Anyone sick of "Americanized" ethnic food, restaurants, cookbooks?

[mlawson]

You know how it goes: You sit down to dinner in a Chinese (or Thai, Mexican, Caribbean, etc) restaurant, and some items of the menu are printed in red, and warn you that they are "spicy", or maybe 'authentic'. You tell the server that you want it REALLY 'spicy'; he/she asks if you are 'sure'. Yes, you are sure. When the plate comes, you taste, and then have to ask for a bottle of sauce, or tabasco. The manager explains to you that "We have to be careful; many 'Americans' will complain if it's too hot." So they must Americanize everything. That may include restricting the menu to ingredients you could find in any ordinary supermarket.

Or, you order an ethnic cookbook online. It arrives, and there is not a word about how to prepare the exotic goodies you see at your ethnic markets. Again, plain old stuff that you could buy at any grocery store. Bor.....ing!!!

We have a new Indian restaurant here, and the items ARE authentically prepared. You get a choice between mild, hot and Indian hot (which is what I like). But the manager told me that this system is causing far more work in the kitchen, and they still must be careful to not go overboard with many customers. The implication was, that soon this place too will have to make their food bland. I mean, people walk into in Indian restaurant -- what do they EXPECT??? Meat loaf and mashed potatoes??? There is a cafeteria in the mall, just for them...

I understand that in large cities, this is less of a problem. But we have a widely diverse population here, for a small city. I suspect that this is pandemic in the US. Yes? No??

[Robb]

1. "More work in the kitchen"

Had to butt in on this one... our kitchen at work offers mild, medium, and hot on a couple of cajun dishes. It takes virtually no time to regulate the spiciness of food, especially compared to everything else they're already doing.

Granted, we waitstaff have to remember to ask the customer, and work with them on what they really mean -- but I've found most people appreciate the extra time spent on them at the "touch point"....("Would you like that in our mild, medium or extraordinarily spicy variety?")

[mlawson]

2. Yeah, I think it's an excuse to turn the food into pablum...

We had a great Thai/Japanese noodle shop open here last winter. At first, it was HOT, and you could taste the food. But lately, you have to cover the plate with Sriracha sauce before it's edible. I assume they had complaints beforehand.

[LoneStarLiberal]

3. Yes

Even here in Texas where you can't swing a tamale without hitting some kind of Tex-Mex, Mexican, or Salvadoran place, unless you seek out the hole-in-the-wall places you will get Food For Gringos, not the real deal. My friends and I call food that you get at places like On the Border and Tia's (two of our regional Brinker-scale food places) "WASPican" food...food for people who want to think they are eating authentic Tex-Mex or Mexican food.

Oddly enough, there is one place here in my town that gets it right in a big way. It's a Thai place owned by a couple (Anglo American guy and Thai woman) with authentic albeit slightly expensive food. Their spice scale is authentic, too, and man it will blister your ass if you go too high, but I LIKE IT because you have the choice of the real deal or bland. What makes this place odd is that the husband and wife who run it are uber-Freepers.

[demnan]

4. Here in the close D.C. suburbs (5 miles or less)

the ethnic food is pretty good. I work for a small firm owned by the best cook of Indian food I've ever encountered. And she loves to bring in Sambar and curry chicken when she can (usually she's busily marketing the company on the West Coast where we have big contracts). But down where my Mom lives, (just 30 miles away) the food is just as you say - bland, too much sugar, old grease, you name it.

People who love to eat ultimately have to learn to cook. For cooking good Indian food I recommend books by Madhur Jaffrey. She tones down the heat somewhat because her husband is American, just add a little more heat. Still not as good as the President of my company but you can get good results.

Google Indian spices on the Internet - there are companies that will send you the spices if you can't get them in your area.

Hey, cooking Indian food is fun! (Lot's of work, but fun)

[mlawson]

6. I have cooked curries for decades.

We have two Indian grocery stores here, and one owner runs down to Atlanta every Thursday, to restock.

But he brings in fresh produce that none of my four Indian cookbooks even mention. Also, spices that are not mentioned.

[stoner_guy]

5. Ya gotta go there

If you want real ethnic food you've got to go to the source. Any country I've actually visited (not that many) the food was way better than the pale imitation that you get here. By the same token, their versions of American food pretty much suck too.

[TheBigGuy]

10. or marry someone from there.....

My ma is German and my partner is a chicano, and their "ethnic" home cooking is way better than restraunt ethnic cooking, with very very few exceptions...

