Taste, Stories, and Culture: How Foreigner Represent Indonesian Cuisine on YouTube Channel “Abroad and Hungry”

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-573-7_14How to use a DOI?

Keywords

media ecology; digital ethnography; channel Youtube Abroad and Hungry; food and culture

Abstract

Indonesian cuisine, as a rich and diverse cultural expression, is now increasingly recognized worldwide through digital platforms such as YouTube. This study analyses the representation of Indonesian cuisine on the YouTube channel Abroad and Hungry, managed by Italian creator Max Ginestra. The study focuses on three main videos featuring cuisines typical of three major cities: Surabaya, Semarang, and Medan. This study aims to (1) analyse how the narrative of “foreigners trying local food” shapes cultural understanding; (2) examine how Abroad and Hungry represents the distinctive cuisines of these three cities in the context of local culture and identity; and (3) explore how digital interactions through audience comments contribute to shaping collective cultural meaning. The method used is virtual ethnography, which combines in-depth analysis of video content (narrative, visuals, cultural symbols) and audience interaction in the comments section. The results show that Ginestra not only presents a sensory experience but also constructs a deep cultural narrative. Through the perspective of Media Ecology, YouTube is understood as a communication environment that transforms food from mere objects of consumption into representations of digital culture.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Mila Falma Masful
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/04/30
TI  - Taste, Stories, and Culture: How Foreigner Represent Indonesian Cuisine on YouTube Channel “Abroad and Hungry”
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Communication and New Media Studies (COMNEWS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 126
EP  - 136
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-573-7_14
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-573-7_14
ID  - Masful2026
ER  -