Food & Culture

Just make sure to ask about the country's customs in order to avoid misunderstandings. I remember a cook visiting us locals in Barbados when I was little and he truly offended my grandma by tasting her soup from the stirring spoon. :eek: A real no no in our family. She smiled awkwardly as not to offend him but threw the soup out after he left. She always blew on the soup and poured it into her hand before sipping as not to contaminate (her words) the whole pot. She believed that you never knew when someone was sick.

As for Bobby Flay. I find him to be the most arrogant chef. No respect at all. I did not like his conduct both times he was on the Iron Chef. I mean, so what if the guy has the money to replace the cutting board. What he did by standing on it was disrespectful and unsanitary. No one could use that thing again after his shoes hit it. :mad:

Everybody accts arrogant on Iron chef have you ever heard the things they say about each other ? It is not a serious show it is like pro wrestling I think what Bobby did was well within the character of the show.

Bacchus: What is it you want to emulate?

What exactly is it about Tony Bourdain that you want to copy? Just traveling around the world eating? Anyone can do that; have money, can travel. Being on television doing it? Read the book first (A Cook's Tour; In Search of the Perfect Meal) -- you'd better find someone to pay for you to do it. Oh, and while you're at it, read Kitchen Confidential and his novels Bone in the Throat and Gone Bamboo. You'll get an idea then of his dreamt-of swash-buckling persona.

I DO respect Chef Bourdain, but "going out on the edge of the culinary world"? No, not really. Almost everything he mentions can be had here in the good old U.S. of A. Maybe after you finish at J&W you should just spend some time traveling around THIS country, going to places like Minneapolis/St. Paul where there are lots of Hmong, or the East or West Coasts where there are many people who left Hong Kong and the mainland, or the Detroit area with its large Arab population, or Texas which has an incredible mix now of people of different ethnic backgrounds (right, Panini?). ;)

Sorry, but it sounds like you are a bit too TV-oriented. How about reading some books first and then searching out the resources discussed?

I guess we are the only ones who find Bobby Flay abrasive. As for travelling...if that's in your blood, I say DO IT. I think you will gain more experience with other cultures by actually going to their countries. Most Americans believe that the foods they find in Caribbean or Mexican restaurants is authentic cuisine but that is not the case. Most of us that are from those countries have never even heard of most of the dishes. We tend to adapt most of our cooking to suit the American tastebuds. :)

Im all for your plan. Just remember what I said before. Learn the customs first. It will save you alot of trouble and locked doors. :)

Bacchus - I've never heard Suzanne talk down to anyone.

Traveling to another country, true, is a way to learn native food culture and CUISINE. But, if you travel within the US, in the pockets of different cultures we have here, and get invited to eat in people's homes, I think you'd find more 'authentic' food being prepared there.

My martial arts instructor, a Japanese/Hawaiian, owned a Japanese restaurant/sushi bar, with all the typical teriyaki/shabu-shabu/tempura dishes we're all used to. But go to his home to eat, and we would learn what Japanese and Hawaiian food was really all about; all the family dishes that would never make it to a restaurant.

Personal note to Bacchus

If you have not yet checked your Private Messages, please do so.

I agree with the thought that to get the best authentic meals in America, as far as other cultures go, get into the people's lives and homes. Chinese restaurants tend to have the menu they give to the "roundeyes" vs. what they offer those of Asian descent, if they request it.

And the nachos and burritos you get in Mexican restaurants? In Mexico, those dishes don't exist. So an authentic Mexican restaurant shouldn't even serve them, but it's what Americans like, and order, so they do, for the perfectly logical reason that they make money!

Go out and ask. It's so amazing sometimes what you can do, if you just ask. =)

SG

food and culture

bacchus, don't listen to them. the food that you will get in the states is in no way comparable to what you will get abroad. i have worked in asia now for 7 years as an executive chef. i've spent 2 years in thailand, one in vietnam, and am now living in singapore. i can guarantee you that the food you will get abroad is far superior to what is available at home. i actually think it ignorant for the person to suggest that you stay in america to try ethnic cuisine, and that no travel is necessary. see the world while you're young and free. i have absolutely no regrets about playing the nomadic chef role. you can always return to the states if you don't like it abroad. but you'll never pick up the nuances of other cuisines without living and working with the people.

Not to mention that even though you may find our ingredients at the supermarket etc. it is NEVER the same. The brown sugar here sucks.....Im sorry but it does. Unless you buy it from the Asian Markets cause that is as close as you are gonna get to the real stuff. And nothing beats fresh goats milk or fresh picked coconuts, plums, and pear (what americans know as Avocado).

The ingredients have a different flavor due to weather and soil. Our sweet potatoes are not like american sweet potatoes. First of all they have a reddish-purple skin and are a white or grayish color. And they are much sweeter. In our homes here in America we make do with american ingredients so even if it is prepared the way we would back home the flavor will be different.

Though I am not against travelling to experience other cultures and cuisines (I also believe that if you want to really understand an ethnic cuisine you must travel to the country of origin), I am of the opinion that this country has a lifetime of learning opportunities with all of its various regional cuisines. As an American chef, I am proud of our culinary heritage and I find it very interesting how our regional cuisines evolved as new immigrants moved into areas, adding their ethnic cuisines to the mix. There are tremendous opportunities to study how food evolves here in this country. And it gives you a chance to meet a very diverse mix of people.

