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Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

theatlantic.com

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Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#41

Post by AnimalMuppet »

donretag wrote: post #19
beat wrote: post #11

Something not really touched on here is how poor people's ethnic food can become fashionable and achieve high prices and desirability, often far outside its origins. Consider the recent bone broth craze, for example. Here in Minneapolis, the current trend is Southern food, often made by hipsters who grew up in Minnesota and have no real cultural ties to the South. For me, with my half-southern roots, it's kind of biz…

Lobster is another great example. It used to be a poor man's food and now it commands a high price.

I seem to recall reading that servants at mansions in Newport (about 1880 or 1900) demanded that they not be served lobster more than three times a week.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#42

Post by tomcam »

I spent 40 years as a non meat eater, and great vegetarian food is consistently cheaper than mediocre food with meat in it. I had a lot of girlfriends before I got married, and they were always bemused because I tended to buy non-meat appetizers that tasted great, in place of an entree. I also love the non-meat goodies that come with the entrees in steakhouses. I have often ordered an entree without the steak, and the prices are bewilderingly low for very good food.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#43

Post by riot504 »

beat wrote: post #11

Something not really touched on here is how poor people's ethnic food can become fashionable and achieve high prices and desirability, often far outside its origins. Consider the recent bone broth craze, for example. Here in Minneapolis, the current trend is Southern food, often made by hipsters who grew up in Minnesota and have no real cultural ties to the South. For me, with my half-southern roots, it's kind of biz…

I am southern (New Orleans, live in Idaho now) and love collard greens, but they are super cheap to make. Also, fried pork chops, catfish etc... southern/Cajun is hands down the best food in the world.

Nothing is more hipster than paying a high price for bologna sandwich.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#44

Post by DougMerritt »

samatman wrote: post #32

"And when Latin American and Asian food also become American food, it will be a signal that the country has at last embraced a new generation of Americans." I found this peculiar, given that the US has no fewer than four distinct regional "Mexican" cuisines, not found in Mexico. These are Tex-Mex, California Mexican food (e.g. the fabulous Mission burrito), New Mexican food, and American Mexican food (think chimichan…

Excellent point. But perhaps they meant "Latin American other than Mexico".

Here in Silicon Valley, there might be Argentinian, Brazilian, Chilean, etc. restaurants that I'm unaware of, but even including the north bay, surely very few.

And in most of America, predictably there'd be none in most towns and cities (aside from New York, Miami, etc.).

Which is pretty different than Mexican, which is indeed widely embraced in one form or another.

P.S. I did just see a new Cuban restaurant in the south bay the other day; I'm not trying to say these things are never here.

P.P.S. a fifth regional American "Mexican" cuisine is, I'm told, found far from the coasts and from the southern U.S. border (possibly especially in the Midwest), "Mexican" almost entirely in name only, which may e.g. use ketchup as the only red sauce, and is often denied to be Mexican at all by fans of the other 4 kinds.

I hear that something similar is what is usually, if not universally, found in e.g. London as well.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#45

Post by DougMerritt »

ferentchak wrote: post #25
beat wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's definitely more strongly regional and more distinctive than other places I've traveled in America. The only place that seems to compare for uniqueness is California.

What would be an example of a dish that is very uniquely Californian?

Agreeing with and adding to the 2 previous comments, specifically "California Rolls" in sushi restaurants. There are many variants, but the primary thing is the avocado.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#46

Post by Maultasche »

Spellman wrote: post #29
ferentchak wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would be an example of a dish that is very uniquely Californian?

Depends on how back you go I suppose. In modern cuisine, if it's got avocados, it's Californian! If you want to go much further back, you get Mexican food.

Having lived most of my life in California, I was surprised to discover there was such a thing as "California" food when I traveled to the East Coast about 10 years ago. It turns out that "California" food there was food that involved avocados. I had never heard of such a thing before.

