​OK guys, let's start by saying that Taiwanese food is definitely not orange chicken or broccoli and beef. The Taiwanese grandmothers -- or "ah-mahs" -- of the San Gabriel Valley would shudder at that thought.

And it's not the same thing as Chinese food -- no matter where you stand on the political spectrum of "Taiwan belongs to China," or "Taiwan and China are NOT the same country." That's like saying Italian food is the same thing as American food, which doesn't make any sense. In today's edition of Venn Food Diagrams, we explore the cuisine of the small island of Taiwan, where the food tends to be one of the defining features of the country -- er, province.

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In this episode of Squid Ink's Venn Food Diagrams, we study Mexican food. Why? Well, because deep down, every single person in this city has a soft spot for the stuff. Whether it be Americanized or not, fajitas or tacos de guisado, a taco is the archetypal Angeleno meal. In this city, a taco is easier to find than a burger, a burrito is a better bargain than a fast food combo and Mexican beer is still seen as exotic. Thus, it's time to dispel the greasy misconceptions of the first ethnic cuisine in the world to be added to the list of "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.

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T. Nguyen

Venn Diagram of English Cuisine

​In honor of Downton Abbey's season-two finale on Sunday, we decided to cross the pond to explore English food with two overlapping circles that compare what Angelenos believe the English nation eats with what English folks say they actually eat.

Moral of the story: Apparently, the collective gasp heard around the Western world when poor Oliver Twist asked for more gruel was not just a reaction to the fact that this young boy had the gall to ask for seconds -- no, it was that he would want seconds at all. Despite the great work of Marco Pierre White, Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay, most Angelenos still have preconceived negative notions of what English food is and isn't. Indeed, they were more likely to respond to our survey with an unkind adjective -- "bad," "ugh" and variations thereof -- than specific nouns. What a load of bollocks, the English respondents replied.

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Vegan Venn diagram

​What do vegans eat? That was the intended topic of our next Venn food diagram (check them all out). Only thing is, it (happily) turns out, everyone seems to know what vegans eat. Or more to the point, what they don't eat. Congrats, L.A., you're a well-informed group.

To us, it doesn't exactly come as a big shock, since Angelenos are pretty enlightened and tend to know their diets. You name it, we know someone who has tried it/is on it/swears by it. Besides, veganism is easy to wrap your mind around compared to some things out there.

The ages of meat eaters unscientifically polled ranged from 12 to 70 and every last one knew without a moment's hesitation that vegans eat: fruits, vegetables, grains, pulses, legumes and tofu. Soy products, name-brand faux foodstuffs and particular dishes (falafels) and cuisines (Indian) also were heavily represented from both sides.

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​Our latest attempt in Understanding Cuisine through Racial Profiling finds us examining the dietary habits of Jews. But what kind of Jews? One respondent wrote, "You meant to ask what American Jews eat, right? Otherwise you will get sucked forever into separating Moroccan Jews from Polish Jews." There's the rub. As our mom likes to say: "Wherever you get one Jew, you get two opinions."

It's true. Our super-scientific survey, conducted via email and Facebook and casually asking people we know, came out vastly and unfairly weighted toward Ashkenazi (i.e. European) rather than Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) or Sephardic (Spanish) Jews. We'll work on that for the next survey. In the meantime, here are words of wisdom from Evan Kleiman: "Copious amounts of food on table. My people definitely have issues with scarcity, and I say that as one who has been in the position of feeding my brethren many, many times. We like grazing and variety. As for kinds of food? We love ethnic eats, particularly ones with strong flavors i.e. all Asian food, particularly spicy. I think it's because it is in contrast to the blander, fat-laden diet that is our comfort zone. A palate raised on raw onions and garlic pickles loves the spice and sour of Thai, Indian, etc."

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D. Rainey

​Our Venn Food Diagram series has studied the people of Thailand, Armenia, Vietnam and most recently California, comparing what they actually eat with what Angelenos believe they eat. In this edition, we turn our attention to Japan, looking past ramen and sushi to see what foods Angelenos have left to discover in the Land of the Rising Sun.

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Venn Diagram: What Californians eat vs. What Non-Californians Think They Eat.

​The previous Venn Diagrams on this site have mostly looked at cuisines associated with certain nationalities and ethnic groups -- and Angelenos' perceptions of their eating habits and traditions. Today's VD goes broad yet looks inward as we look at what Californians eat and consider what California cuisine means in the year 2011.

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Our Venn Food Diagram series so far has hopscotched all over the globe, exploring Indian, Midwest American, and, most recently, Korean foods. As you probably can tell, this series is an organized chaos; our destinations are chosen in no particular order. Today, we randomly focus on Thailand to see what Los Angeles residents know about the country's cuisine, versus what foods Thais actually eat.

T. Nguyen

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Moral of the story: Thai food is a staple in most Angelenos' monthly, if not weekly, diets. And while Angelenos generally know an impressive array of Thai dishes, many, by their own admission, actually only order an overly familiar routine of the same curries and noodle dishes. Sure, Los Angeles has many, many excellent bowls of yellow curry and exceptional plates of pad Thai, but there are plenty of eateries that showcase distinctly regional foods that are well worth exploring. Given that this vast culinary resource is literally right in our backyard, it would be a shame not to fully explore this richly flavored, deeply complex cuisine.

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Our continuing series of Venn Food Diagrams has explored American regional and a smattering of international cuisines in no particular order or with any sense of geographic or cultural continuity. We're taking another random trip from the land of tater tot hot dish to the land of kimchi hot dish to study how accurately Angelenos view Korean food.

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After exploring L.A.'s perceptions of Indian, Armenian, and Vietnamese cuisine in our oh-so-scientific Venn Food Diagrams series, it's time to circle back to some American regional cooking, and do like we did for Southern food--this time with the Midwest.

D. Berson

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