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How we're scammed into eating phony food

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Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#261

Post by coldtea »

orf wrote: post #211
coldtea wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, if you visit this fine emerald isle, you will find the US has no monopoly on bland, mildly sweet food. Well, apart from whisky, nobody ever considered Ireland a place for good food. For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. As someone from the UK I take offense at that, sure we might not be on the same level as Italy or France (but really, who is?) but we have some great traditional food. Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world. Tasty s…

>Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala

Sort of makes my point. None of these have anybody (of statistically significant percentage) outside the UK salivating, or have ever created something like a "British restaurant" to be found abroad (like there are French or Italian restaurants everywhere).

And even the best of this list was invented by taking from a foreign (the Bangladeshi) cuisine tradition.

>and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world

Bacon, sausages, eggs, and beans? I think nutritionists can point to at least 20 other candidate countries for that title...

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#262

Post by coldtea »

CalRobert wrote: post #242
orf wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. As someone from the UK I take offense at that, sure we might not be on the same level as Italy or France (but really, who is?) but we have some great traditional food. Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world. Tasty s…

I remember ordering garlic chips for the first time after moving from CA. I had been foolishly looking forward to a meal of fried potatoes, olive oil, Parmesan, salt, and lightly seared diced garlic, with perhaps a bit of parsley (or, dare I dream, cilantro/coriander). I thought it might bring back memories of nights spent at Giants games What I got was chips with a gigantic blob of sightly garlic-scented mayonnaise…

>To be fair, there is some fantastic food, but you have to look for it. Dublin has some surprisingly good burritos, for instance.

That's hardly what one means when talking about a good national cuisine though... The UK also has excellent Indian restaurants, but that's again something else.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#263

Post by coldtea »

vilmosi wrote: post #230
coldtea wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, if you visit this fine emerald isle, you will find the US has no monopoly on bland, mildly sweet food. Well, apart from whisky, nobody ever considered Ireland a place for good food. For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. That's a myth that's refusing to die, it's not true at all.

In what ways? Where in the world do they care for British cuisine?

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#264

Post by coldtea »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #254
coldtea wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, if you visit this fine emerald isle, you will find the US has no monopoly on bland, mildly sweet food. Well, apart from whisky, nobody ever considered Ireland a place for good food. For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine.

What foods have you tried in the UK, that turned out to be bad? Perhaps I can recommend different restaurants for you to try.

First of all, not talking about Indian, Chinese or whatever restaurants in the UK. Talking solely about the British cooking tradition.

Second, my point is not that I had some pot roast or fish and chips that were "bad" -- as in bad cooking (although you get that too a lot). My point was that even cooked the best way, they are nothing to write home about compared to other national cuisines and their dishes.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#265

Post by lsh »

coldtea wrote: post #261
orf wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. As someone from the UK I take offense at that, sure we might not be on the same level as Italy or France (but really, who is?) but we have some great traditional food. Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world. Tasty s…

> Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala Sort of makes my point. None of these have anybody (of statistically significant percentage) outside the UK salivating, or have ever created something like a "British restaurant" to be found abroad (like there are French or Italian restaurants everywhere). And even the best of this list was invented by taking from…

whooooooooooooosh

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#266

Post by vilmosi »

coldtea wrote: post #263
vilmosi wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. That's a myth that's refusing to die, it's not true at all.

In what ways? Where in the world do they care for British cuisine?

Everywhere.

I haven't stayed in a single hotel anywhere that doesn't serve English Breakfast. And I'm sure a lot of people are enjoying a Sunday Roast or a Chicken Tikka Masala every now and again.

But of course, I know there are a lot of ignorant people in the world, which is why I admit the myth persists.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#267

Post by dwc »

orf wrote: post #211
coldtea wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> However, if you visit this fine emerald isle, you will find the US has no monopoly on bland, mildly sweet food. Well, apart from whisky, nobody ever considered Ireland a place for good food. For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. As someone from the UK I take offense at that, sure we might not be on the same level as Italy or France (but really, who is?) but we have some great traditional food. Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world. Tasty s…

In 2000 I spent a couple of weeks in the Shrewsbury area, and most lunches were had at small, out of the way village pubs. The food was surprisingly good, both traditional and continental. Not just surprisingly good for England, but for anywhere in such venues. The only bad experience was our first shot at getting fish & chips, which were rubbish. Second try at a different place fixed that.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#268

Post by 7sigma »

pipio21 wrote: post #186
jokoon wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unrelated, but I was just debating GMO labels on "change my view" on reddit. I admit I was trolling that if GMO are healthy, then ultimately there is no harm in a neutral label. My comments got downvoted very hard. It boiled down that those labels would essentially be a form of misinformation, or that the uneducated public would make uninformed decisions. I don't know if I'm right or wrong, but the post got 400 comme…

The fact is that nobody knows if GMO are healthy or not. This is like saying that "machines are safe". It makes not sense, there all all kind of machines you can design. You should study a specific machine case by case. Gene modification is enormous, and open to all kinds of unintended consequences. Just because we don't understand it yet it does not mean it is safe(we modify genes without really understanding what t…

You can never prove that any food is safe beyond a doubt. You can only say whether it riskier or not than other types of food or breeding. In the case of GMOs, it has been shown to be no less risky than conventional or mutagenic breeding.

"we modify genes without really understanding what they really do with detail"

Except that with genetic engineering, we know precisely what they do. Ironically previous ways of changing genes are a lot more random.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#269

Post by twoodfin »

stephenr wrote: post #212

I see a lot of Americans claiming that respecting origin naming laws is "stupid". Im guessing this is partly the general "disrupt" mentality At work, and partly because based on your bread, beer and cheese, you clearly have long ago "evolved" to have no tastebuds. Having seen what Americans insist on calling pizza, I can't imagine what you lot would do to other foods.

Of all the foods to call out, you choose pizza??

Name any pizza joint outside of Naples, and I bet I can find half a dozen in the US that have a superior take on the style.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#270

Post by orf »

CalRobert wrote: post #242
orf wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For UK of course it's even worse, they're actively known for the bad taste and cuisine. As someone from the UK I take offense at that, sure we might not be on the same level as Italy or France (but really, who is?) but we have some great traditional food. Pies of all kinds, fish 'n' chips, traditional sausages, good old roast dinners, chicken tikka masala and of course the healthiest breakfast in the world. Tasty s…

I remember ordering garlic chips for the first time after moving from CA. I had been foolishly looking forward to a meal of fried potatoes, olive oil, Parmesan, salt, and lightly seared diced garlic, with perhaps a bit of parsley (or, dare I dream, cilantro/coriander). I thought it might bring back memories of nights spent at Giants games What I got was chips with a gigantic blob of sightly garlic-scented mayonnaise…

> I remember ordering garlic chips...

That's your first mistake. You can get all that, but it's not exactly English. You'd have better luck with getting all that on roast potatoes to be honest.

> I think the issue comes from the fact that inexpensive street food in places like Italy is phenomenal, but in Ireland and the UK tends to be mediocre.

I agree, but then again we don't really have a street food culture like those places. London has got pretty into the street food idea, and there are tonnes of really nice food markets springing up everywhere. Pretty damn expensive, but nice once in a while.

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