Podcast: [www.kcrw.com]
A new exhibit at the Chinese American Museum in LA called “the boba show: history, diaspora, & a third space” explores the drink’s journey from the cassava root native to South America, to the tapioca balls in the Taiwanese confection, and back across the ocean to the United States, where has also become a symbol of identity and culture for young Asian Americans.
The name boba versus bubble tea versus pearl tea actually tells us as much about our community and how big it is — as it does about how much the drink needs to be recognizable to a large community.
In places where there isn't a large Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, bubble tea seems to be more popular or even pearl tea, because [the tapioca balls] look like dark pearls that you'd see in Hawaii.
Versus here [in Southern California], where there is a large Asian American Pacific Islander community, people are so familiar with Asian languages that boba, which is actually a Cantonese name, stuck with us. There's such a large Cantonese speaking population in Southern California that boba is recognizable to people.
A new exhibit at the Chinese American Museum in LA called “the boba show: history, diaspora, & a third space” explores the drink’s journey from the cassava root native to South America, to the tapioca balls in the Taiwanese confection, and back across the ocean to the United States, where has also become a symbol of identity and culture for young Asian Americans.
The name boba versus bubble tea versus pearl tea actually tells us as much about our community and how big it is — as it does about how much the drink needs to be recognizable to a large community.
In places where there isn't a large Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, bubble tea seems to be more popular or even pearl tea, because [the tapioca balls] look like dark pearls that you'd see in Hawaii.
Versus here [in Southern California], where there is a large Asian American Pacific Islander community, people are so familiar with Asian languages that boba, which is actually a Cantonese name, stuck with us. There's such a large Cantonese speaking population in Southern California that boba is recognizable to people.