Figured I’d address the question of what i mean by authenticity:
It’s simply whether or not the dish would resonate with folks from the country the restaurant claims it represents.
To illustrate the point with questions:
-is spaghetti with meatballs as we know it here Italian?
-is the hamburger German (or Mongolian if you want to take it further)?
-is ketchup Chinese?
-is the chicken parm sandwich Italian? Is the Philly cheesesteak?
-is the Alaskan roll Japanese? Sushi burrito? Sushi pizza? Dragon rolls?
-is the general’s chicken Chinese?
These are all American food. It was made in North America to sell to North Americans. They don’t exist in those countries as their food. People from those countries don’t claim it as theirs. In fact, almost every Italian from Italy hates every Italian restaurant in NYC except for 1 or 2 (they used to only go to Keste but Ribalta has also become popular).
If it resonates more with people outside that country, it belongs to the place it was first made.
So when i ask the question most authentic, i mean places where if you gave it to most people from that country, they’d be willing to pay and have it on a regular basis or if they’d accept eating it there without issue and consider it their food. Another way to do it, although this is my sub-preference, if you presented the dish to someone’s grandmother living in that country, would an eyebrow get raised?
Separate point I’d like to make about reviews, articles, celebrity chefs, etc talking about authenticity. They say these things knowing there is very slim margins for restaurants if they all focused on authentic food. They don’t want that. They’d rather charge higher margins for their “take” on the food. The side effects turn out to be that the food gets misrepresented as being what folks from those countries actually eat. Up until 7 years ago, being an American kid, i whole heartedly believed the olive garden was serving Italian food. I thought every Chinese take out place was serving real Chinese food. I thought Thai food wasn’t spicy and bland, and that bell peppers were typical in green curry. I thought taco bell was real Mexican food (until i lived in Houston and realized there’s tex mex and then there’s regional Mexican food).
I’ve also lived overseas in South Korea as a kid. I was frustrated that they were offering American food that wasn’t close to anything i had known in the US. Got my hopes up. Never satisfied. Still home sick for food i grew up on. Not surprisingly, they charged more for being “different”. Ever try Korean pizza? It’s sweet. Signature is sweet corn on it. Cheese doesn’t taste right. It’s awful. But its popular. I don’t want that. Other Americans who visit laugh at that food and rightfully so. So, if we don’t view that as real there, what are we doing here? With the higher margins, they could potentially make it the right way (best they can) and still charge the same (maybe even slightly more). I’d rather they spend less on location, ambiance, etc, and more on the ingredients. As a constantly packed restaurant far from Manhattan located directly under the subway tracks shows, it can be done (AND be profitable).
I want to experience the food as best as it can be represented.
Suggestion about asking to take out the bell peppers at these restaurants. I guess the point about bell peppers in green curry was that it shows which direction that owner is leaning towards. It tells me there are other things that would fall short. 9 out of 10 times, i left wishing i hadn’t spent money there. I’d rather someone try giving me the real the best they can given the circumstances. I would much rather support those restaurants. That’s my ask when I’m looking for “authentic”.
Hope this clarifies my perspective and request.
For me, with ethnic or regional foods, there are two aspects to wade through:
- does it resonate with folks from back home
- out of the places that do, how well do they execute, how close are they? Which is better, which is worse?
Reason for the two is because they all present themselves as food from that country/region when most of it is local food. It could still be very good food. It just makes it very hard to find what I’m looking for. They really should distinguish between them. Isn’t it odd that with all of these Korean restaurants, Koreans from Korea living here would rather eat from home cause none are up to standards? Do we really have diverse food? Or is it all just local?
To say authenticity doesn’t matter when representing that countries food is borderline disrespectful to that culture. It matters for those ex pats. It matters to those who’ve traveled there and miss the food. It matters when someone makes a judgement call about someone’s cuisine when they have a completely skewed version of it. It also makes classic wine pairings difficult to find. To this day i make cheese steaks at home cause no place outside Philly (now a few places in NYC with sister restaurants from Philly spots) makes a real Philly cheese steak… It’s just terrible elsewhere. Somehow either too dry, too wet, or too busy with ingredients…
From those standards, I’m looking forward to try:
-Mengrai Thai
-Nana
-Pai (obligatory as its stated in multiple places that this is the best?)
If there are any more recommendations, would love to hear more. Even years later.
Thank you very much!!
Edit: apologies for anyone who read this before my corrections to an overzealous “autocorrect”. Likely didn’t make sense. Swipe keyboards are fast but too many odd changes as i type (it goes back and changes words incorrectly depending on what’s typed after)