4 ms·

Maybe it's the inner Frenchman in me talking (food is very important here), but food doesn't have to just be fuel for your body, it's also a door to the local c

by jclos 9y ago

Maybe it's the inner Frenchman in me talking (food is very important here), but food doesn't have to just be fuel for your body, it's also a door to the local culture and a social ritual. Tasting different things and eating in an authentic setting can help open your mind, much like learning a foreign language or living abroad in a different culture. And besides, by educating your palate with tastes that do not exist in your country you can discover things that you would never have thought you would like.

whack 9y ago
I agree completely with trying out different cuisines and recipes. You'd have to be a very boring/close-minded person if you refuse to try new dishes. But that doesn't mean that you should force yourself to eat dishes that you've tried and disliked, just because it's "authentic". Or that you should stop eating something you enjoy just because it isn't "authentic". Ironically enough, this very obsession with authenticity stunts the evolution, innovation and diversity of cuisines. As a foodie, I consider this to be the real tragedy.
- jclos 9y ago
  Some dishes deserve to be insisted upon and revisited multiple times in my opinion, but it's a case by case basis. Some tastes can grow on you (in my case some organ meat tasted quite bad at first), and often your tastes change and mature with time, but I agree that obsessing over a particular dish is not a healthy relationship to have with food. There is also a degree related to it: while you can develop a taste for say, for example, some dish you found originally bland (it was the case for an Indian friend of mine who came to Europe from a place where spicy is the norm), I doubt it would happen for something you found utterly revolting. I am personally all for fusion food and experimenting as long as the original meals are preserved. I am for enriching, but against replacing.

by jclos 9y ago

whack 9y ago

I agree completely with trying out different cuisines and recipes. You'd have to be a very boring/close-minded person if you refuse to try new dishes. But that doesn't mean that you should force yourself to eat dishes that you've tried and disliked, just because it's "authentic". Or that you should stop eating something you enjoy just because it isn't "authentic". Ironically enough, this very obsession with authenticity stunts the evolution, innovation and diversity of cuisines. As a foodie, I consider this to be the real tragedy.

jclos 9y ago
Some dishes deserve to be insisted upon and revisited multiple times in my opinion, but it's a case by case basis. Some tastes can grow on you (in my case some organ meat tasted quite bad at first), and often your tastes change and mature with time, but I agree that obsessing over a particular dish is not a healthy relationship to have with food. There is also a degree related to it: while you can develop a taste for say, for example, some dish you found originally bland (it was the case for an Indian friend of mine who came to Europe from a place where spicy is the norm), I doubt it would happen for something you found utterly revolting. I am personally all for fusion food and experimenting as long as the original meals are preserved. I am for enriching, but against replacing.