Kuala Lampur, Oct. 3 -- There is no polite way to say this: Malaysian food writing is abysmal.

It is not abysmal because there is no food to write about. It is abysmal precisely because there is too much.

Too many stories, too much history, too many traditions and inventions and small shifts of flavour that could each be the subject of a book.

And yet, what you read in newspapers, lifestyle portals, blogs, or the marketing copy that masquerades as critique... tastes the same no matter where you bite.

A vanilla-flavoured world of adjectives and lists. "Delicious." "Authentic." "A must-try."

This is not writing. It is advertising.

The problem is not just that it is shallow. The problem is that it cheats the food itself.

The food of t...