Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#51

Post by mercutio2 » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 12:02 AM UTC

donretag wrote: post #13

mwfunk wrote: post #4

Fascinating article, although I'm a little taken aback when anyone uses the phrase "ethnic food" nowadays. I didn't realize people said it anymore, it sounds like a relic of the '50s. I'm also bitter because I grew up in a household where anything that was even remotely different from the same bland 4-5 dishes we ate every single day was considered strange and exotic by the rest of my family. I would love to hang out…

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…

Was this a private club, and they were unwelcome patrons?

I think everyone should pick apart everyone else's culture if they feel like it. If you want a sacred space, don't welcome the general public. You're welcome to treasure the things you want to, of course! But it seems rather surly to pick on people who like to nerd out on food.

Of course on another level, if your culture is picking on foody's culture, so be it! It all gets pretty meta...

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#52

Post by DougMerritt » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 12:44 AM UTC

mercutio2 wrote: post #50

DougMerritt wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 Ame…

(I meant "north bay" to include SF/Oakland/Berkeley, as opposed to the south bay; not so much to go to Marin.)

That's interesting. I would have guessed half that number -- although if you count each country in the central and south Americas, including island nations like Cuba, isn't that roughly just one restaurant per country?

Also, bottom line, I'm pretty sure that 20 is quite dwarfed by the number of Mexican restaurants in the Bay Area. Perhaps even if we only counted taquerias, which seem to pop up almost once per block in some areas.

Thanks for making an actual numeric estimate.

> 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.

Agreed, although note that some good restaurants (if not Michelin-starred) tend to be sparse, rather than nonexistent, in some of those more deprived cities.

And even Michelin stars can be found in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Menlo Park, Woodside, Saratoga and Los Gatos, which surprises many people.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#53

Post by pasquinelli » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 2:21 AM UTC

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #41

donretag wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

i heard something similar, but it was a law regulating how often a prison could feed lobster to inmates.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#54

Post by fma » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 2:25 AM UTC

I'll always favor eating real Chinese food than American food. You go to a decent American restaurant, for $20-$30+ you get a plate for yourself. For $15 at a real Chinese restaurant, you get enough food for yourself and share with another. The food comes out in mere minutes, even in a busy restaurant. Chinese food is meant to be shared. You go to a western restaurant, you order a plate for one person.

A real Chinese restaurant has round tables, so everyone is equidistant from the food and can share among each other. You don't 'plate' a dish. You cook everything and put it out there for everyone. Food is about the taste, the freshness and quality.

You go there for bonding with friends and family. You don't pay dutch. One person pays, and sometimes there's a fight on who pays.

Real Chinese food cannot be expensive, because Chinese people know how to cook and won't go out. So often my aunts, uncles, family friends balk at going out. They can cook just as good, and it's cheaper. I need to drag them out. If it's expensive they'd never go out. You'd end up with food that caters to western taste, because only they would pay for expensive Chinese food.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#55

Post by rangibaby » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 2:51 AM UTC

fma wrote: post #54

I'll always favor eating real Chinese food than American food. You go to a decent American restaurant, for $20-$30+ you get a plate for yourself. For $15 at a real Chinese restaurant, you get enough food for yourself and share with another. The food comes out in mere minutes, even in a busy restaurant. Chinese food is meant to be shared. You go to a western restaurant, you order a plate for one person. A real Chinese…

I love the "Lazy Susan" tables at Chinese restaurants

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#56

Post by markbnj » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 2:51 AM UTC

beat wrote: post #7

There's a formula for restaurant finance - 30% ingredients, 30% labor, 30% rent and other overhead, and (hopefully) 10% profit. This is broadly true across the industry, at all price points. Much of the higher cost of "nice" restaurants is higher quality ingredients (this is especially true of pricey sushi-dominated Japanese, which pays a premium for the best fish). An additional cost is prestigious locations. Becaus…

Years ago a VC who passed on my startup drove my co-founders and myself past a restaurant in the western Philly suburbs. He pointed to it and declared that he and his father had almost bought it. "Why didn't you," I asked. He laughed derisively. "Because we realized you could only fill the tables, and once you did that was it: you'd never make any more money."

