111–120 of 163 posts
:-p China would NEVER understand the concept of Indian Chinese food either. We've changed the traditional Chinese food so significantly that... And it is the second most popular "cuisine" in India after traditional Indian food.
Similarly, I ate at an Indian restaurant in Beijing and didn't notice any difference from Chinese food.
:-p China would NEVER understand the concept of Indian Chinese food either. We've changed the traditional Chinese food so significantly that... And it is the second most popular "cuisine" in India after traditional Indian food.
Oh I hadn't heard of that. As a chef I'm definitely going to do some research on that! Any particular favourites?
:-p China would NEVER understand the concept of Indian Chinese food either. We've changed the traditional Chinese food so significantly that... And it is the second most popular "cuisine" in India after traditional Indian food.
Oh I hadn't heard of that. As a chef I'm definitely going to do some research on that! Any particular favourites?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Seriously, though. California, and the Bay Area specifically, is one of the best places in the US to find authentic Chinese food. OP's spouse is just a snob. Sure, a lot of restaurants feel the need to put some "standard" dishes like General Tso's Chicken on the menu, just in case. You don't have to order those. Outside of tourist traps like SF Chinatown, Chinese restaurants mainly serve Chinese food to a predominant…
Sichuan cuisine in the Bay Area is atrocious compared to the real deal. Maybe Cantonese or Hunan fare better but unfortunately I don't like these cuisines nearly as much. BTW, I'm neither American nor Chinese, so I don't have any national pride involved either way. I just happen to have spent multiple years in both countries.
- Is it healthy?
- Does it taste good to me?
If something is healthy and delights your taste buds, then why bother trying to find out whether it's authentic? Conversely, why force yourself to eat something you enjoy less, just because it happens to be "authentic" or because "other people like it"? Who cares if the stuff you're eating is highly evolved/bastardized from the original, as long as you like it?
My dad's a Chinese immigrant, and I've been to China and had Chinese food there. There are two types of Chinese food you can get in America (well, more given all the regional variations, but I'm making a point...). If you went to a strip mall, walked into a P.F. Chang's, and had General Tso's Chicken, that's not Chinese food. But if you walked into an unmarked doorway in Chinatown, walked down a flight of stairs to a…
In China you can find pretty authentic[1] Italian, Japanese and Thai food, even bread, but also very localized versions [Americans would say they are not authentic]
What you describe is something I've seen with semi-indentured hands, people who paid lots of money to get here and have to work off their journey. They don't have a lot of spare money left and they go to these joints --it's cheap, it's fulfilling meal.
Is authentic Chinese the buffet served Richard Nixon, or is it the stall food? Is it what rich Chinese eat, or what your average low-skilled worker eats?
[1]by authentic I mean you can easily find these varieties in their home country although people in the home country can debate what the authentic version is (ex. ala Bolognese and spaghetti or tagliatelle)
This is exactly the same with Italian food: even though the US is full of people of Italian descent, that doesn't change the fact that the Olive Garden menu baffles Italians. Italian-American is a different kitchen. Just like British-Indian food. Or Tex-Mex. Sometimes these adaptations are pretty good (the British Indian food, which is what everyone outside india thinks of as "Indian food" is pretty good!) but for so…
> This is exactly the same with Italian food This is exactly the same with all food, everywhere. Cultures appropriate and modify stuff they get from other cultures, continually. Americans did it with Chinese, sure. And also Italian as you point out. And Mexican. And Japanese (the modern conception of "fancy maki rolls" is mostly an American export). And the Italians did it too! And the Mexicans! And the Chinese! The…
Agreed: maybe the problem though is that the most famous appropriation of international cuisine in the US is done by large chains of restaurants (Olive Garden, Taco Bell, ...) which is both not authentic and low quality - but that correlation is accidental.
As you point out there is tons of very good food in the US of all origins - and to be fair there are likely at least as meny very good (both excellen quality and "authentic", whatever that means) Italian Restaurants in New York than in Rome.
Cantonese in the US didn't get Hunan themselves until Henry Chung brought it: http://www.sfchronicle.com/restaurants/article/Henry-Chung-H...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is exactly the same with Italian food This is exactly the same with all food, everywhere. Cultures appropriate and modify stuff they get from other cultures, continually. Americans did it with Chinese, sure. And also Italian as you point out. And Mexican. And Japanese (the modern conception of "fancy maki rolls" is mostly an American export). And the Italians did it too! And the Mexicans! And the Chinese! The…
Authenticity itself is a problematic concept. There is another confounding variable, especially but not exclusively in the US, which is the industrialization of food production. In some ways quality is thus traded off against convenience and cost, but it has nothing to do with the specific origins of the dishes and techniques.
This is exactly the same with Italian food: even though the US is full of people of Italian descent, that doesn't change the fact that the Olive Garden menu baffles Italians. Italian-American is a different kitchen. Just like British-Indian food. Or Tex-Mex. Sometimes these adaptations are pretty good (the British Indian food, which is what everyone outside india thinks of as "Indian food" is pretty good!) but for so…