, as this causes misconceptions and these are different countries in Asia. Overall, this doesn’t only apply to Chinese cuisines, as this could apply to many other parts of the world. There are usually many misconceptions about what a certain food should be like, look, sense, and taste. Especially in America, people tend to make cuisine more westernized and less authentic, which slowly fades the cultural background behind a culture’s cuisine. When a type of cuisine isn’t familiar or not normalized in a country it’s less likely for it to taste authentic. Food and drink culture is slowly fading in our society, authenticity is decreasing, and matcha is just the latest example of this happening.