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#57

Post by stephenr » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 2:52 AM UTC

fma wrote: post #54

I'll always favor eating real Chinese food than American food. You go to a decent American restaurant, for $20-$30+ you get a plate for yourself. For $15 at a real Chinese restaurant, you get enough food for yourself and share with another. The food comes out in mere minutes, even in a busy restaurant. Chinese food is meant to be shared. You go to a western restaurant, you order a plate for one person. A real Chinese…

> You'd end up with food that caters to western taste

As Ive said elsewhere, the only food I've had in 4 countries that was even close to the same in all, is Indian food (i.e. curry + rice).

Every other type of food I've experienced, is influenced by the local tastes, and availability of products.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#58

Post by stephenr » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 3:02 AM UTC

ravenstine wrote: post #9

Japanese food is way overpriced nowadays, and hardly "japanese". You have to pay a ridiculous amount for actual Japanese food; anything mid-priced or below is covered in fried breading, mayonnaise, and even jalapenos. I'm not against "fusion" cuisine, but it sucks when there's so much of that it makes it difficult to get the real thing. Chinese food in America much cheaper because the ingredients are much less costly…

> "Chinese" food is, in America, is designed to be tasty and relatively inexpensive. Authentic Chinese food isn't as appealing or palatable to most Americans.

Do you really think any other culture/country's food is 'authentic' in the US?

Do you somehow think "Outback Steakhouse" is anything like Australians eat?

Do you somehow think Thai restaurants are anywhere close to authentic anywhere but Thailand?

I've said it before: the only food that seems to be universal in what to expect, is Indian curries. Everything is adapted for local tastes and to use locally available ingredients.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#59

Post by stephenr » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 3:06 AM UTC

kstenerud wrote: post #20

"With China, [Americans] are still filled with this funny disdain, that it is about cheap and crappy stuff, including about cheap and crappy food" Because until very recently, it HAS been cheap and crappy food in America. "Chinese food" has traditionally meant the chop suey that you take out from Dragon Inn (and in many areas, it STILL means that). I grew up with a severe dislike for Chinese food. It tasted like I wa…

> but Chinese cuisine has a long Western history to live down.

a) don't lump the rest of the 'western' world in with America. "Chinese food" in Australia is of course not authentic, but by local tastes is usually delicious.

b) implying something has to "live down" implies that there is fault with the item itself. Good Chinese food (or even good chinese-inspired food, rather than authentic chinese) didn't force Americans to eat shit.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#60

Post by stephenr » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 3:10 AM UTC

CuriouslyC wrote: post #22

showerst wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looks that got wrapped in 'Continental' in the Zagat numbers, which is pretty high. Anecdotally here in DC Germanic restaurants are almost all Biergarten type places that emulate 'street' food, and there isn't any fine dining to bring up the averages. I imagine that's true in most of the US. Fun outliers I can think of are Filipino and Laotian, which are both fairly expensive vs the country prestige, but of course th…

"Real" Filipino food is street food, and pretty unappetizing. Offal, adidas, sausage made of who knows what, betamax, roast/fried pig feet/ears, brain, etc, all served with a side of white rice and washed down with san miguel. That being said, lechon, oxtail stew and sinigang are awesome, but not what most Filipino people eat on a regular basis.

> "Real" Filipino food is street food, and pretty unappetising.

Unappetising to western tastes, I think is what you meant.

> sausage made of who knows what

That's what a sausage is, unless you make it at home.

> roast/fried pig feet/ears

I've come to enjoy roasted pigs tail (technically its the tailbone from the carcass, rather than the actual curly part of the tail) and its fucking amazing.