Spencer has been winning people over with drool-worthy photos of food. With a growing number of food related social media accounts, it’s hard to stand out and get noticed, but Spencer has been growing in quantity and quality over the past couple of months and is now at over 50,000 followers. I got the chance to meet with him and have a chat about his social media accounts and just life in general. Follow him on Instagram @foodprnshare and on Facebook.
Spencer, tell me a bit about yourself and what you do.
I’m a senior and majoring in accounting at Binghamton University. My home is Rockland County about 45 minutes away from the city. I was born into a big food culture and I think that’s where my passion for food comes from. And, going into the whole social media thing stemmed from my food blog which helped me highlight and profile small businesses and give out gift cards to students so that they can have an incentive to eat local and see what’s out there in their community.
Does your family cook?
Myself included! My parents are great cooks and I think that’s essential for people to get involved with food. I love cooking and my family loves cooking. It’s food central at home.
So, there’s FoodUncovered and FoodPornShare. What’s the difference?
I initially started with FoodUncovered and that was a way for me to blog and work with the restaurants in Binghamton. I was also sharing high quality food content through it and realized that I wanted to focus more on that because I wouldn’t be able to speak to my Binghamton audience after graduation. I saw that I had traction and I wanted to create something universal. That’s how FoodPornShare got started and it’s dedicated to sharing other people’s high quality food content. I saw that others were creating really great recipes, but they didn’t know how to spread it. So, there’s this community of great recipes and photos out there with no platform to get it out to an audience and that’s what FoodPornShare tries to do. It’s a way for people to promote themselves.
Why the name FoodPornShare?
I was driving to my dad’s and thought of the phrase food porn and realized it’s so sexual and I wanted to capitalize on this. We have this way of romanticizing food a little bit, but food is pretty damn sexy. It’s fun to gawk at. It’s this “you can look, but can’t touch” aspect.
What do you hope the audience gets?
I hope they get a new connection with a new blogger. I’ve found some incredible people with killer content. When I post a photo of a small blogger and see their follower count go up and see people comment saying “I totally want to make this over the weekend,” I think it’s great. I definitely want to help stimulate these experiences.
Do you have advice for people trying to start their own account?
Social media takes a lot of persistence, consistency and patience. Find something that makes you different because uniqueness is what’s going to attract new followers. If you like smoothies then do a smoothie gram really well, but just know that not everyone loves smoothies- find something relatable and you’ll find your own niche.
How was your trip to India?
India was a way for me to try a new culture and expand my palate, but it turned into so much more than that – it became about health and fitness. India was incredible and the lifestyle I learned in India really stuck with me. Since then I try to eat a mostly plant based diet. I encourage anybody to study abroad because it’s a really great opportunity to learn in such a short amount of time.
Do you see yourself traveling in the future?
Yes. Financially it’s not an option right now, but I’d love to go anywhere and everywhere. Singapore sounds amazing. They have this hawker food market and it’s a place where food vendor’s whip out their specialty. I’m acting like I know about this, but I’ve just watched so many food videos. So, you’ll have this one guy doing ramen, another doing dumplings and a different person doing the national dish of chicken and rice. My list of places to see is so long.
If you could meet one food celebrity, who would it be?
Anthony Bourdain. I feel like that’s so cliché, but No Reservations had a big impact on me and it made me want to try new foods. He created a buzz about foods that we don’t normally eat. I’ve read 3 or 4 books by him and he’s just a badass and seems like a cool guy. I would love to have dinner with him, but I wouldn’t even know what to ask him. It’s like a celebrity crush where you think you know everything about them, but you actually know nothing.
What do you wish the Dining Halls did differently?
From what I remember, there were vegetables just sitting in a pool of water. Dining halls can change basic things that don’t cost money, but take a bit more time and care. That sandwich? I feel like I could’ve made it better than that guy behind the counter “uh, can I go behind there and make it?” Care about us. Care about the food.
What are some of your favorite restaurants in Binghamton?
Nhu Y is this Vietnamese spot and they have really good pho and I just tried broken rice there for the first time.
Royal Indian has really good Indian food. Explore that because Indian food is so good and it’s not scary at all. Go get chicken tikka masala and do your thing.
Burger Mondays is also good. I had the opportunity to meet with Matt Jones and he really cares about his product and I think he does a good job.
What are you cooking these days?
I’m really into risotto right now. Super warm and satisfying. You can put anything in it. I use chicken stock but you can switch things to make it vegetarian. I make mine with zucchini and parmesan cheese.
In-N-Out or Shake Shack?
I’m going east coast on this one. Shake Shack represent. Danny Meyer you rock.
Spencer’s Bangin’ Risotto
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 2-3
Ingredients:
4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
1/2 large onion
1 medium zucchini
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup aborrio rice (or any type of risotto rice)
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Directions:
1. In a pot, bring to heat the 4 cups of broth to just below a simmer.
2. Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add diced onion and zucchini. Season with salt, pepper, garlic power and any other seasonings or herbs you’d like.
3. Once the vegetables are caramelized, take everything out of pan and store in a bowl.
4. Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to pan. Add the 1 cup of rice to the pan and constantly stir the rice at a low heat to begin to toast the rice. It should take around 3 minutes. Then add the first cup of warmed broth. Constantly stir until it is absorbed. Repeat this process 3 more times with remaining broth. The whole process should take 20-25 minutes.
5. When the last batch of liquid is about to be fully absorbed, add the vegetables back in and the Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.
Can’t get enough of risotto? I got you.