Here's what you're missing in your search for authentic food
The word 'authentic' is often heard in foodie circles, and restaurant reviews. But food writer Corey Mintz says when it come to food, authenticity doesn't matter.
Look through menus, food blogs, restaurant reviews or even on food packaging at your local grocery store, and chances are you will stumble across the word "authentic" sooner or later.
It's meant to imply that the dish in question is made in a way true to the traditional or original method.
But Globe and Mail food writer Corey Mintz argues that even if food is authentic, it doesn't necessarily follow that it's good.
If you really want to respect "authenticity," then get used to eating slugs from the ground, which is what everyone's ancestors did before anyone appropriated anyone else's cooking ideas, such as the inauthentic method of using fire.- Corey Mintz
Mintz says authenticity can also be a trap — one that refuses to allow cuisines to evolve.
He offers the example of an Indian restaurateur who decided to cut butter and cream in his recipes in order to show off the complex spicing.
Meanwhile, he is still trying to innovate, fussing with plating and ingredients to graft new ideas onto old. So he's honouring the roots of his familial cuisine while keeping it relevant to modern palates. None of that is communicated with the hollow descriptor "authentic."- Corey Mintz
What matters most to Mintz is, perhaps, the most important aspect of food: taste.