Why is there so much premium on western/european food?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To reframe--I don't eat much Italian food in the US because I lived in Italy and what passes for Italian food here is gross. I haven't lived in Japan or Thailand so I don't know what I do know.

I’ve been to Thailand about 13 times and their Italian food is often an order of magnitude than what you get here. It’s truly remarkable what they have over there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Wth: have you ever been to Belgium? Let alone left the US?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Wth: have you ever been to Belgium? Let alone left the US?

NP. I lived in Belgium for a year and agree with this person. Generally really heavy food and not a lot of vegetables. It wasn't awful, but got old pretty quick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Wth: have you ever been to Belgium? Let alone left the US?

NP. I lived in Belgium for a year and agree with this person. Generally really heavy food and not a lot of vegetables. It wasn't awful, but got old pretty quick.

Pp here. I lived in Brussels for 4 years and they had really good salads. Were you eating frites and steak Americain every day or something? Maybe you didn't live there long enough to get to know actual Belgians and what they eat but only saw the tourist food.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of it is the physical restaurant. I rarely see nice places to eat Thai or Chinese, whereas it's possible to find fancy dining with Italian or French.

I'm with you on the French. Their food is thoroughly overrated.

You’re eating in the wrong French places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There used to be cheap French and Italian restaurants around - like Italian Market in Philly and French bistro places. Certainly there are expensive Asian restaurants. I think the more interesting question is why in a standard restaurant there will be a default Italian-American pasta dish, but not say a default Asian noodle dish like Pad Thai?

Time, exposure and numbers. Something like 300,000 Thai people have immigrated here vs 5.5 million Italian immigrants, and Thai people, along with most Asian people, weren’t allowed to immigrate here. Therefore Thai food hasn’t had the same period of time to assimilate into “common” food (and will likely do so in a different way given that Italian food really made it big here outside the east coast after WWII).

yes- I grew up asian in MOCO and I clearly remember when the "International aisle" at Giant had italian seasonings and italian food stocked there in the mid-80s. You couldn't buy fresh ginger or garlic either, the garlic came pre-minced and the ginger was powder! We had to go to Maxim's in SS to buy pretty much everything. I remember when American s discovered 'cilantro' and jalapeños, it was game changing to be able to run out and grab those instead of trecking to rockville pike.

Interestingly I read that lunch buffets (like Indian Buffets) are a way to introduce people in an area to a new cuisine because they can taste a bunch of items from a cuisine that is new to them without having to spend a lot to try the new items.

Indian buffets are a more affordable way to get an actual Indian meal, as compared to ordering a main dish, a couple sides, rice, yogurt, sweet, etc., a la carte.

[Anonymous]

The money you exchange for the meal isn't a prize for the amount of work done. It's just exchanging money for an item, and if you want that item more, you will pay more for it.

I'd pay a helluva lot more for a perfectly ripe peach in season, without any work done to change it whatsoever, than I would for mashed potatoes that were roasted or boiled and then overmixed to glue texture. Regardless of how many elaborately toasted and prepared spices you add to it -- the texture just grosses me out too much.

The work is going to be worth more money if people want the result. If they don't, they don't -- and they don't owe you a prize for work they don't want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Other than Noma, which has literally been judged the best restaurant in the world?

Broaden your culinary horizons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The money you exchange for the meal isn't a prize for the amount of work done. It's just exchanging money for an item, and if you want that item more, you will pay more for it.

I'd pay a helluva lot more for a perfectly ripe peach in season, without any work done to change it whatsoever, than I would for mashed potatoes that were roasted or boiled and then overmixed to glue texture. Regardless of how many elaborately toasted and prepared spices you add to it -- the texture just grosses me out too much.

The work is going to be worth more money if people want the result. If they don't, they don't -- and they don't owe you a prize for work they don't want.

Yes that’s the whole question in this thread. Why are five pieces of ravioli which don’t even contain meat more wanted than green curry with shrimp such that the ravioli costs more? Why is there more demand for French and Italian food so that the prices can be higher? It’s a really interesting question IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Wth: have you ever been to Belgium? Let alone left the US?

NP. I lived in Belgium for a year and agree with this person. Generally really heavy food and not a lot of vegetables. It wasn't awful, but got old pretty quick.

