Instant Noodles and Bad Lighting – True Confessions of a Food Blogger

Food blogging isn’t all Instagrammed fabulosity and swanning around. Many of the food bloggers I know here in Qatar and abroad work hard to develop and write engaging content. As do I.

But there are some deep, dark secrets, that I don’t even talk about after a few drinks, about my experience with blogging.

• Sometimes I just can’t be bothered to post. I have an over articulated work and personal life and frankly, I just want to watch TV. I would love to be more disciplined, but at the moment I just can’t.

• I watch more of the crime channel than the food channel. OK I do watch Masterchef, but frankly I find cooking shows a little dull. Plus they make me want to eat…more.
• Yes, I do get occasional free meals and experience some remarkable things like a recent amazing evening with Robert De Niro at the Four Seasons Doha. But many of the experiences I write about here are paid for out of my own pocket. I think it’s important to be honest and accountable and frankly, I like to eat good food. A lot.
• Except kale. I hate kale. So much.
• I also hate mason jars. Same amount.
• I love to cook but sometimes all I can manage is microwaved Maggi noodles. An even deeper confession is that yes, I even chuck out the flavor sachets and add butter, cheese and chilli sauce. Classy. (PS try it).
• I don’t actually go out every night. In Doha this is quite easy to do. Especially in the cooler months where there seems to be an event every night. I really am a little bit of a hermit and prefer to be home in my track pants watching TV than at another event.
• I’m a pretty rubbish photographer. I know this because a helpful reader told me I would get more hits if I took better photos. As a journalist, I know the importance of a good image to flog a story, but I’m more of a words person than a visual person. Mind you I’m doing better than some who seem to think it’s OK to post photos of what is basically a brown mass and call it a food photo.

• I get by with a lot of help from my friends. Behind most food photos is a friend resigned and holding their phones just so to provide light to a shot. and yes, they can’t eat until I’ve “shot the shit out of it”.

• I understand why non-bloggers find food bloggers annoying and pretentious sometimes. I once sat and watched longingly as my food got cold while a fellow foodie took 20 or more photos of each course at a high-end restaurant. It was excruciating. I apologise to those who have been forced to do the same for me.
• I do make some money from my blog and other related collaborations and activities. Listen I’m not ready to retire, but it keeps me ticking along and enables my online shopping addiction. Ask ASOS.
• I am genuinely thrilled when brands, hotels, restaurants and others ask for my advice and input. It gives me immense pride that my opinion is valued.
• I don’t understand Snapchat and refuse to acknowledge it.
• I eat processed cheese slices. There I said it.