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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

#271

Post by orf »

dwc wrote: post #267
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…

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.

> and most lunches were had at small, out of the way village pubs

These are the best places to go in England IMO. Avoid any chain pubs at all costs, the smaller local ones serve the best food in the countryside hands down.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#272

Post by dwc »

lucaspiller wrote: post #9

Not quite the same, but earlier this year I was working in Italy for a few months. I went back to the UK last week and it really surprised me how poor the quality of food is there. I don't mean in restaurants, but the actual ingredients you get in supermarkets. In Italy you can go into even the cheapest supermarkets and get tomatoes that smell like actual tomatoes, where as in the UK they just have no smell. Even tom…

About 10 years ago I was in Italy. Stopped for a quick meal at a kiosk set up in the middle of the airport. The caprese sandwich I got was totally amazing. The flavors! From a kiosk in an airport! Such a simple thing but so, so good. The other meals I had over the week were also very good. There's something to be said for food purity laws: when you can't add all sorts of crap you have to focus on the quality of what you have, and it makes a huge difference.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#273

Post by orf »

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…

> None of these have anybody (of statistically significant percentage) outside the UK salivating

Have you ever tried a traditional English pie? I'm a bit biased obviously, but as an anecdote my Italian co-worker who moved here recently absolutely loves them (and I can't help but say 'who ate all the pies, guido?' to him). They don't have that kind of pastry in their cuisine at all and he can't get enough of them. It's a national cuisine, just because not a huge number of people outside the UK eat it doesn't make it bad in any way.

> or have ever created something like a "British restaurant" to be found abroad

You're right, cuisine isn't our major cultural export (I'd say that's TV) but it's hard to find authentic national food outside of the respective nation. Most Italians would cry at the sight of most of the "Italian food" served at "Italian restaurants", just because it's not a label you can stick on your restaurant doesn't mean it's bad...

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

You forgot the hash browns, black pudding and toast, all in huge quantities. Also that went way over your head, it's possibly the most unhealthy breakfast in the world when done right.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#274

Post by CalRobert »

orf wrote: post #270
CalRobert wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

I know it was my mistake, and I don't even mean it as a complaint but rather as an observation.

For what it's worth, I've gotten really in to cooking since living here. I make my own Doro Wat and tequila lime chicken in particular.

In general, foods here don't usually have a lot of nuanced flavours. There are exceptions, and I love a hearty uncomplicated meal as much as the next person, but I do miss it. Admittedly I may have been spoiled when I was in CA, where I lived (San Diego and SF) both seem to have pretty great food.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#275

Post by CalRobert »

coldtea wrote: post #262
CalRobert wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Were we limiting this to national cuisines? What is that, even? When people ask about my favourite American (they mean US but that's another conversation) food I typically answer Mexican or Ethiopian, because those are some of the best foods I've had in the US.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#276

Post by uhtred »

Al-Khwarizmi wrote: post #102
polskibus wrote: post #38

That's why EU people are protesting against TTIP. We're worried that the lower standards that are common in USA, will prevail, and any resistance will be trampled in private arbitrage courts.

Yes, this is a huge worry for me. The quality of food in the US is atrocious. When I was there, almost nothing tasted as it should, everything tasted bland and mildly sweet. The only way I found to get decent meat was to buy ultra-posh organic stuff at ridiculous prices, and then it would be no more than on par with the cheapest meat I could buy in Spain. Even chocolate is affected! TTIP is one of the worst things th…

If you knew what happened to the animals your cheap meat comes from, or what their meat contains, or what the process of raising those animals does to the environment, you wouldn't consider organic meat to be ridiculously priced.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#277

Post by evgen »

pcrh wrote: post #220
nitwit005 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's generally suggested here in the US that you buy olive oil labeled as being from California, as the Italian labels are often adulterated or mislabeled. The periodic scandals out of Italy seem to support that view: http://www.eater.com/2016/6/30/12070668/olive-oil-fraud-ital...

Isn't that a problem with US regulations and enforcement, rather than EU ones?

It is a problem with US regulators assuming that EU regulations are something more than scams to bid up the price of olive oils by claiming they came from a particular region (usually one that makes some bogus terrior claim) when in fact they do not. If the EU cannot enforce its own vaunted food regulations then I suppose the US should just stop accepting any claims regarding food provenance and dispense with any DOP compliance whatsoever...

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#278

Post by CalRobert »

orf wrote: post #273
coldtea wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

> None of these have anybody (of statistically significant percentage) outside the UK salivating Have you ever tried a traditional English pie? I'm a bit biased obviously, but as an anecdote my Italian co-worker who moved here recently absolutely loves them (and I can't help but say 'who ate all the pies, guido?' to him). They don't have that kind of pastry in their cuisine at all and he can't get enough of them. It'…

You know, I just realized that I really miss pasties after a night out when I don't have them around. And let's not forget that English cheese can be spectacular!

Certainly there are great foods to be had, but on the whole it seems it's not the UK's strong suit.

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#279

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

Re: How we're scammed into eating phony food

#280

Post by slfnflctd »

koliber wrote: post #159
misja111 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with tomatoes and many other vegetables and fruits is, that they don't grow in the UK so they have to be imported. If they would be imported only when they were as ripe and tasty as the ones you saw in Italy, they would be rotten by the time they arrived in your supermarket in the UK. So, they are harvested when they are not quite ripe. They will ripen a bit more during transport but they will never have…

Tomatoes are something of a passion of mine. The problems are exactly what you describe, with ensuring that transport will not ruin the fruit. Another facet is not only that the tomatoes are picked unripe, but also that the varieties that are grown are ones which optimize for being able to withstand long transport times as well as for uniformity. Consumers as a group like uniform, smooth, red-colored tomatoes, and th…

Heirloom varieties have unique characteristics which vary widely, and are definitely more difficult to grow than the mainstream hybrids (as well as often lower yielding per square meter). People who grow good ones should be rewarded, they're worth seeking out.
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