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

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#71

Post by CuriouslyC » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 4:40 AM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #60

CuriouslyC wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"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.

Well, I observed that as Filipinos made more money they tended to stop eating that food, so I don't think they're that into it either. I will admit that the deep fried pigs feet are very tasty though.

If I had to pick one thing Filipinos loved most, it would definitely be fried chicken. They also seem to have a soft spot for spaghetti with an extremely sweet tomato sauce.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#72

Post by fma » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 4:47 AM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #61

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…

>A real Chinese restaurant has round tables Round tables are for big parties. Restaurants in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc. have two person and four person tables as well. They also have shared food and non-shared food. It really depends on the restaurant type and the meal you're ordering as well as occasion. (Recall, some people eat lunch by themselves --most take it to go, some eat on premises.) You will see the rou…

I don't disagree with you, but the article is talking about restaurants where you would spend a lot of money...not your lunch noodle shop.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#73

Post by toomanybeersies » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 4:50 AM UTC

ricree wrote: post #70

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…

Anecdotally, I've heard from a number of people that catering is one of the larger profit centers for restaurants that do it, with the dine-in service acting almost like a marketing tool, or sometimes even a loss leader.

Absolutely. The restaurant I used to work at did catering as well, and we made far more profit from catering than from regular service. I don't think that total income was more for catering though.

With catering, you only have to pay for the staff you need, when you need them. You also often don't have to pay for the venue, or only have to pay for renting furniture etc.

Part of the profitability also comes from the fact that you're already paying for the kitchen, and often the venue (if it's hosted at the restaurant after hours), so you're essentially removed 30% of the cost.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#74

Post by dwc » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 4:54 AM UTC

chiph wrote: post #63

riot504 wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The hard part about preparing collards is making sure you washed all the sand out of them. In rural Georgia and the Carolinas, you'll see an old washing machine on the back porch that's used just for that purpose - throw the greens in there, short cycle on cold (no soap of course!) and they're ready for cooking. BBQ is another southern classic. Whether it's Eastern NC style chopped pork with vinegar sauce, or Texas s…

I'm from Arizona, but I love that NC vinegar sauce!

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#75

Post by mc32 » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 4:56 AM UTC

>.."Consider the cases of steak frites and carne asada. They both involve cooking a fairly high-quality cut of meat over high heat, and they’re both dishes whose origins are foreign to America."

One of the biggest differences here, but not mentioned, is Parisian as well and "Peking" cuisine is "imperial" or dynastic. Many other cuisines have more rustic heritage, i.e. "peasant" food. Yes, ultimately Parisian and "Peking" cooking can trace back to peasant origins, but many were refined in imperial palaces --thus the prestige. Mexican, British, Russian food is quite squarely in the "peasant" bracket.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#76

Post by mc32 » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 5:03 AM UTC

fma wrote: post #72

mc32 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A real Chinese restaurant has round tables Round tables are for big parties. Restaurants in China, Taiwan, Malaysia, etc. have two person and four person tables as well. They also have shared food and non-shared food. It really depends on the restaurant type and the meal you're ordering as well as occasion. (Recall, some people eat lunch by themselves --most take it to go, some eat on premises.) You will see the rou…

I don't disagree with you, but the article is talking about restaurants where you would spend a lot of money...not your lunch noodle shop.

This is not only evident mid-tier lunch establishments, but also in pricey restaurants in those countries too (not the exorbitantly priced restaurants, but the ones middle and upper middle go out for a good meal at the weekend. For the most part round tables are found in spacious "banquet" style restaurants (you may find others who have that too, but by and large, most have tables for two, four and a few sixes).

Cheap places just have long foldable picnic style tables with benches where anyone can sit anywhere.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#77

Post by garyclarke27 » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 6:36 AM UTC

Interesting and crazy that Italian food is so high, considering it has the cheapest ingredients, hence why pizza restaurants are the most profitable I suppose. For me Thai is easily my favourite cuisine, yet ranked bottom, I don't think this is true in UK, where is average price, though like US Japanese is most expensive and French second. For me French is way over rated esepecially Michelin starred French restaurants with exorbitant prices especially for wine, tiny portions, why do they make everything into a foam? the novelty soon wears of. I much prefer authentic Chinese restuarants with large round tables where you cant fit two families around, kids friendly till late at night, I love the sharing of all dishes, so much better than individual servings, which isolate the experience.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#78

Post by yompers888 » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 6:43 AM UTC

stephenr wrote: post #58

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…

I'd argue that a lot of Chinese food is well-suited to American tastes. Certainly not the Guangdong stuff and the cheap animal parts (looking at you, pig and chicken feet), but almost everything else. At very least, everything about Sichuan and Hunan food seems to translate well except for the very spicy fish stew.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#79

Post by yompers888 » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 6:47 AM UTC

showerst wrote: post #6

mtw wrote: post #2

If the theory is right, then German, Swiss or Singaporean restaurants should be at the top of the list

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…

Every time I go to a German restaurant that people rave about (but more on the family-style dining side of things,) I'm shocked by how similar it is to the stuff my grandparents (on both sides) used to cook.

Meanwhile, when I cook my staples are tacos, chili, coconut curry, and chicken salad.

Re: Why Some Cuisines Are More Expensive Than Others

#80

Post by ghaff » Sat, Jul 16, 2016, 7:05 AM UTC

beat wrote: post #24

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.

Interestingly, lobster is pretty cheap now, due to abnormally high numbers of catch-sized lobsters (probably something to do with global warming). There's a restaurant here in town that specializes in basically lobster everything, and it's not out of line price-wise with standard Minneapolis hipster fare. If lobster prices ever go back up, they're toast. Their whole menu would skyrocket.

Relatively :-) Lobster meat in Maine still runs about $40 per pound. It may be about half that if you cook soft shells and pick your own meat but prices for live lobster are still $1 to $2 per pound higher this year at this time than they were the last few.