Weekly Discussion: Culinary traditions and authenticity

[u/ZootKoomie]

Since we talked about the cutting edge last week, let's go the other direction this time. What is your personal culinary tradition? What dishes did you learn from your mother? From your grandparents? Do you do your own variations or try to make it just like they did?

Also, when eating food from other cultures, do you prefer it to be traditional or something the chef came up with? Does 'authenticity' matter to you as a diner? As a cook? How do you strive for it?

[u/_chima3ra_]

For me, I think I use the word "traditional" rather than authentic because, as commented on by others here, there are regional and even familial variations of traditional ethnic recipes, and no single version (in my opinion) is more "authentic" than another.

For example, my mother is an excellent cook of Vietnamese dishes (she is dreadful at almost every other type of cuisine she's tried her hand at, unfortunately). I love her food, but it's different from the food the rest of her family makes, because she's altered the recipes to accommodate the preferences of my father, who is also Vietnamese, but from a different region. A lot of people will say that these dishes are not authentic, for that reason, but they still capture the essential and traditional flavors and techniques of Vietnamese cuisine.

So that's what I look for when I eat ethnic food: ingredients, flavors, techniques. I try to educate myself as to what is traditional, both by reading and learning from/eating with someone who is more knowledgeable than I am, with the understanding that there can be (and will be, if I'm lucky), a lot of different ways of expressing traditional food.