[Peachcreek]

This is actually a tangent thread from the "Cioppino" thread.
It seems to me that as soon as you cook something with a well known name, the next thing you get are the people who become obscessed with its" "authenticity", as if making something exactly the same by everyone in the world was the paragon to be achieved. My answer? Make up my own name! Then I can call it anything I want and no one can tell try to correct me for my food. I make things that may be remarkably similar to a well known item. And in some cases that I think I am going to be O.K. I call them the same as the rest of the world. Things like Ranch dressing. But I can't tell you how many times I have gotten verbally beat up because the New England Clam Chowder wasn"t "authentic"! I call B.S. So about 7 years ago, I started naming things whatever I wanted. I found that way people get beyond the name and enjoy the food.
BTW, I don't make Cioppino. I make Redfish Soup.!!! And it is made EXACTLY the way I said!!!!!LOL

[cape chef]

So what you are saying that it should be a "Free for all" when using the history of gastronomy? Recipes or (Guidence) if you will, are there for us to interprate, I agree with you on that, But I find people are often very willing to slightly change a historical recipe and call it there own (Right Martha ) I have no dought that your red fish soup is incredible....and it is made the way you said so.
So share with us it's origan and history
cc

[chrose]

Welcome to marketing 101!

[panini]

Here in Texas we have a thing called Truth in Menu. Its not a very enforced law but it guides us in our marketing.

[Athenaeus]

I have witnessed many times in restaurants people that order "authentic" recipes ,let's say " New York cheese cake" ( in Athens...) and as soon as they taste it they call the chef , angry, to give him a lecture on what a New York cheese cake is...
They do that just to show off to their date or their friends( that they know the authentic recipes) and of course to the rest of the clients of the restaurant that witness the scene.

The question is if the owner of the restaurant in Athens has the right to claim that he prepares NY Cheese cake since he cannot have the same ingredients ( for example in Greece they don't sell sour cream )
And the client knowing ( or he doesn't?? ) that sour creme is not available in Greece why he complains and why he orders this cheese cake if he seeks for authenticity?
Needless to remark that men usually make scenes in restaurants about the authentic recipes ...

Go figure...

[Peachcreek]

About 10 years ago I spent a winter working in Sun Valley. One of the jobs I had I waited tables and filled in cooking at a mid-grade family restaurant. Lunch might run you $5.00- $9.00, so actually cheap for where you were. The food was mid-grade too. Most, but not all of the food was derivative of a pre-made item. Hollandaise from a mix, frozen meatballs, mostly frozen seafood, portioned steaks.
It was known around town for that kind of food, and we also got a lot of seniors who liked the "coffeeshop" atmosphere.
One very slow afternoon, I get a table of customers, senior men coming in for lunch. One customer looked over the 10 page menu and could'nt find anything he wanted. So he tells me he is in the mood for Fettucine Alfredo but we did'nt have it on the menu, but would we make it anyway. He did the Jack Nicholson routine from "Five Easy Pieces", pointing out that we had both fettucine listed on one part of the menu, and Alfredo Sauce listed on another part, so throw everything else away and HE WANTED FETTUCINE ALFREDO! Thinking that I would make this guy happy and knowing that the Alfredo Sauce on the menu was a mix, I went back and asked the cook if I could make this guys' Fettucine Alfredo. I made it with the fettucine, added my cream, egg yolk, managed to find some decent hard grating cheese (the owner would'nt buy Reggiano, but I used the best I could find), fresh cracked pepper at the end. It turned out pretty good.
So I take the food out to the table, and the guy looks at the fettucine and loudly announces that THIS IS NOT FETTUCINE ALFREDO! And how do we expect him to eat this....etc. etc. etc. THEN he goes on to tell me that earlier that year he was in Rome and had Fettucine Alfredo at THE restuarant that originated it, and how ALREDO HIMSELF, or maybe his closest living relative had come out to make it tableside with a special pan and gold tongs given to him by Douglas Fairbanks Sr, and that what was in front of him now did not resemble that dish whatsoever. Seriously, customers like that are a nuisance! By now the rest of the table are wondering if their $5.00 burgers are made out of stray cats......
My thought is that I think I was within the realm of calling what I made, by West Coast North American standards, Fettucine Alfredo. I might go out on a limb and grate a little nutmeg over the top, but I like nutmeg. At least IMHO, I don't think I deserved to be lambasted by the guy because I did'nt fulfill HIS expectation.....Noodles with Cheese? Anyone?

[Pete]

Peachtree, I totally understand where you are coming from. The problem is, is that there are many different interpertations of many classic dishes, and too many people who think they know more about food than they really do. Seems that one trip to Europe makes them experts! I have often used the same stradegey that you do, giving the dish a more descriptive name more often than calling it by its classic name. But I also like using the classic names, even if I tweak the recipe a little to give it my own twist. As I stated in an earlier thread about classic food, I really hate broad interpertations of classic dishes, but giving it a small tweak, if you keep in mind the intregdy of the dish, is perfectly acceptable. That allows a chef to show his/her indivduallity. But, again don't call it a coippino if you have flavored it with ginger, lemongrass and jalapenos. I think you get where I am coming from.