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Authentic food. |
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pitrow
Master Chef Joined: 22 November 2010 Location: Newberg, Oregon Status: Offline Points: 1078 |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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well, it's pretty clear from reading this that there are some varying ideas on what is "authentic." it's one of those subjects that people can take quite seriously, for sure.
my own thoughts on the subject are pretty close to daikon's. his comments, especially referencing regionalism and the quest for good food, make good practical sense. along with that is something i learned when i first began cooking "international" food - i've said it before and i'll say it again: when it comes to most recipes and preparations, there are as many "right" ways to do it as there are cottages in a village. there are going to be variations of nearly any dish from region-to-region, province-to-province, town-to-town, family-to-family ~ etc. these variations are due to local availability, custom, tastes and preferencees, and while any or all may claim that theirs is THE RIGHT WAY TO DO IT, that claim is not always golden, and who is to say?
what i really doubt is that some old russian grandmother in her cabin is going to hold up supper because the beets for the borscht are not of exactly the right pedigree or variety. this is an extreme case, but it makes the point. borscht uses beets, and if you put beets in your borscht, you're going to have borscht. when i cook a trout dish, or a venison dish, there are many species of trout and venison, but any are going to work. whether it is a brook trout, a rainbow trout, or a brown trout doesn't really matter - i use a trout and i cook the dish. in fact, i am willing to bet that the freshness of the trouth trumps the species of the trout, or where it was caught, by a wide margin.
now when we are discussing the codified/certified recipes for certain dishes, i can understand where there might be some contention - the above-mentioned paella is an example, and so would be pizza. i have seen some of the most ridiculous debates over the flour, over the cheese etc. obviously these certifications have some value for preservation, marketing and probably tourism purposes, and i will not dispute that. they are valuable as a point of reference, but the truth, i am willing to assert, is that the common italian housewife probably doesn't give it a second thought. if for some reason she was going to make a pizza, woudn't she just make a pizza with whatever ingredients she had? refer back to the russian grandma and the borscht. the family needs fed, so the woman of the house cooks (or the man, in some cases), and that's a tradition, going back into the dawn of time, with credentials of its own. is the paella party going to be cancelled if not exactly the "correct" rice is on hand, but another, perfectly-acceptable rice is available?
the same applies with "the great chefs." escoffier may have used a brown trout for his dish, but i am willing to bet that he would have used a rainbow trout, if that had been the one vailable to him. and on that note, it is not as if we can go to france, dig him up and bring him back to life to cook that original dish again, which by some arguments could be the only way it is authentic. the dish is the dish, and unless someone has the goal of radically changing the dish (thereby creating a new one), any preparation of it is going to be an interpretation, isn't it? because it will never be EXACTLY the way it was the first time it was made, and that could be a good thing. i doubt that the great chefs intended for their creations to be that rigidly set in stone, to the point where someone has to go back to the oiginal kitchen and use the same water, the herbs snipped from the same plant etc.
such rigidity is not only impractical, it is dang near impossible - and thinking about it, probably isn't that deisreable. as cooks, such self-imposed boxes close a lot of doors, and stifle anything that would resemble a passion for the art, not to mention the resulting creativity that leads to new favourite dishes.
unfortunately, it looks like we've got a few "battle lines" drawn here, but it's important to remember why we are here: to share a passion for cooking and an interst in international/historical food, a common bond that brings all people together. hopefully, going forward, we can focus on the positive ~
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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As you say Ron, we're here to share a "passion" for cooking. When, passion comes into it sometimes emotions can get heated, and that is fine as long as things are kept civil. Another thing as well. This forum is English speaking, and not every member uses english as their first language. When that happens there are certain nuances that are missed, and by the same token, given that this is an internet forum there are nuances that are missed because all we have is the written word on the screen. There is no inflection, no body language etc, that gives additional meaning to what we say(post). Things that one would pick up if this was a face to face discussion.
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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say, darko - big agreement with everything you've said in that post. my main concern is that people can find a way to disagree without letting a debate escalate into something ridiculous. i read long ago that "When strangers meet, great allowances should be made for differences of custom and training." This is true across the history of the world, for sure ~
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AK1
Master Chef Joined: 10 April 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Status: Offline Points: 1081 |
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Having said the above;
I feel, with all due respect, that Margi has "shot herself in the foot" (as the old saying goes). Margi; you used the definition of authentic as; "original & uncopied..." IMO, that completely negates your argument, as anything other than the absolute first time a dish has been made is not authentic. Given that point of view, I think all foods should be called "original style..." Foods & ingredients change, year to year & day to day. It is such a fluid thing, that varies all the time based on climate, soil, exact breed of plant or animal, cooking method at the time... |
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TasunkaWitko
Admin Group Joined: 25 January 2010 Location: Chinook, MT Status: Offline Points: 9356 |
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well, i got some advice once that went like this ~ one doesn't have to have an original dyed-in-the-wool-local to make good regional food - some of the best regional recipes are massaged and developed over time and also around the region. it is a good one, and you stay as true as you can to the cuisine and the region, then roll with it.
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