“Nobody pays full price anymore, why should you?”
If we use a dictionary definition of authentic, of undisputed origin, the riffs, variations, and newly created dishes are more likely to be authentic. As most dishes acquire more distance from their origins, they are less and less likely to be authentic. It seems that just as food has evolved, so has the meaning of authenticity. It seems to me to mean “just like the version I had prepared by x (a renowned chef, a loving mother, a nameless street vendor, etc.).” So I agree with @linguafood that it has become a meaningless term in most instances. There are, of course, a few exceptions, but even some of the instances we assume to be exceptions, such as the official standard for saltimbocca, likely evolved before reaching the status of being defined by fiat. So in a sense all food is authentic. “Yes, I know without doubt where this dish, in this exact form, came from.” To say I know without doubt where this dish, in this precise form, originated is a dubious proposition.
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The dictionary definition is not tied to the historic basis of food origins. Just like nouvelle cuisine in France can be authentically French as is traditional cuisine.
No, not all food is authentic. A dish labeled Sichuan chicken in many a Chinese restaurant that does not have sichuan peppercorns or chilis and is boneless, skinless white meat chicken mixed in a sweet-ish sauce with slivered celery and carrots is not authentic Sichuan chicken.
But it is indeed food and can be eaten, if that’s what you mean.
Seeing authentic or legit on a food board is a red flag to me, that I won’t be on the same wavelength as the poster seeking out only authentic or legit dishes, or that the poster argues with others about what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. The authentic-only seekers seem like funsuckers most of the time.
Turns me off responding. Which is okay, I post too much. 
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Why would you have a problem if someone is seeking out authentic Sichuan cuisine? You could choose not to respond or, if you have a good understanding of the cuisine, perhaps you could offer a favorite of yours…
That’s not my issue.
It’s the bickering on HO or CH about Restaurants A or B not being as authentic as Restaurant C or D.
It’s the yucking other people’s suggestions, because a poster self-identifies as an expert in authenticity that gets my goat.
This board is about food, not Old Masters’ Paintings. Some people identify as Specialists in Authentic Szechuan Restaurants of North America, and I think it’s sometimes a little bit ridiculous.
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Secondly,
Food and recipes change over time and as people migrate. The authenticity model sees dishes as stuck in time .
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I have numerous adjectives way ahead of authentic on my list.
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My take is reflected by my path. When I started out owning a restaurant, I banged the authenticity drum loudly. I even bragged that most of my cooking could be traced back to specific meals I had enjoyed in Italy. etc. At the end, I didn’t even feel comfortable calling myself an Italian restaurant.
My cooking had grown and evolved over the 14 years, but I took what I consider to be authentic italian principles and apply them to the best ingredients I can get in my locale. I cannot recreate certain dishes in the DC/Baltimore area because we do not have everything in season at the same time as they do in Southern Tuscany. Garmuggia, a spring veggie stew, is a perfect example. So I can either use lesser ingredients and make the “authentic” recipe, which to me is actually an inauthentic Italian thing to do, top ingredients are crucial, or say eff it and just make the best damned dish I could with the veggies I could get. I grew comfortable with the latter and my cooking was all the better for it.
On the other hand, today, I am faced with ‘chef-driven’ restaurants serving, say, Korean or Mexican. And here is my problem. I can appreciate the ingredients and technique involved in putting out $6 tacos that look hip but have not half the flavor of a toco I can get for under $3 at a great taqueria. But I just don’t enjoy it. What I would love is to find a taqueria that takes high-quality ingredients and then treats them in a fashion more akin to the hole-in-the-wall taqueria. SO I wind up going to Tackeria Picoso and loving it and rarely going to Oyamel and always feeling dispirited and ripped off. Clavel is another I love. Going to Picoso or Clavel gets me incredible versions of ‘street food’ whereas Oyamel is like Disneyland: a chef-ified version of street food that nails the looks.
I could make a similar comparison on Korean as well. If you fancy it us, make sure it actually tastes better an some auntie at a matjip. There is a fixed priced Korean joint where 4 of the 8 courses nailed the flavors in an innvative way and 4 that were dull and boring. Again, I know of many other Korean spots to go to that just have better flavors.
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Thank you.
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I think the best-damned dish in the authentic style is far more authentic than the authentic recipe made in a way inimical to the authentic recipe and culture.
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The tacos at Oyamel, as most upscale places, are dull. Same thing for most attempts at upscale Korean food.
It just seems really slippery. What about cooking by folks from a specific culinary tradition living in diaspora? Is their cooking, which doesn’t always hew closely to the original, “authentic”?
Grace Young has an entire cookbook (Stir Frying to the Sky’s Edge) of recipes from chefs reinterpreting their traditional recipes with local ingredients in, say, Jamaica or Queens, New York. Are the recipes for “Chinese Jamaican Jerk Chicken Fried Rice, Chinese Trinidadian Stir-Fried Shrimp with Rum, Chinese Burmese Chili Chicken, and Chinese American Shrimp with Lobster Sauce” authentic? Who judges?
Same with Meera Sodha - her recipes in Made in India are Gujarati by way of Uganda and then Britain, modified along the way for what was available. The subtitle of the book is “Cooked in Britain: Recipes from an Indian Family Kitchen.”
Who decides? Where’s the line? Which deviation from the “original” recipe is a bridge too far? Why this and not that?
Straightforward it ain’t. We’re starting to sound like the Supreme Court on porn: “I know it when I see it.” That’s how the David gets censored…
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Not if you go by the actual definition of authenticity, which is the one I use. You seem to be stuck on your own definition. Perhaps shared by others, but it’s not the real definition.
I think you are belittling people who are after something that really does exist: a sense of wonder that comes from finding a really good representation of food where they came from or traveled to.
Personally, I am never expecting it to be perfect, but when I find something glorious I like to share it. I have so benefited by those who came before me and taught me things I didn’t already know.
Actual definition, real definition.
Defined by who? According to who?
Who are you to say whether your definition or my definition of authenticity is the actual or real definition?
Enjoy your search for whatever you’re searching for.
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The dictionary. Pick your favorite. I am guessing they are all pretty close.
First, there is no need to figure out the ‘original recipe’, unless you are talking about KFC.
Second, the actual definition of authenticity allows for change over time. As I said before, traditional and authentic do not have the same definition. They are two different words with different meanings. Nouvelle Cuisine can be just as authentically French as Traditional.
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The problem with all these articles is that they start off with a false premise: authentic is not a term, it’s a word. In the dictionary. Those headlines do not know how to use quotation marks.
As you say, you don’t have a problem with someone seeking out authentic Sichuan cuisine, maybe that goes for Thai as well?
There are so many Thai restaurants that oversweeten the food, that it ruins the balance of what the food is supposed to represent. So when someone asks me about authentic Thai food, I already know what the problem is they are trying to avoid.
Another problem is that so many Thai places are only making a small set of easily recognizable dishes, it’s almost like they are part of an enormous franchise pumping out the same food. Those same folks who are looking to avoid the sugar craze are also probably looking for food that is distinct, maybe a dish that not everyone in America already knows exactly what to expect. Something that shows that the restaurant is serious. I don’t need to go to 50 Thai places to eat 50 versions of the same overly sweet basil chicken.
The word authentic can be a convenient shortcut to many ideas.
The tacos at Oyamel, as most upscale places, are dull. Same thing for most attempts at upscale Korean food.
Frankly, it’s this kind of sentiment that makes me give the side eye to “authenticity”.
It’s perfectly fine to call the tacos at a restaurant dull. It is also something to reflect on whether certain foods are served by the upscale treatment.
But it’s another when there are massive pronouncements about foods of a particular region (often along very specific hemispheric axes) that are no longer delicious or authentic when upscale.
I suspect Seoul would beg to differ on the interest levels of Korean food when served at a fine dining establishment. And as for “authentic”? Who is this white guy deciding what is and what isn’t such? (And, this is different to diversions from traditional preparations to the point of unrecognisability.)
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I did not claim that the upscale versions of tacos or Korean food are inauthentic. I said that the ones I’ve had were mostly dull.
I do not know why you continue to confuse the issue. All the food I ate in Korea was cheap and thrilling. I did not feel the need to spend more on food I would probably find dull.
As a bonus, I find that I learn more when I seek out dishes that are known throughout Korea but I would have trouble finding where I live.
A good example of that was my first bowl of kongguksu, a cold soy milk noodle soup. Now it’s something I’ve made at home a bunch of times much to my delight. Sujebi is another, hand torn noodle soup. Since I learned Hangul, I can now recognize it on menus where I live. The correct term is rarely listed on the English menu, so it pays to know the alphabet.
I find I don’t learn as much when they try to fancify it. Or at least I feel I should become familiar with the cuisine first before spending even more money on derivations. That way I will have a deeper understanding before I plow into the new stuff.
Has nothing to do with authenticity.
