> 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…
That is common in many other Asian countries, in Indonesia, some would bake fish as it is without anything, then you would add whatever you want when you take your cut to your plate, salt and other spices. It is a legitimate way of thinking about purity of foods and drinks I think. Coffee connoisseurs would not dilute the coffee with sugar nor cardamon, in the Levant for example.
Chinese people can be absolute snobs about tea, but the same people like bubble tea which isn't made with high quality tea because you wouldn't taste the difference through the milk and sugar. Both are delicious in their own way.
Just speaking for my own diet (mostly Chinese), it's common to steam a fresh fish with a bit of salt, ginger, and scallion, and let the fish speak for itself. But the very next meal might be a curry or some other dish that relies heavily on the sauce. But then none of that carries over to making steak (buy high quality, cook neurotically), or making gumbo (get a few specific parts right but otherwise it's a high-tolerance dish), or making coffee.
There are definitely different paradigms for food, and I think if someone is unable or unwilling to appreciate that, it's their loss.