Forum: Author Hangout

Authentic

awnlee jawking 🚫

I think I understand why 'authentic' is beloved by AI - it's effectively meaningless.

It can mean 'genuine', as in 'carbon dating and handwriting verification prove that this oil painting is a genuine William Shakespeare'.

It can mean a good fake, as in 'this is an authentic Melton Mowbray pork pie' even though it wasn't made in Melton Mowbray.

Or it can mean completely bogus, as in 'The Rajah Tandoori Restaurant provides an authentic Indian dining experience' even though the staff aren't Indian and the dishes were invented in Birmingham.

AJ

Replies: Michael Loucks jimq2 awnlee jawking solreader50 dookie

Michael Loucks 🚫

@awnlee jawking

authentic Indian dining experience' even though the staff aren't Indian and the dishes were invented in Birmingham.

I'd classify that as a complete misuse of the word! Well, unless meant sarcastically, where positive statements are turned negative by intonation.

jimq2 🚫

@awnlee jawking

authentic Indian dining experience' even though the staff aren't Indian and the dishes were invented in Birmingham.

We see that all the time here in Phoenix. Many of the "authentic" ethnic restaurants are owned and run by people who never stepped foot in, or had ancestors from, the country it supposedly represented. The owner of a "Japanese" sushi restaurant is from Australia, and the owner of a "Chinese" buffet is Vietnamese. Of course, all the pizza joints feature "real" Italian food. I guess you could say Taco Bell is "authentic" Mexican food.

Replies: Switch Blayde Grant

Switch Blayde 🚫

@jimq2

We see that all the time here in Phoenix.

Like Nick's, the Italian restaurant in north Scottsdale (and I believe other locations). Nick is Israeli.

Great Italian food, by the way. Well, for me anyway. I was in Santa Fe once and ate in an authentic Mexican restaurant. It truly was authentic, as in how a Mexican family ate. It was nothing like the Mexican food I enjoy in Arizona. So in that case, "authentic" wasn't to my liking.

Grant 🚫

@jimq2

We see that all the time here in Phoenix. Many of the "authentic" ethnic restaurants are owned and run by people who never stepped foot in, or had ancestors from, the country it supposedly represented.

That doesn't have to mean the food isn't authentic (although it rarely is).

The biggest issue with producing authentic food, is getting the ingredients- regardless of who you are or where you're from. If you've got those, and have trained with someone from that region (or even better yet, in that region), then it's possible to provide authentic food from that region even if you're not from there.

awnlee jawking 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Or it can mean completely bogus, as in 'The Rajah Tandoori Restaurant provides an authentic Indian dining experience' even though the staff aren't Indian and the dishes were invented in Birmingham.

I missed a trick there. I should have said Balti rather than tandoori because that was actually invented in Birmingham. However it's Pakistani cuisine rather than Indian. (Do Americans have balti?)

AJ

Replies: EricR helmut_meukel limab

EricR 🚫

@awnlee jawking

The only place I've ever eaten balti is the UK. I had to ask what it was. Seems uniquely yours…

helmut_meukel 🚫

@awnlee jawking

However it's Pakistani cuisine rather than Indian.

Authentic Indian cuisine? India has a vast diversity of ethnic groups, each with its own distinct culture, language, and traditions. This includes local cuisine.
The most obvious difference in the cuisine of the subcontinent is caused by religion. Despite the separation of the Islamic Pakistan and Bangladesh from India, 14.23% (2011 Census) Indians are Muslims.

HM.

limab 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Do Americans have balti?

Google says that I can get it 10 miles from here. We used to have a place called China Rose that sold teriyaki made by a Vietnamese family. The Bell in Taco Bell was a gringo (Glen Bell) Justin Wilson was not Cajun but he supposedly did grow up in the community. I have always wanted to get an interpreter and talk to the little old ladies in the kitchens who ruled with wooden spoons. Would my cooking be authentic then?

Hmm I'm getting hungry. Seeya, limab

Replies: jimq2

jimq2 🚫

@limab

Justin Wilson was not Cajun

WRONG! Wilson was born in Roseland near Amite, the seat of Tangipahoa Parish in Louisiana.

solreader50 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Or it can mean completely bogus, as in 'The Rajah Tandoori Restaurant provides an authentic Indian dining experience' even though the staff aren't Indian and the dishes were invented in Birmingham.

Gosh, you take me back. I can remember in the 70s when we would fall out of The Fighting Cocks and then make our way to the Ladypool Road for "an Indian". But they weren't. They were all Pakistani in those days. Chicken Curry with Chapatis. The menus, with about 3 choices, followed the KISS principle. I just looked on Google Maps and my favourite place is now the "El Toro Steak House". How times have changed.

dookie 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Re "authentic" food, I would expect most purveyors of truly authentic foods in a foreign market to go out of business rather quickly.
As a Canadian who has traveled extensively and lived in Asia for five years, I have noticed that restauranteurs, however authentic they might be, have to modify their dishes to match the tastes of local diners, unless there is a large enough diaspora population to attract. Vietnamese food in Singapore does not taste the same as in Hanoi. Non-Cantonese food in Hong Kong doesn't taste like meals in Kunming or Chongqing. I've had Thai food around the world, often prepared by Thai chefs, but I still have to specify "Thai spicy" if I want something closer to authentic.

Replies: helmut_meukel

helmut_meukel 🚫

@dookie

I have noticed that restauranteurs, however authentic they might be, have to modify their dishes to match the tastes of local diners, unless there is a large enough diaspora population to attract.

That's why you get the most authentic Japanese food in Europe in Düsseldorf (capital of North Rhine-Westphalia) because the German and most European Headquarters of Japanese companies are located around there. To get the most authentic Japanese food there you still should look Japanese or speak Japanese or be accompanied by a Japanese.

HM.

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@helmut_meukel

I'm surprised a protectionist bloc like the EU allows the import of real Japanese ingredients.

AJ

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Forum: Author Hangout

Authentic

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