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Ethnic cuisine by the wrong ethnicity

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feralkid said:
The chef needs to travel to some of the regions where certain foods and wines were first produced.

It just might open your eyes.

Terroir is not a small breed of dog.


Cheers!
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Of course the French never ever eat anything not locally grown or use recipes not written by their grandmother. 🙄
Those who can, cook and take pride in their food. Those who can't are critics. While I have no problem with critics voicing their opinions, they should leave the educating to Chefs.
 
The only actual way to get an actual authentic ethnic meal is in the local kitchen of the local ethnicity in the actual ethnic location in question. Differences will pop up in every situation that does not match, be it due to training of the chef, sourcing of the ingredients, or equipment used in cooking/ preparation.

Everything else is an approximation, which may or may not be close enough. And may or may not be considered "tasty" to a palate accustomed to local norms.
 
heh my favorite place is a Vietnamese place run by Mexicans. The owner (vietnamese) just does cashier.

the food is amazing though.
 
ethnic cuisine is simple people sourcing local ingredients (because that's all you can get) and making the best of it. i'm totally ok with fusion cuisine - people putting an international spin on food - as long as it's good. and let's face it, most times when a indian place has pizza on the menu, it's not good, just like a chinese join doing sushi, or an italian restaurant doing .. well, ok, maybe they are the exception, italians are gifted and everything they touch turns to gold. foodwise.
 
It never occurred to me that ethnicity mattered. While I did make notice of the English girl behind the Chinese food counter and the Mexican tossing the doe in a pizza place. I never connected quality to ethnicity.
 
*dough.
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MagnusTheBrewer said:
Of course the French never ever eat anything not locally grown or use recipes not written by their grandmother. 🙄
Those who can, cook and take pride in their food. Those who can't are critics. While I have no problem with critics voicing their opinions, they should leave the educating to Chefs.
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There's no need to be arrogant about this.

You aren't the only chef in the world.


Also, although "Terroir" may have its origins in the French language, it by no means is limited to French cuisine.

You really would do well to expand your horizons, Boy-Ar-Dee.

😉






.
 
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waggy said:
heh my favorite place is a Vietnamese place run by Mexicans. The owner (vietnamese) just does cashier.

the food is amazing though.
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Most Vietnamese places here in So Cal have Viet owners and Mexican cooks. They just teach them how to do it and they just run the front.
 
vi edit said:
A place here (Lexington, KY) called pies and pints does a thai curry pizza that is freaking amazing. I don't care what ethnicity it is or who made it. It's probably some pasty white kid named Steve from western Ketucky that is making it. He's neither Italian nor Thai. Don't care. It's good stuff.
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:thumbsup:

I would give thai curry pizza a try in a heartbeat. Fusion food, when done well, is quite literally the best of all worlds.

Eug said:
Note that most pizza in the US is American pizza, even if it's run by Italians. It's very different from the pizza you get in Italy.
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Bingo! I wonder if the OP even knows his favorite pizza is "cultural appropriation pie." 😛
 
Doesnt matter who cooks it. A good cook with good ingredients should be able to follow whatever the recipie is.

An old friend of mine from the 90s who I used to work with's wife made a really really awesome pizza with the dough seasoned with indian spices... it wasnt a curry pizza or anything crazy, but, it had a very flavorful and delicious crust.
 
Does it matter if the cat is black, white, purple, or green if it is good at catching mice?

Then does it matter if the chief/cook is not the same ethic group as the food?

Personally, I don't care if a Japanese is a chief at a famous BBQ joint or a white guy is the head cook at a chinese restaurant. As long as the food and service are good and the place is clean, then I am game.
 
It's basically translating from one palate to another. Maybe something's lost in translation, or maybe it's improved. I despise those that dogmatically hew to the traditional recipe without seizing the opportunity to improve upon it. I just want a tasty dish - who cares whether it's "authentic" - I'm not reenacting 17th century China here.
 
pmv said:
There was an entire episode of that Freakanomics podcast discussing this. In particular I think they were asking whether it would fall foul of race discrimination laws if a restaurant only hired staff (particularly wait-staff) of the "correct" ethnicity.

Its a tricky one, as I do remember going to (continental) Europe and being a bit taken aback at finding 'Chinese' eateries run entirely by white people.

However, I have to say I _like_ chicken tikka pizza. I don't care if its an abomination to two different cultures.
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I take it you do not eat at Leann Chin then, since around here it is mainly Caucasian employees.

OP I listened to that podcast segment on the Sampler Podcast, https://gimletmedia.com/show/sampler/, and it was worth listening to, specially the example of some $10 mexican dish going for $40 in another restaurant because we value the food of another nation higher than Mexican food.
 
madoka said:
Since I'm into more traditional pizzas, I started walking out and the Indian owner started yelling at me asking why I was leaving. If I told him the truth, I'm sure it would sound racist. I would prefer my pizza to be made by Italians.
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You might be onto something. Domino's, Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Little Caesar's were all founded and run by non-Italians and they make the shittiest pizza possible.
 
When I go into a restaurant, it's because I'm hungry. There will probably need to be something seriously wrong for me to walk out unfed. Seeing the wrong color faces behind the counter doesn't cut it.
 
Slew Foot said:
Lol, "cultural appropriation". Some stupid hippie SJW millennial loser BS
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Winnar!

That's some stupid concept SJW's have come up with to vilify the group they despise most.

You have every right to decide what sounds appealing to you. Last I checked, citizenship of a particular country is not a race either, so wanting to have italian food made by italians can't be racist -- there are italians of all races.

This politically correct stupidity needs to end.
 
What you are saying makes no logical sense. You said you only eat pizzas made by Italians. Assuming you are not Italian you still know how you like your pizza. Presumably you could learn how to recreate that, there's no food prep DNA. Therefore any ethnicity can learn to make any kind of food, there's no real limit.

It is fair to see that most of the pizzas are fusion style and decide you want the basics. But it is pretty dumb to assume that just because they are not the "right" ethnicity they can't create the dishes well.
 
CountZero said:
What you are saying makes no logical sense. You said you only eat pizzas made by Italians. Assuming you are not Italian you still know how you like your pizza. Presumably you could learn how to recreate that, there's no food prep DNA. Therefore any ethnicity can learn to make any kind of food, there's no real limit.

It is fair to see that most of the pizzas are fusion style and decide you want the basics. But it is pretty dumb to assume that just because they are not the "right" ethnicity they can't create the dishes well.
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Most pizzas around me are made by people of south america.
Hell korean dishes are also made by people of south america. I've seen one actually pull noodles behind the glass. I was in awe.
 
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