But I never did. I was comparing various breakfast rolls within Germany. If it’s the “same intent & technique,” why do they differ?
Anyway. I think in general we agree that good, authentic food can be had far away from its origins.
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Ah ok, I misunderstood, sorry.
Is fried chicken American?
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Nicely done
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Ok so when I manage to remove myself from the cross…
In the race to take my post completely literally, no one acknowledged the last sentence.
You can get good non local food. I made Cuban food when in Paris (much to the delight of a Cuban expat). I make French food here.
Didnt say it can’t be good or that all non local restaurants should close… I didnt even hint at it, because it didnt even enter my mind.
But the ingredients, the water, the experience of the environment are never going to be the same as the origin…so they will be good and may even be excellent, but they won’t be the same.
My local FB groups are full of people incessantly bitching that they can’t get xxxxx like they made it at home in yyyyyyy. I still cant get my head around the concept of why you’d up stakes for somewhere else and expect it to be exactly like where you left. No, the NY pizza here doesnt taste like it does in NY. NO, the Italian beef sandwiches dont taste like they do in Chicago. They shouldnt. You can get damned good NY style pizza here, and there’s a Portillos here, but it still isnt exactly like it is there.
(And full disclaimer…ive also had really shitty food in its place of origin, too)
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- Kosher style food like corned beef, pastrami, brisket, knishes, matzah ball soup, etc. Try Katz’s. Jerwish baked goods too liek hamantaschen and rugelach. I’ll even lump Gray’s Papaya and the imitators in there for a hot dog with mustard and saurkraut.
- NY style cheesecake like Juniors (and places that carry it).
- Italian ices: Lemon Ice King of Corona (Queens)
- Italian American food. Many of these dishes aren’t what they serve in italy.
- Steaks at Peter Lugers.
- International foods in general, especially in Queens.
- Pizza, Bagels, Bialys.
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I think this one often overtakes the rest.
Our memory surrounding eating something somewhere contains a lot more than the food itself — emotion, experience, and so on.
So whether the same item we are eating elsewhere is actually better, worse, or equivalent, it can’t match everything else tied up in that memory.
Here’s your last sentence:
Everyone (except maybe @bbqboy) ignored whether there is such a thing as the “real deal” and what might constitute it, or we’d be dangerously close to “what’s authentic” territory and ain’t nobody want to go down that rabbit hole, lol.
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You said:
which everyone - understandably - took to mean that if you moved to NY from whatever the Southern fried chicken mecca is, you would never order Southern fried chicken. Thus limiting yourself to only the “indigenous” foods of wherever you happen to be, for however long you happen to be there. Is that really the case?
I don’t think going to a conference in Orlando means you will be in the Disney bubble and that all the food is lacking. I was a presenter at an industry conference a few years back pre Covid. The conference wasn’t at Disney but a large hotel conference center in Orlando nowhere near Disney. Spent 2 1/2 days there between attending events and doing my talk and networking. Had two very nice dinners. I can’t recall where we went as I was a guest at each dinner but the food was very good.
As to odds of getting a good Cuban sandwich in NYC, I can attest to the fact that you can get a damn good sandwich. I say that as a former Tampon. That’s what we called people where I was from when we were in high school and the polite people were trying to change from Tampans to Tampanians. The latter was just a silly attempt to change a name that was too close to a feminine product for the comfort of the sensitive souls.
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While i will accept full ride for not having expressed myself well, I would have thought that the frequent posters would know fully well that I dont think like that at all.
Appare tly my assumptive ability is as borked as my communication skills today.
If I recall from an old CH thread it’s probably Scottish. 
Someone else can find the article about how it moved from the frozen north of the British isles to the sunny south.
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The Disney bubble no longer refers to the WDW property…it refers to the manufactured plastic area that exists from about Haines City to Sea World.
I didnt say that the food was inedible. But it absolutely the product of mass production and what the marketing department has decided to put forth.
And agree with 100% on the silliness of Tampanians…a “highlight” of the Mayor Sandy era (although hearing her play Whose Pussoir on live radio with Ron and Ron one morning was a once in a lifetime listen! )
It’s very limiting. Most people don’t have the luxury of travel. I haven’t travelled in 2 years and won’t be travelling any time soon, so I’m thankful for good enough facsimile cheesecake, pizza, bagels and lobster rolls far away from the famous or highly rated ones
Not sure why so many people get possessive over fried chicken.
There are dozens and dozens of delicious regional fried chickens from around the world.
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American fried chicken is American.
Canadian fried chicken is Canadian.
Korean Fried chicken could be American, Canadian or Korean.
German fried chicken is awesome. I haven’t found it in America so it isn’t American as far as I know.
I haven’t had any breakfast rolls in Austria or Germany since 2019. I haven’t had any rolls like that in North America. Close, from one immigrant German baker who sells bread at the farmers’ market, but not the same. Different flour, different water, different climate.
I’m a frequent poster. And I have the kind of stupid memory that stores absolutely useless information at the expense of anything important. So I actually remember a time you responded to a question I had on Chowhound. Which I can’t cite, obviously, so you’ll just have to trust me.
I asked whether it was okay to bring cheese up to temperature by microwaving it a few seconds at a time, instead of letting it sit out. CH DelucaCheesemonger (whose user name indicates s/he probably has some knowledge of this) replied that sure, that’s fine. And you said something along the lines of “No, that’ll never work, it’s a terrible idea, but sure, melt your cheese into a puddle if you want.”
I’m sure you don’t remember that exchange - who would? (Me, and my stupid memory for useless things.) But you can see how perhaps your doctrinaire reply, upthread, would be taken at face value, at least by me.
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Our Turkish friend lived in Germany after leaving Turkey, before being seduced by a ranch girl and spirited off to Southern Oregon.
He spoke often of fried chicken in Germany.
Loved the stuff.