Avocados are definitely eaten in California, and they have been for as long as I remember, but I'm not under the impression that it defines California food. Occasionally, I'll get avocados in a sandwich, salad, or burrito, but that's about it. Maybe eating avocados was so foreign to the rest of the country that it became associated with California.

I guess if you don't live in other parts of the country, you don't have a sense of which foods are unique to your region and which foods are common throughout the country.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#47

Post by donretag »

jinushaun wrote: post #36
donretag wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dislike the term "ethnic food" and foodie cultural in general when it comes to foreign food. There is a restaurant that I like to get my culture's home cooking. Nothing fancy, just home cooking. You do not even know it is a restaurant since there is no storefront except for a social club awning. I could never remember the exact street it is on, so when looking for the address one day, I came across reviews for the…

I think everyone has been to enough potluck and home cooked dinners to know the difference between good and bad home cooking. That's the problem with "authentic" cuisine. It's no guarantee of quality. Likewise, "home cooking" is also not a free pass for poorly made restaurant meals.

To be clear, the reviews were not negative. To me, they were too focused on details that did not matter IMHO. They were trying very hard to be foodies, missing the point of the food and the restaurant.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#48

Post by js2 »

CuriouslyC wrote: post #14
beat wrote: post #11

Something not really touched on here is how poor people's ethnic food can become fashionable and achieve high prices and desirability, often far outside its origins. Consider the recent bone broth craze, for example. Here in Minneapolis, the current trend is Southern food, often made by hipsters who grew up in Minnesota and have no real cultural ties to the South. For me, with my half-southern roots, it's kind of biz…

As someone who lives and has traveled extensively in the south, I have to say that from a culinary standpoint the food is the best example of a true American cuisine. New England also has a cuisine with cultural heritage, but it isn't as quintessentially American as barbecue/southern food.

I guess the sandwich isn't a cuisine, but as a category, America has lots of wonderful variations of it:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/04/14/dining/field-g...

I'd also like to nominate creole/cajun as my favorite American cuisine, NC eastern-style bbq as my favorite bbq, and shrimp and grits (with runner-up chicken and waffles) as my favorite soul food.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#49

Post by js2 »

beat wrote: post #35
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Sydney, I've noticed the better places to eat are increasingly becoming the cheaper restaurants.

Minneapolis has an amazing food scene, driven by localvore ingredients (we're farm country) and hipster-casual "fine dining". It's a hard town for traditional fine-dining restaurants. The really good eating is split between the hipster places and southeast Asian ethnic restaurants. For $50/person, you can get a shockingly good meal here, and you can wear jeans and a t-shirt eating it.

For $50 I'd hope so! That's an expensive meal sans alcohol. I've had great meals at every price point, but above $25/person I'm expecting a good meal, above $50/person a great meal, and above $75-100 an exempelary meal.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#50

Post by mercutio2 »

DougMerritt wrote: post #44
samatman wrote: post #32

"And when Latin American and Asian food also become American food, it will be a signal that the country has at last embraced a new generation of Americans." I found this peculiar, given that the US has no fewer than four distinct regional "Mexican" cuisines, not found in Mexico. These are Tex-Mex, California Mexican food (e.g. the fabulous Mission burrito), New Mexican food, and American Mexican food (think chimichan…

Excellent point. But perhaps they meant "Latin American other than Mexico". Here in Silicon Valley, there might be Argentinian, Brazilian, Chilean, etc. restaurants that I'm unaware of, but even including the north bay, surely very few. And in most of America, predictably there'd be none in most towns and cities (aside from New York, Miami, etc.). Which is pretty different than Mexican, which is indeed widely embrace…

I'm not sure why you'd go all the way to Marin, but I count 20+ such South-American-inspired restaurants in the east bay in a casual search. I don't really think of the north bay (or the peninsula) as culinary destinations, but SF and the east bay are great for food.

Your point is well taken that most of the US is unfamiliar with any cuisine further away than Mexico (and GP is right most of the Mexican is heavily Americanized).

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