Are we losing our cooking culture?

[foodguy]

of course i would. but i also think that's true of other cuisines as well. remember, the original point was that america didn't have true cuisines. even if you want to put a 150-year time limit on it, i would point to low country cuisine in south carolina, southern cuisine, new orleans, also the separate but related cuisine of northern louisiana, the various "mexican" cuisines of the southwest, the cuisines of new england, the various barbecues of the american south and west.
borrowing is what cultures do. can you imagine france without couscous?

 

[Piobaire]

Is anyone going to say that pasta is not Italian? (FWIW, I read that while of course the Marco Polo story is just a myth, it was Arab raiders/settlers in the 7th century that brought it to Sicily).

 

[foodguy]

a friend of mine wrote a book making that argument. essentially (IIRC), he argues that hard wheat is native to north africa and was introduced to italy by the arabs. certainly, there is a significant arab influence in sicilian cuisine.

 

[Hombre Secreto]

Originally Posted by foodguy

a friend of mine wrote a book making that argument. essentially (IIRC), he argues that hard wheat is native to north africa and was introduced to italy by the arabs. certainly, there is a significant arab influence in sicilian cuisine.

Were't they actually Carthaginians?

 

[why]

Originally Posted by foodguy

it's reductive only if you choose to make it reductive. i'm saying that if you only consider american cuisine as dishes that are not influenced by other cultures, you have to do the same with european cuisines. and that means defining them as what existed before the columbian exchange.
if, on the other hand, you are willing to accept that all cuisines have borrowed from other cultures over the course of history ... then the OP's point is invalid.

Which I why I tried to define what constituted a distinct cuisine with a method based upon its differentiations from other cuisines in a synchronic analysis; the history of a food is irrelevant to what constitutes a 'cuisine' as it is recognized today. As an example, bringing a pierogi within the American polity doesn't make it 'American cuisine', but in the same ways that other cuisines developed themselves, the changes that the American pierogi might make over the course of a few decades is what differentiates it from its Polish cousin. However, in analyzing both, the origins of the pierogi are irrelevant -- tracing the historic course of the common potato filling or pickling methods of sauerkraut will only lead to further questions as to the origins of the modern cabbage and vinegar. As such, a historic analysis is not only impertinent but also ultimately futile and reductive. The only factor that matters is the difference between the American pierogi as it is prepared and consumed today and the Polish pierogi as it is prepared and consumed today.

I have other thoughts regarding the inception of cuisines using anthropological models, but I won't expound them until fundamental concepts are resolved lest this line of discourse loses order.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by why

Which I why I tried to define what constituted a distinct cuisine with a method based upon its differentiations from other cuisines in a synchronic analysis; the history of a food is irrelevant to what constitutes a 'cuisine' as it is recognized today. As an example, bringing a pierogi within the American polity doesn't make it 'American cuisine', but in the same ways that other cuisines developed themselves, the changes that the American pierogi might make over the course of a few decades is what differentiates it from its Polish cousin. However, in analyzing both, the origins of the pierogi are irrelevant -- tracing the historic course of the common potato filling or pickling methods of sauerkraut will only lead to further questions as to the origins of the modern cabbage and vinegar. As such, a historic analysis is not only impertinent but also ultimately futile and reductive. The only factor that matters is the difference between the American pierogi as it is prepared and consumed today and the Polish pierogi as it is prepared and consumed today.

I have other thoughts regarding the inception of cuisines using anthropological models, but I won't expound them until fundamental concepts are resolved lest this line of discourse loses order.

huh?

 

[ld111134]

This has probably been already mentioned but the factor is time.

I grew up in a one-earner household, my mom cooked every evening and dad was home by 5:15 p.m. In those pre-internet, Food Network days, she cut out recipies from Good Housekeeping, McCall's, etc. plus had a few cookbooks such as Joy of Cooking. She also learned from her mother-in-law, who cooked in an Italian restaurant and was the conduit for the kind of old fashioned Southern Italian home cooking that pretty much the stuff of restaurants these days.

Despite the fact that I enjoy reading about cooking and watching the Food Network on occasion, I cook very rarely. My wife works from home and cooks most weekday evenings - while her Polish mother scratch-cooked every evening (despite holding down a daytime job), we rely on preprepared sauces, frozen vegetables, occasional ready-to-eat entrees, etc.

While I will cook receipies that I read about in Cook's Illustrated or on the Interwebz, the tradition handed down from my dad's mother to my mother has been lost (my sister and brother included). The same can be said about my wife's family.

 

[chronoaug]

Originally Posted by holymadness

chronoaug, MarkfromPlano, etc. ^^ If this is so, why is everyone in this thread insistent that America is "losing" something that never existed in the first place? Not a rhetorical question.

I was just addressing what people were saying in terms of "america doesn't have many specifically unique cuisine styles therefore doesn't have a cooking culture". I think the thread is primarily about the other part of culture you mentioned. It seems like many have lost interest in cooking themselves due to either lack of time or just because how convenient exotic and interesting food is (every other corner in a big city with cool affordable food and good frozen thai/italian/indian/etc... food for like $5 at whole foods/trader joes). I can see the point of view of those people though and i don't cook as much as i like. Though it is fun to fiddle with new ingredients and make something your own, and adjust recipes you've heard of or try to recreate (with your own touch) things you have eaten at restaurants

 

[clee1982]

Originally Posted by javyn

Travel a little further south then.

To me southern food is comfort food. Though, obviously I can't say much since I never lived in the South. In my general impression other people around the globe go a lot out of their way to make food.

When I was younger, I would see my parents spend 2 to 3 days making lunch/dinner for chinese new year. Waking up every 4~5 hours to get the oil out of the soup, re-add water, boil it for 2 days, kind of thing (I was the add water every 2 hours boy at the time). The rice had to be the right temperature because it was summer, and you add different amount water to compensate for the outside temperature etc. My family isn't typical, they're obviously foodies, but just saying.

I just haven't seen it in the States as often. Of course now a day people in my generation don't do it that often either...

 

[jpeirpont]

Originally Posted by foodguy

i really think those who argue that america never had a culinary culture really need to spend a little more time reading older cookbooks.

I don't know how anyone could visit a place like coastal SC, and Georgia or New England or Louisiana(especially) and think the U.S doesn't/didn't have a culinaryculture. Obviously the whole nation doesn't have one, but like someone mentioned earlier, no country does.

 

[krisannie]

Yes, we are definitely loosing our cooking culture because now a days there are many products in the market ready to eat for example we can take soup there are ready soup packet available in the market we need to just pour it in the water and warm it up.There are no real tatste in this type of food packets they contain more preservatives which is harmful to our health still due to unavailability of the time we prefer to eat this type of food packets.

 

[ektaylor]

Originally Posted by krisannie

Yes, we are definitely losing our cooking culture, because nowadays there are many products in the market ready to eat. For example, there are ready soup packets available in the market that we need to just pour it in the water and warm it up. There is no real taste in these types of food packets. They also contain preservatives, which is harmful to our health. Still, due to a lack of time, we prefer this type of food.
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