[Heddi]

7. I hate "Americanized" in Europe

I *HATE* that American Countries have invaded and taken over Europe. When we were in London, we had to SEARCH to find non McD's, NON KFC, Non Pizza Hut food.

And when we went to a restaurant, we had a choice of Americanized Pizza, Americanized Hamburgers, Americanized French Fries....fuck that.

And McDonalds--they're so f'ing insiduous. I hate that even in Europe, it's Mc-everything. At least TRY to incorporate some of the local language or food preferences. Not *EVERYTHING* has to be coca-cola and Levi's Jeans. LET small places STAY small and out of the way. I Don't eat that shit at home, and I don't want to eat it in another country. I don't want to SEE it in another country.

--

Regarding exacatly what you're talking about though---I really understand. I used to live in Charleston, SC---to get anything remotely unique, you'd have to go to an upscale restaurant and pay $8 per dim sum---and even that was horrible and not authentic and prepared by preppie culinary school graduates who can't even pronounce Pad Thai correctly.

Now we live in Seattle, and the take-out places we go to are the best. Really authentic, and they *DO NOT* hold back on the spices. We went for thai one night, and used to the bland, flavourless garbage in SC, we got our meal 4-stars.

12 glasses of water later....


we now order nothing above 2 stars. Ever. We cherish our taste buds :)

One thing you may want to do--check out community classes. Even in Chas, you could find a night-class that teaches how to cook authentic thai, or japanese, or whatever. It may cost ya $45 bucks, but all the ones I've seen were taught by..ahem...REAL Thai, Chinese, people. That could help you learn how to cook a more exotic menu at home.

[trof]

8. Don't ask for the "hot" vindaloo

I've been a hot/spicy food eater for almost 40 years.
Raw jalapenos, etc.
But not raw habaneras. That's a whole nuther thang.
A few years ago I was in Amsterdam and my compatriots decided on Indian food.
We'd had several beers beforehand.
Got to the restaurant, kinda feelin' my oats, and ordered another round.
I needed something really hot.
"I'd like the chicken vindaloo, please. Make it extra hot."
"Are you sure, sir? Vindaloo is very hot already."
"Yeah, I need something really spicy. Extra hot."
"Very well."
SWEET MOTHER MURPHY MOTHER-OF-GOD!
I went through another six pack to get the meal down.
It was good, but MAMA MIA!
Afterwards I asked if I could visit the kitchen?
"Of course."
The chefs were friendly and said "Oh...you were the gentleman who asked for 'extra hot'.".
Smiles.
"Yes, that was me. Whew. What kind of peppers did you guys use?"
They gave me a baggie of them.
I use them VERY sparingly.

[Az]

9. So I went to Japan

You know, the other side of the rock. Traveled to the other side of the planet. All the way from Michigan. Only to find the restaurant at the hotel I was staying at specialized in ...... ok wait for it..... Canadian Cuisine. Seriously.

Ok, now the Japanese diet is a bit different than what you will find in the west. They pour sauces on everything. The very idea of not pouring a sauce on something does not even enter their mental landscape. I asked for a Canadian Steak with nothing on it(what the heck is a Canadian steak anyway). Of course it was drenched in ....something of which to this day I am still unable to identify.

I now play it safe and leave most of my Japanese cuisine experiences to watching the Iron Chef.

[LastRobot]

11. Thai...

If you order really spicy at a Thai restaurant and ask for it to be spicier after tasting it, you are either a liar or have that syndrome where you can't feel anything.

I've had more than one friend shamed at the local Thai place by me. When you order anything really spicy, the staff usually stands around and laughs at you. Its quite amusing.

If Thai restaurants didn't warn people, they'd be sued out of business by ALL people unaccustomed to their food.

[Character Assassin]

12. You must not live in LA, then

I've lived, studied and travelled all over the world, and while native food is always better in its native land, the quality of the multitude of international cuisine available in the City o' Angels is, to my experience, equalled only by London.

Since you mentioned Thai food, if you're ever in LA, check out the 'Thai Plaza' in the East Hollywood (Little Bangkok) area. It's a big, two-story building where the first floor is a Thai supermarket with almost everything imported from Thailand, and the second floor is an arcade of authentic Thai restaurants.

The big added bonus is that every Friday and Saturday night, Kevin 'The Thai Elvis' performs with a live band, dressed in a Vegas-era white Elvis suite.

And, yes, I left out NYC on purpose. It's great, but it's not 'L.A. great'.

Zing!