That depends on what your definition of authentic is. If it means ingredients sourced from their host countries, then that's going to make it extremely hard for any restaurant to start; considering the logistical cost and generally things not being fresh enough. The appropriate definition should be authentic methods. If I want to cook dum biryani and market it as dum biryani, I should be cooking it in the traditional method of using a bread sealed handi; but calling it unauthentic if my chicken wasn't born in Hyderabad makes no sense.
I “think” I understand what you’re trying to get at. But it’s an unfortunate and limited perspective. Sure, New York isnt Thailand and the restaurant didn’t source their ingredients from a Bangkok market at 4am that morning. But that doesn’t mean the chef didn’t cook, study, or live in the region previously. So does that mean the only thing that makes a dish authentic is its local ingredients and there’s no credit given for the chefs experience? Also, how do you know the chef didn’t import any of the ingredients or spices from the place you’re expecting for it to be authentic?
One of the best things about meeting people in person is that no one is rude enough to make this kind of comment to your face. Unfortunately the internet removes that barrier.
Your comment is confusing rudeness with your ignorance of how foreigners feel about food in their host countries vs at home. His comment is not any different than what my Indian and Chinese friends say.
No, you are missing the point. Saying the OP’s comment, as stated, is just rude and socially inappropriate. In person, it would come off as being standoffish, nitpicky, and hostile. It’s not a good way to make friends and influence people.
This doesn’t exist online, where it’s acceptable to post “drive by” snarky putdowns that add nothing to the conversation and don’t actually address the issue at hand - in this case, the difficulty of sourcing ingredients.
A constructive comment would have asked about the difficulty of sourcing obscure ingredients and how the founder deals with that.
If you live in a metropolitan area, finding them in local niche shops tends to not be overly difficult. Not to mention that it's possible to import as well.
It's strange how you are being downvoted when my foreign friends say the exact same thing. They say that the food at the restaurants we go to have a different smell from the food back home.
That depends on what your definition of authentic is. If it means ingredients sourced from their host countries, then that's going to make it extremely hard for any restaurant to start; considering the logistical cost and generally things not being fresh enough. The appropriate definition should be authentic methods. If I want to cook dum biryani and market it as dum biryani, I should be cooking it in the traditional method of using a bread sealed handi; but calling it unauthentic if my chicken wasn't born in Hyderabad makes no sense.
That attitude isn’t invited to the dinner party.
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I “think” I understand what you’re trying to get at. But it’s an unfortunate and limited perspective. Sure, New York isnt Thailand and the restaurant didn’t source their ingredients from a Bangkok market at 4am that morning. But that doesn’t mean the chef didn’t cook, study, or live in the region previously. So does that mean the only thing that makes a dish authentic is its local ingredients and there’s no credit given for the chefs experience? Also, how do you know the chef didn’t import any of the ingredients or spices from the place you’re expecting for it to be authentic?
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You're right, how dare these rubes not ship in gallons of water from Turkey so they can boil that to be truly authentic. What idiots.
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One of the best things about meeting people in person is that no one is rude enough to make this kind of comment to your face. Unfortunately the internet removes that barrier.
Your comment is confusing rudeness with your ignorance of how foreigners feel about food in their host countries vs at home. His comment is not any different than what my Indian and Chinese friends say.
No, you are missing the point. Saying the OP’s comment, as stated, is just rude and socially inappropriate. In person, it would come off as being standoffish, nitpicky, and hostile. It’s not a good way to make friends and influence people.
This doesn’t exist online, where it’s acceptable to post “drive by” snarky putdowns that add nothing to the conversation and don’t actually address the issue at hand - in this case, the difficulty of sourcing ingredients.
A constructive comment would have asked about the difficulty of sourcing obscure ingredients and how the founder deals with that.
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Edit: dishes authentic to a region cooked as close to authentic as the chef and ingredients allow.
If you live in a metropolitan area, finding them in local niche shops tends to not be overly difficult. Not to mention that it's possible to import as well.
It's strange how you are being downvoted when my foreign friends say the exact same thing. They say that the food at the restaurants we go to have a different smell from the food back home.
Maybe when your friends travel, they change too.
The other possibility- that the climate and soil are different- is too absurd?
Your friends say "the Chinese food in America doesn't taste the same as the food back at home"?
Or your friend interrupts a restaurant owner - a restaurant they've never eaten at - and says "you call that 'authentic' food? I doubt it."
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