I find it interesting that American chefs still feel the need to travel to other countries to learn all they can about different cuisines. It sometimes seems as if we are embarrassed by our cuisine or feel the need to justify our skills by "taking on" another culture. I should be one to talk with my love of the great cuisines of Europe, and wish to travel, once again, throughout the area. But, I think that young American chefs quickly set their sights abroad, forgetting about the diversity we find here at home. Most chefs in other countries have made it their lifelong endevor to study their nations cuisine and its every little nuance. American chefs, for some reason, feel the need to attempt to learn all of these nations cuisines. I am afraid that it has made many chefs a "Jack of all trades (cuisines), master of none".

I guess we are the only ones who find Bobby Flay abrasive.

Bobby Flay has gone the way of Emeril, thriving on the exposure and media with the cooking taking a back seat. After their media rush is over, they might get back to what they do best and probably will be taken a whole lot more seriously. Especially if Bobby loses that useless appendage, Jackie. Worse than Claudine Pepin.

As far as leaving your homeland to experience the cuisine of other lands, you get more than simply a plate of food when you dine abroad. You get the entire experience of the land from which the dish originates. There is plenty of excellent, authentic ethnic food available in the US because immigrants don't simply forget how to prepare the dishes of their land when they arrive here. Especially in urban areas which yield a great deal more opportunity for people, the ethnic enclaves are responsible for some of the most excellent food available here. However, to fully live the experience of ethnic food, it's best done when your entire body can do it.

As for the lousy attitude of some food snobs with reference to the US, the planes land both ways, coming and going. Feel free to jump on one.

I think the advent of modern travel and technology has givin us the oppurtunity too traval and study others cultures and cuisines. What is wrong with that? Nothing.

It is important to us to understand that because our sweet potatoes taste different it is because they are produced in our soil.

Citrus taste different from every country that grows it, figs from California will not taste the same as figs from Greece or Italy. However, this is not to say they are “bad” only they are different. This is part and parcel of what makes the whole idea of cross-cultural expereances so fasinating.

We have an incredible abundence of cuisines in America, no dought because of all the settlements of people from around the world. These availible resourses to chefs are very exciting and help us develop even more refined and diversified palates.

Don’t forget about Eliza Leslie and Lydia Maria Childs who gave us two of Americas most inflential cookbooks in 1820, or Amilia Simmens early works. And of course Irma Rombourer.

What about the chefs that have worked so hard to research and develop what we now call American cuisine
Patrick Clark
Dean Fearing
Larry Forgione
Mark Miller
Bradly Ogden
Charles Palmer
Johnathan Sundstom
Craig Stoll
Frank Ruta
E. Michael Reidt
Will Packard
Anita Lo
Randy Lewis
Sandra Gambo
Wylie Dufrense
Kelly Courtney.

Although some of these chefs did work and study abroad, their claim to fame (so to speak) is their American food. In addition, what of the farmers and how they work with chefs.

I think the connection between the farmers and the chefs has developed into a very positive and hopefully growth drivin partership.

The greatest part of being an American chef in these times is that we have the good fortune of having almost every type of ingredient availible to us. I think the most important thing to regonize for chefs is to respect our ingredients, understand them, and produce the highest level of cuisine we can with them.

Whether it is a pommalo from tywan or a grapefruit from Florida.

I am not against studying the cuisines of different countries at all. I just thnk that young American chefs tend to look overseas, before they really even have an idea of what is happening in this country and our diverse heritage. I do feel though, that American chefs have too many options. In this ever shrinking world we can pick ingredients from every corner of the earth, and are exposed to hundreds of different cuisines. Too many American chefs want to take them all on. I am sorry, but there is no way any one chef can master all the cuisines out there, though many try. That is why there is a glut of crappy "fusion" food out there. Too many chefs what to take what they learned from a week in Thailand, a week in Mexico, and a week in Germany and combine them all. How can you even think of tinkering with a cuisine until you have mastered its basics. It takes chefs, of these native cuisines, years to master them, yet young American chefs often times spend a week somewhere and think that they have "master" the cuisine there. It seems strange, but I truly think that one of the major delimmas facing American chefs, is what kind of food to do. With an opportunity to play with so many cuisines it is no wonder that many chef's menus lack any form of cohesion, and that the food they do is lackluster at best.

I'd like to add a few names to your list, Cape Chef.

Alice Waters
Bill Neal
Edna Lewis

The reason these chefs are to be respected is because they took what they knew of their own culture and background, found what made it unique and distinctive and presented it in a way that resonated with their public. They, and their foods, are all the genuine article--not just a dressed-up costume from another place.

Remember what Dorothy said when returning from Oz--"If I ever need to go looking for my heart's desire, I only need look in my own back yard."

Dear FNF,

You are absolutly correct to add those names.

Thank you very much :)
CC

sounds like culinary tourism to me

To me, everything described above points to "culinary tourism". If it looks like a duck, talks like a duck....

Culinary tourism is an important new travel industry niche. As F&B professionals, we often overlook that many of the people eating in our restaurants may actually be tourists. In fact, did they drive two hours just to eat at that new restaurant? Did they follow a "celebrity chef" on a circuit, like high-schoolers have done with rock bands?

I'd be interested in hearing commentary on the culinary tourism niche.

Thanks!:bounce: