I’ve been thinking lately about the up- and downsides of diversity. The upsides are plenty and obvious: tons of choice, exciting flavors, novelty. I wonder also, though, if there’s a natural balance in regional cuisine that goes missing when you have lots of choice, and many of those choices are the tasty bits rather than, say, the “boring” (I don’t mean really boring, but comparatively unspectacular) everyday dishes (for example, “Italian” meaning a pizza versus a vegetable/bean stew).
This came to mind because I had family friends visiting from Madrid; they ate, let’s say, 99% traditional Spanish food when at home. They were surprised by the diversity of food we ate when they were visiting in California – let’s say, Vietnamese one night, Indian the next, Mexican next. On the other hand, when I visit them, I’m always surprised by the codification of food rules (“We don’t really eat X dish in the afternoon”) which I don’t think I have as much, as an American.
Living in London I was very spoiled. Having been in India for over 3 months now I realise how spoiled. Getting a bit fed up of the food now as there is only really Nepalese momos or bad versions of Chinese food outside Indian dishes. There is some variation between North and South India but there are North Indian restaurants in the South and vice versa so it all feels a bit homogenized. I did manage to have chicken schnitzel and chips the other day and it was a very welcome change.
I originally signed on to Chowhound just to talk about all of the terrific mom-and-pops in the immediate area of my home. Within a couple of miles, I have an incredible array of choices in cuisines and price points. And I live pretty far from the center of town.
Within minutes of my front door I can be eating Bosnian, TexMex, MexMex, Gulf Mex, pho, crawfish, etc., etc., etc.
If I’m willing to travel fifteen or twenty minutes, there’s not very much that you could request and that I couldn’t find. Give me a restaurant full of people, speaking Bosnian, (or Portuguese or Malay), twenty minutes from my pillow and I’m a happy guy!
That goes for groceries also, not just restaurants. I have great choices in grocery shopping and usually hit multiple stores in a week.
Yeah, I think once you’re used to a certain level of selection, it’s hard to turn back.
I read that New York Times Magazine article on “Blue Zones” – the areas in the world where people have the longest lives, and was struck by the amount of sameness in the day to day diet of the groups they studied. Of course, there are seasonal changes to what’s available and also occasional feast days, but there was an overwhelming routine to the diet that probably leads to their health outcomes.
Me, I think I’d love the Ikarian diet of goat milk, legumes, dandelion greens, homemade bread – then after about two weeks, I’d kill for a curry.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
25
Agreed, Chem.
In the UK, we had fairly significant Jewish immigration to certain urban areas around the late 19th/early 20th century. In the 1960s, there was fairly significant Caribbean immigration. Neither community made much impact on British food and the British restaurant business. Then along came the Chinese and South Asians - and both did. Now we have significant immigration from Eastern Europe which, as yet, is not impacting on restaurants - probably because these folk do not see themselves as permanent settlers here. Maybe when numbers of them do stay, then we’ll see Polish restaurants.
It is interesting how the type of diversity depends on location.
Countries like India a still quite singular in the food but you do see it changing. Top restaurants for the rich are Italian or Japanese in the top hotels, whilst western style fast food is pretty strong in the middle class malls. The same is true in China, Japan and the rest of Asia. Maybe Japan is an interesting example of where Asian/Indian food diversity is heading.
I have lived in quite a few countries and none of them are the same. Access to ingredients is far from uniform. Even tying to cook English classics in France was far from simple with regular shops just not stocking some of the ingredients, let alone trying to source fresh Thai or Indian ingredients.
Every country has its own diversity in food, as Harters said often based on immigration, but now probably based on TV and film, and travel. We see so much more, we travel so much more, and we want to taste what we see and experience whilst on holiday.
I read the book - it was interesting but it is impossible for me to project myself into any of those lifestyles only to synthesize the variety into my own but that is not exactly how it works I think - perhaps the simplicity of the limited choices - which also equals limited stress plays a part in the longevity. Definitely as an American urbanite I have been conditioned to expect variety and choice in just about all life decisions - choice is great but also creates stress.
You raise some thought provoking points for me, here.
With respect to Jewish immigration, there are arguments that fish and chips was brought in the Portuguese Jews, iirc. Some elements may come in in different ways, or perhaps are so embedded and more familiar that they don’t resonate so much.
I’m also thinking about what you wrote about Polish restaurants. This is interesting, but it also makes me wonder how successfully such a thing could appeal outside a community. Or seem worth the expense. As such, a restaurant may not be the best investment.
So what do you make of Polish shops? There are many in my neighbourhood and filled with prepared foods and imported goods. What does this say to you about longevity? (I’m genuinely asking what you reckon.)
I enjoy the diversity a lot, but in a different way than mentioned here. I like to cook in phases. So all food from the Spain cookbook for a week. Then the Turkey cookbook for two weeks. Thai cookbook for a month. I sort of feel like I’m immersing myself that way. I know, it’s weird. Growing up eating only Pakistani food, I had to work really hard to retrain myself to enjoy simple food. Now when it’s mid-summer and farmer’s market produce is great, I’ll go a month eating just tomato-mayo-bread sandwiches, steamed corn, slaw, etc.
Mail order and gardening really help. In Baltimore, some things I have to order or grow myself. Until a few years ago, I couldn’t easily purchase Kaffir lime leaves or galangal in Baltimore. But the situation is improving very rapidly. Now we even have umeboshi plums.
You’re Punjabi, right? (Sorry, if I am mistaking you for someone else on the board.) If so, then that’s probably the reason. A North Indian aunty always tells us, “You Punjabi people cook everything the exact same way.”
Same here. I wish I had the skill to write my thoughts on the subject.
Also, for me, about 5 years ago was the pinnacle of the perfect balance between diversity and consistency. Presently I’m of the opinion that if you really love a food, learn to make it at home. Right now, I can’t even find a consistently good Pad Thai in all of Baltimore. I have to make it at home. Also, this city is growing like crazy, so a 20 minute trip a couple years ago, is more than half an hour now. And with a 35% chance of getting stuck behind construction, it’s difficult to be forgiving on consistency. Even our last two visits to Sripraphai in Queens were just okay. One day I’ll learn to make the crispy catfish at home.
Just some raw, random thoughts I wanted to throw out there.
I know what Kobuta means about little towns in farm country, and the shame of it is it didn’t used to be that way. The one I grew up in, in east central Illinois, once had several pretty good local eateries, including one so good that when the sports-car guys drove down for the races in Lawrenceville they’d time it so they could have supper there, and then maybe breakfast on the way back. There’s still a restaurant in that space, but it’s ghastly; the main gathering place now is McDonald’s.
However, even though I know a few good non-chain places around there, and always have to stop in for my Midwestern Food fix, after a few days it’s like eating leftovers. Why? Because L.A. County is where I live, within walking or driving distance of Latino and Armenian food to the west, all kinds of Asian to the south and east, and dozens of excellent and not-too-expensive places with cooking of the modern chef-driven variety. Okay, I AM spoiled, and loving it. Even the huge variety of produce and meats I can cook myself beats just about any place I’ve been.
I wonder if there is a temporal aspect to the migration pattern - restaurant story? Here the population of international students has grown dramatically over the last several years (I think a 10x increase over 10 years is not an exaggeration). I would estimate there are about 6-12 restaurants that have opened to serve this population, and all but one or two have opened in the last 2 or 3 years.
I’m sure things have changed since we lived outside Houston in the late 1970s, but I remember going into a large supermarket and asking if they had any cuts of lamb other than lamb chops. The person behind the meat counter told me, "We don’t stock much lamb because the only people who buy it are Greeks and Californians.
