foods that are more 'american' than authentic

[Pakey]

I've never traveled anywhere where the food was like the Americanized version. I just returned from 2 weeks in China (not on a tour) and I've never had braised cow hoof, duck webs, yak tripe, etc here in the U.S. I never saw any chow mein and the egg roll I had was not fried. I ate at local places where they were scooping the fish in buckets right as you walked into the restaurant. One place even proudly brought out the pig leg, complete with hoof, to show us where our meat had come from.

My maternal grandmother came to the US from Italy and even her food as I knew it was vastly different from the Italian food I had while vacationing in Italy. It's been the same in every country I have visited.

 

[legalsea]

I've never traveled anywhere where the food was like the Americanized version. I just returned from 2 weeks in China (not on a tour) and I've never had braised cow hoof, duck webs, yak tripe, etc here in the U.S. I never saw any chow mein and the egg roll I had was not fried. I ate at local places where they were scooping the fish in buckets right as you walked into the restaurant. One place even proudly brought out the pig leg, complete with hoof, to show us where our meat had come from.

My maternal grandmother came to the US from Italy and even her food as I knew it was vastly different from the Italian food I had while vacationing in Italy. It's been the same in every country I have visited.

I imagine that is true: people, and food, progress. Before refrigeration you simply had a completely different cooking style. Before the advent of better and faster transportation you were 'stuck' with local produce.

Today, with refrigeration, airplanes, etc., ethnic foods are getting more diversified and, I hope, better.

Given the choice between going back in time 150 years and eating 'authentic' Mexican food in Mexico, or staying right here and eating at an El Fenix, I will choose El Fenix every time.

 

[mykidsand_i]

As someone pointed out, just because it isn't "ethnically authentic" does NOT mean the food doesn't taste good.

Oh, I agree. I love some of the foods in a 'chinese restaurant' or a 'Mexican' restaurant here- it tastes good. BUT, the thought is that there are dishes that they don't even serve a FORM of in those countries! (Sweet and sour chicken/pork being one in China)...it's not even a form of what we offer here- we haven't 'changed the recipe to localize our ingred.' We've CREATED it ourselves (americans) and called it Chineese!

And yes, I've had a bad slice of pizza in Italy, but I wasn't in the 'pizza area' of Italy. Some areas make THE BEST PIZZA a person will ever eat in their lives, while OTHER areas can't make it for the life of them! Every area of Italy has very different food specialties!

I understand that some people wouldn't like the 'authentic' version of a different countries foods...Chineese people eat some pretty crazy stuff. They like it, but we don't have the flavor palate for it. BUT, if we don't like their REAL food, I still don't think we have the right to create new dishes and call them Chineese food. We could change their food so we like it more- but CREATING NEW RECIPES...doesn't make it chineese...There are SOOOOOOOO MANY people out there that think they are 'learning new cultures' by going to these restaurants- and it has NOTHING to do with those countries and cultures at all!

I really miss the real Mexican food- And the REAL Italian food- and even a few REAL chineese food dishes...nothing in my area can compare!

 

[Toad_Passenger]

Oh, I agree. I love some of the foods in a 'chinese restaurant' or a 'Mexican' restaurant here- it tastes good. BUT, the thought is that there are dishes that they don't even serve a FORM of in those countries! (Sweet and sour chicken/pork being one in China)...it's not even a form of what we offer here- we haven't 'changed the recipe to localize our ingred.' We've CREATED it ourselves (americans) and called it Chineese!

I'm not sure who you mean when you say "we've" created it. As far as I can see, and I'd hate to go just on looks, but the people creating and making these items are, in fact, of Asian descent, at least at the establishments I frequent.

Now, I guess you could say our "Americanized" tastes helped create these dishes, but they must have a root somewhere in Chinese food history.

 

[crashbb]

This reminds of a thread from a while ago (sorry, I have no idea who started it) where the OP was insisting that the only place in the US to get authentic Mexican food is at the Mexican pavilion in EPCOT.

It was a little worrying, to be honest.

I'm lucky in that I live in a very multi-cultural city with lots of pockets where one can get good food that actually reflects food that would be served in different areas (i.e. we can go to China Town, Little Italy, Greek Town, Little India, etc.). Even there though, they aren't going to exactly what is served in China, Italy, India, etc. First because the ingredients are going to be different. Secondly, most countries have cuisines that differ by regions - what is traditionally served in Beijing, for example, is not the same as what is traditionally eaten in Shanghai.

 

[monkeybug]

I imagine that is true: people, and food, progress. Before refrigeration you simply had a completely different cooking style. Before the advent of better and faster transportation you were 'stuck' with local produce.

Today, with refrigeration, airplanes, etc., ethnic foods are getting more diversified and, I hope, better.

Given the choice between going back in time 150 years and eating 'authentic' Mexican food in Mexico, or staying right here and eating at an El Fenix, I will choose El Fenix every time.

I'll take a couple modern day fish tacos on the beach in Cabo, and some Jarritos tamarind soda to wash it down!
Which version of the food is "better" authentic, or Americanized is of course a matter of opinion, but I don't think you have to travel 150 years through time to get tasty "authentic" Mexican food in Mexico!
I guess what's "authentic" and what's not, is not so cut and dry. I just wish there was some Mexican food around here that didn't include a pile of melted cheddar cheese and a heap of ground beef!

 

[monkeybug]

This reminds of a thread from a while ago (sorry, I have no idea who started it) where the OP was insisting that the only place in the US to get authentic Mexican food is at the Mexican pavilion in EPCOT.

