While you can often get bad versions of things if you go out of your way, many foods are hamstrung by supply chain, which is to say without a critical mass the labor intensive elements do not make sense or the specific crops are unavailable. Ask any migrant (eg. your next Uber driver) which foods they miss from their hometown or childhood and whether locally available versions are up to par. You'd be surprised at the details that emerge.
This is incredibly true even of things you wouldn't expect - Mexican food in Southern California is just different than Ohio even if you cook it yourself - because the ingredients may be labelled the same, but they're not.
While you can often get bad versions of things if you go out of your way, many foods are hamstrung by supply chain, which is to say without a critical mass the labor intensive elements do not make sense or the specific crops are unavailable. Ask any migrant (eg. your next Uber driver) which foods they miss from their hometown or childhood and whether locally available versions are up to par. You'd be surprised at the details that emerge.
This is incredibly true even of things you wouldn't expect - Mexican food in Southern California is just different than Ohio even if you cook it yourself - because the ingredients may be labelled the same, but they're not.