Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
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Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#2Hmm, reads a bit like “why Indian cuisine is much better than European”.
I love them all, no need to poo-poo one with snobbery etc.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#3Interesting, the indulgence/purity pendulum again. This seems to have happened a lot. The overindulgence of, say, Elizabethan outfits, all ruffs and slashes, versus much more staid black later on. Men inventing the high heeled boot then it switching to be a women's article of clothing. The ridiculous over-influence of France in all of these things, especially cooking. And of course the big indulgence/puritan fight that dominated Europe from the 1500s to the 1800s, the Reformation.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#4> Serving richly spiced stews was no longer a status symbol for Europe's wealthiest families — even the middle classes could afford to spice up their grub. "So the elite recoiled from the increasing popularity of spices," Ray says. "They moved on to an aesthetic theory of taste. Rather than infusing food with spice, they said things should taste like themselves. Meat should taste like meat, and anything you add only serves to intensify the existing flavors."
One of the main points in the article.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#5> Serving richly spiced stews was no longer a status symbol for Europe's wealthiest families — even the middle classes could afford to spice up their grub. "So the elite recoiled from the increasing popularity of spices," Ray says. "They moved on to an aesthetic theory of taste. Rather than infusing food with spice, they said things should taste like themselves. Meat should taste like meat, and anything you add only…
It does not really account for the fact that most of the population was peasants.
I would be really surprised that spices were a big part of cuisine. Maybe in the middle-class indeed, but that was still a really small part of the population.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#6Interesting, the indulgence/purity pendulum again. This seems to have happened a lot. The overindulgence of, say, Elizabethan outfits, all ruffs and slashes, versus much more staid black later on. Men inventing the high heeled boot then it switching to be a women's article of clothing. The ridiculous over-influence of France in all of these things, especially cooking. And of course the big indulgence/puritan fight th…
French was the language that everyone used for diplomacy, so I assume that's how their culture spread in that period.
Much like American culture spreads so easily at the moment because of English.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#7if they had snobbish enough a few decades earlier, we would all be spared a hundred years of colonization, the Great Bengal Famine as well as the single most dangerous nuclear flashpoint that exists in the world right now.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#8> Serving richly spiced stews was no longer a status symbol for Europe's wealthiest families — even the middle classes could afford to spice up their grub. "So the elite recoiled from the increasing popularity of spices," Ray says. "They moved on to an aesthetic theory of taste. Rather than infusing food with spice, they said things should taste like themselves. Meat should taste like meat, and anything you add only…
Sounds to me like an argument presented ex post facto.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#9In Italy we say: "A lot of spices are to cover the taste of bad ingredients".
It means that if you use a lot of spices ( we _usually_ use only black pepper and salt ), you are going to cover the taste of the ingredients you are using, we believe that you need to use good ingredients to have flavourful recipes, if an ingredient tastes bad you shouldn't use it. Also we always search for the balance, there shouldn't be too much meat or too much vegetables, just the right balance where each flavour brings the best of the each other.
Re: Snobbery Helped Take the Spice Out of European Cooking (2015)
#10Speaking of snobbery: the reason why "Indian food is so delicious" is that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. Or, more appropriately: "de gustibus non est disputandum". I know lots of people who really don't like Indian food. (luckily, I'm not one of them).
Perhaps something that the cited studies overlooked: surely, one reason a lot of Indian dishes are tasty is their high calorie content. Hmmm, sweet calories.
For instance, check out Vah Reh Vah chef's recipe for Dal Makhani [1]: the amount of oil, butter and cream combined in a single pot might well clog your arteries just by watching the video. ;-). Yet, I'll be damned if I didn't want to try it right away!