It was a little worrying, to be honest.

Ha ha! Seriously?? That's pretty dang funny!

 

[DMickey28]

I'm not sure who you mean when you say "we've" created it. As far as I can see, and I'd hate to go just on looks, but the people creating and making these items are, in fact, of Asian descent, at least at the establishments I frequent.

Now, I guess you could say our "Americanized" tastes helped create these dishes, but they must have a root somewhere in Chinese food history.

Good Point. I have NEVER been to a chinese restaurant (PF Chang's does not count!) that was not owned/run by someone of Asian decent. However, each place was vastly different in their offerings between Boston, Cape Cod, New Hampshire, New York, Chicago, Indiana, South Florida and Central Florida. The stuff in Indiana, Chicago and Florida was barely ediable based on what I grew up eating in the North East, yet it was run/owned by someone of Asian decent.

For example, I have NEVER heard of Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls. Obviously that must be a Chinese staple in some parts of the country. Sweet and Sour Chicken, Sweet and Sour Pork ... of course but not chicken balls which I imagine are similar to a meatball but sweet and sour chinese "style".

 

[NotUrsula]

Oh, I agree. I love some of the foods in a 'chinese restaurant' or a 'Mexican' restaurant here- it tastes good. BUT, the thought is that there are dishes that they don't even serve a FORM of in those countries! (Sweet and sour chicken/pork being one in China)...it's not even a form of what we offer here- we haven't 'changed the recipe to localize our ingred.' We've CREATED it ourselves (americans) and called it Chineese!

...

I understand that some people wouldn't like the 'authentic' version of a different countries foods...Chineese people eat some pretty crazy stuff. They like it, but we don't have the flavor palate for it. BUT, if we don't like their REAL food, I still don't think we have the right to create new dishes and call them Chineese food. We could change their food so we like it more- but CREATING NEW RECIPES...doesn't make it chineese...There are SOOOOOOOO MANY people out there that think they are 'learning new cultures' by going to these restaurants- and it has NOTHING to do with those countries and cultures at all!

Just FYI, sweet and sour pork is very much real Chinese, though of course the name is different in Cantonese. Something very similar (normally without pineapple) has been eaten in the Guangzhou area for a couple of centuries.

When it comes to China, never underestimate the differences that geography imposes. In a country of 9.5 million square miles, there are many differences from region to region in what people traditionally eat.

 

[Sarah_Rose]

I can think of one and a half that haven't changed too much.

Indian food. DH's department has a fellow department in India, and those guys come out to Seattle on occasion. Except for one guy (who just wants American food his whole trip), they always just want to go to the Indian restaurants, so they get the tastes of home and it doesn't mess up their bellies.

I agree that Seattle has a lot of pretty authentic Indian food - but it is mostly Northern Indian food. Southern Indian food is quite different; my best friend's family is from southern India and I love going over to her parents' place for dinner. Her mom has never had a "white girl" who loves Indian food as much as I do, and so always cooks a feast.

That's I guess where it comes down to regional differences; just like China and Italy, it's pretty hard to pin down one "authentic" type of food for the country.

On the other hand, I lived in the UK for several years and I miss "real, authentic British pub curry". It's really not much like authentic Indian food at all, but it is delicious in its own way, and sometimes when I'm eating real Indian food I miss the "fake" stuff.

On the subject of Seattle "Asian Fusion" cuisine, number 1 on my list of "things to do the second I am no longer pregnant" is to eat at Wild Ginger for their Hanoi Tuna (lightly seared on the outside and raw everywhere else). I so miss my raw fish.

 

[bettymae1121]

I'm lucky that, being from a large metro area, I can usually find restaurants with authentic (or close to it) ethnic food. For example, there is a Chinese restaurant in the 'burbs that has the best Mandarin Chinese food. While they do have the familiar Americanized dishes most of us are used to seeing (and the quality of those is amazing), they also have a good deal of traditional dishes. A lot of Asian immigrants (mostly Chinese from what I can tell) eat there on a regular basis, because they can get food "just like Mom used to make back home".

The same is true of Mexican food. I live in a suburb with a huge Latino population, mainly Mexican. There is a taco stand up the street that does some amazing things, again it's packed with Latinos at all hours (they're open for breakfast) so again I'm assuming they are getting some good home cooking. They have a lot of things on the menu that I'm not sure what they are, exactly. I stick with the more familiar tacos and enchiladas but one of these days I'll branch out and try something really different.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

All I can say is, if you're ever in New Zealand, don't eat at a place called Rita's Burrita's. You think flour tortillas are bad? I swear this place used crepes instead of tortillas. We should've known better.

But I do have to agree with the posters who said Americanized doesn't necessarily mean bad. I do enjoy a real Mexican corn tortilla, much more than an American corn tortilla, especially for fish tacos. But I love a nice soft quesadilla on a flour tortilla, as well.

My dad was from Italy, emigrating to the U.S. in his late 30's. We visited many times and yes, my aunts' cooking and the food served in restaurants there was very different from what they serve here. But go figure, my dad loved the Olive Garden.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

They have real Mexican tacos in California!!!!
I grew up eating yummy authentic Mexican food, and didn't realize until I moved what so much of the rest of America was trying to pass off as Mexican!
No ground beef or velveeta for me thanks! I want some carne asada, onions, cilantro, and a lime please! And a Margarita with extra salt!

Same here in Oregon too. Not as many places but they definitely exist. There's one that is about 1/4 mile down the road from my house that is out of the world.

One of my friends told me, if they don't use cilantro then it's probably bs.