Authenticity

[talon]

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/01/18/lunchtime-poll-does-authenticity-matter-to-you/?hpt=Sbin

First, "authenticity" needs to be defined. One person's "authentic" is another person's "counterfeit", because they each have different experiences and expectations.

In my experience, when most people say "authentic", they really mean "exactly the way it was prepared the first time I ate it in (this place)", and sometimes they mean "exactly the way it was prepared in (this remote, virtually impossible to get to teensy tinsy village by the oldest little granny there who was the keeper of All Things Authentic)", and sometimes, they haven't a clue what they mean, only that they're pretty sure the dish they are enjoying wasn't made that way in its country of origin.

I've traveled around the world to lots and lots of places and eaten lots of food in restaurants, from roadside vendors, and in private homes.

No one makes a better, more authentic version of spaetzle than my Oma, not even me, using her recipe and procuring the same ingredients at import expense. It's authentic only because she made it. Now, I make a mighty fine spaetzle and most people who haven't eaten my Oma's or who have only had restaurant spaetzle claim mine's "authentic", but I know better.

The boeuf bourguignon is different depending upon who cooks it, and is basically a beef stew with a French name. There is no one true authentic version of it.

And that's how it is with many dishes. There is no one true authentic version of any dish. There are many tasty variations and each is authentic to the cook/chef.

In America, we come the closest to having dishes that are all standardized and prepared exactly the same way regardless of where in the country you eat it - the influence of chain restaurants and franchises. In that regard, we do have "authentic" McDonald's burgers and Popeye's chicken and Taco Bueno burritos and so on and so forth. Personally, I find that kind of sad and lackluster.

To me, what makes a dish "authentic" is the cook, the heart and soul of the person who prepares it, not necessarily the fact that the dish is prepared all standardized and exactly the same way with exactly the same ingredients each and every time regardless of the state or country in which it's eaten.

When I'm craving an "authentic" enchilada, it's not the enchilada I crave so much as it is Mama Feugo's way of making them, or the community effort of making them on a torch-lit night with fiesta music blasting from boom boxes and kids tripping you up. Canned enchiladas are "authentic" if all one wants is the spicy meat wrapped in corn masa and steamed in cornhusks, and sometimes, the canned enchiladas are tastier than the community made ones...

I also love creative foods. Fusion fills my heart with glee. When done well, fusing cuisines makes a delicious new dish. Boba tea, for instance, wouldn't exist but for fusion. And we wouldn't have Tex-Mex. I love Tex-Mex. Pizza is a fusion dish. And Indian tacos. Coffee granita. Smoothies.

Nope, I don't want authenticity so much as I want tasty. The closest I'll come to demanding "authenticity" is if I am in a restaurant and I order, say, a bean burrito and what I'm served is a watery bowl of slightly crunchy pinto beans, a slice of white bread with the crust torn off, and a bottle of ketchup. That happened to me once. I've never been able to eat a burrito again without reflecting on that terribly inauthentic burrito and being grateful that the one I was eating right then was made of tortillas, creamy refried beans, and a thick and spicy sauce - cheese is a bonus.