Pp here. I lived in Brussels for 4 years and they had really good salads. Were you eating frites and steak Americain every day or something? Maybe you didn't live there long enough to get to know actual Belgians and what they eat but only saw the tourist food.

I was living with host families and attending a local public school, so no, not tourist food. I've since lived in 22 other countries and Belgium is in my bottom 5 for food and...everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The money you exchange for the meal isn't a prize for the amount of work done. It's just exchanging money for an item, and if you want that item more, you will pay more for it.

I'd pay a helluva lot more for a perfectly ripe peach in season, without any work done to change it whatsoever, than I would for mashed potatoes that were roasted or boiled and then overmixed to glue texture. Regardless of how many elaborately toasted and prepared spices you add to it -- the texture just grosses me out too much.

The work is going to be worth more money if people want the result. If they don't, they don't -- and they don't owe you a prize for work they don't want.

Yes that’s the whole question in this thread. Why are five pieces of ravioli which don’t even contain meat more wanted than green curry with shrimp such that the ravioli costs more? Why is there more demand for French and Italian food so that the prices can be higher? It’s a really interesting question IMO.

Because even though people might love the taste of both, they feel that one is more valuable and worthy of high cost. I love my acrylic and lambswool sweaters equally--I will pay 100 dollars for cashmere but will pass over a 100 dollar acrylic sweater.

[Anonymous]

Maybe this is a regional thing. I’m in NYC and there are tons of quite expensive, upscale Japanese, Korean, and Thai places.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Wth: have you ever been to Belgium? Let alone left the US?

NP. I lived in Belgium for a year and agree with this person. Generally really heavy food and not a lot of vegetables. It wasn't awful, but got old pretty quick.

Pp here. I lived in Brussels for 4 years and they had really good salads. Were you eating frites and steak Americain every day or something? Maybe you didn't live there long enough to get to know actual Belgians and what they eat but only saw the tourist food.

I was living with host families and attending a local public school, so no, not tourist food. I've since lived in 22 other countries and Belgium is in my bottom 5 for food and...everything.

You lived on 22 other countries? Are you like 80?

Yep, totally lived the full Belgian experience with one year and one family. I totally judge all Americans by that one family who eats spray cheese and vienna sausages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Wth: have you ever been to Belgium? Let alone left the US?

NP. I lived in Belgium for a year and agree with this person. Generally really heavy food and not a lot of vegetables. It wasn't awful, but got old pretty quick.

Pp here. I lived in Brussels for 4 years and they had really good salads. Were you eating frites and steak Americain every day or something? Maybe you didn't live there long enough to get to know actual Belgians and what they eat but only saw the tourist food.

I was living with host families and attending a local public school, so no, not tourist food. I've since lived in 22 other countries and Belgium is in my bottom 5 for food and...everything.

You lived on 22 other countries? Are you like 80?

Yep, totally lived the full Belgian experience with one year and one family. I totally judge all Americans by that one family who eats spray cheese and vienna sausages.

It was 3 families and many friends, but ok. I maintain, the food is heavy and vegetables are more of a garnish than anything. That's fine! It's not a focus of the cuisine. I'm not 80, I've just spent most of my life since 15 outside of the US. I don't think Belgian food is great compared to so many others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Erm, there's a LOT of western / european foods that are NOT celebrated for good reason.
No one EVER talks about English cuisine because it's really pretty terrible (clotted cream, mincemeat pie, fruitcake anyone?)
Likewise, no one talks about Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, Belgian, Swiss foods either. Because they are pretty uninteresting.
Some people like German food - once in a while. But German food isn't known for vegetables and fruits. Like English cuisine, it's meat and potatoes and not particularly flavorful preparations of them. Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish food. Even more starch and meat with even less flavor.
I feel like France, Greece and Italy actually appreciate vegetables and knows how to include them in their dishes. Maybe that's why their cuisine is more popular?

Other than Noma, which has literally been judged the best restaurant in the world?

Broaden your culinary horizons.

Nobody’s talking about Michelin starred restaurants. A world class chef can make food from any cuisine taste good.

Also Noma is not Norwegian. According to one of its founders, it is a modern interpretation of Nordic food rather than classical Nordic food itself. So it is not typical food and is not even just a cuisine from one country.