Are we all in danger of losing our 'national identity'?

[sidevalve]

In a food sense I mean. Has increased travel spelt the end for region / country specific dishes ? There was a time [not all THAT long ago - in living memory at least] when every country every district even had it's own specialities - the scottish haggis [if you could catch one ] - the cornish pasty and of course the same applies all over the world. Fast food burgers in Japan - French cuisine in New York etc etc.
Nothing wrong with 'foreign' food whoever and wherever you are but I just wonder if we are heading towards a sort of world wide average, travelling loses another little thrill and local foods either get sort of lost somewhere or end up being churned out by the ton in some factory.
Yes you CAN get good local food but as a tourist [and most of us are when not in our own country] it seems to be getting harder.
I like the idea of being able to eat what I want when I want but If the rest of the world is like the UK [and the bits I've seen are tending this way] we seem to be heading for a worldwide blandness.

 

[classic33]

I tend to eat in the same places as the locals when on holiday, visiting a place.
Two reasons, tends to be nothing fancy, and over priced. And you get a better idea of what the local food is actually like.
Maybe a way of keeping local foods, local, would be to encourage more places to serve it.

 

[Berties]

Its like Cheddar ,the cheese eaten all over the world,if you get the chance go to Cheddar and try it at source ,it's complety different ,so yes the identity is lost,
Like Melton molbury pork pies or Cornish pasty ,it should be stated, in the style of ,
Food is best eaten at source ! The best fish and chips are at the sea side ,local fish ,local potatoes and the smell of the sea ,simple in content and execution ,no frills just honesty ,full of identity

 

[Morning Glory]

I'd say that so far as the UK goes, there has been something of a move back to locally produced, sourced food and traditional recipes. It may not be able to counter the ubiquity of internationally themed supermarket ready meals but its something I've noticed is increasing in popularity. If you go to rural France you will still find that most restaurants serve local food. 'Le Terroir' has become an oft used term on menus, meaning 'from the (local) land'.

As for blandness...I'm not sure. A lot of so-called British dishes are already quite bland. A result, perhaps of war austerity. But not if you go back in time to when exotic spices and herbs were more often used in the UK.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Its like Cheddar ,the cheese eaten all over the world,if you get the chance go to Cheddar and try it at source ,it's complety different ,so yes the identity is lost,

that is an argument that the identity has not been lost.
Yes the term cheddar no longer refers to a certain hard white cheese from cheddar, for that you now need to call it "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" and that refers to cheese from 4 counties in England, but the very fact that it is different and tastes so, is proof that the identity has been kept.


To the OP
Having travelled widely and recently across Europe (22 countries) I don't believe that the Identity has been lost. I found an obvious difference at each and every change in country and that was only 4 years ago that we set out. Each country had a different food and different manufacturers. Even when I could get brands I recognised and knew (like Alpro for example), there was a difference because Alpro recognise regional tastes and adjust their recipes according to the country that the product is going to. This is common amongst all of the major players and I am sure all of us have experienced it, though whether or not you have recognised this is another matter.
So yes, we can get dishes and individual foods that are common all around the world, but step away form the tourist areas and you will soon find that national identities still exist.

 

[Berties]

I think my view is plain and basic,respect the identity and food culture we have ,every county in the UK has a food it is proud of ,we have not lost our identity ,just every one wants a bit ,and are very happy to imitate it,
imitate is the word ,food is best eaten at source ,so comes in the phrase eat what the locals eat!
Every vine grower in the UK wants to make a champagne ,but it's not champagne ,never can be ,never will be ,sit at a chateau in the champagne region,sipping bubbles,you will never replicate it.....

 

[cupcakechef]

To a degree I guess - there are McDonalds everywhere in the world, you can order Indian food in Tokyo and Chinese food in London, you get the drift. But I do think local cuisines in places are more revered and enjoyed - and I do think that when I travel to new places I always endeavor to try their local cuisine especially.

Also most of the time foreign foods in a country are their own take on it - so it might not be as authentic as the real thing.

 

[winterybella]

Truth be told I have never made my national dish of Cou Cou and Flying Fish. I was thinking about my style of cooking recently and it's really some distance from what my culture demands. Quite recently I was at a wake of sorts and when the caterer delivered the food it was sort of the expected/traditional thing. I could not help thinking about what I would have prepared had I been called upon to prepare the meal.

Whenever I prepare something that is associated with our culture it's like a treat for those here at home. Perhaps I have not lost my national food identity. Perhaps I just store it away from time to time. I think food should be exciting and borrowing some recipes from far and wide adds to the excitement.

 

[Diane Lane]

I think we should each make and eat what appeals to us. It seems we borrow from other cultures, but that doesn't mean we forget our own, we simply add in what attracts us about other cultures. My culture, being what i grew up with, is a mishmash of the foods of other cultures, because I grew up in a melting pot. Perhaps that is why I'm so accepting of trying new things, and mixing with other people. I do feel in tourist sites, the native flavor is sometimes lost, but I agree with what's stated above, those often pale in comparison to the original, so as @SatNavSaysStraightOn said, that seems to be proof that identify has been kept.

I loved that we're (here on this site) so open to learning about and trying out recipes from different areas and cultures, it's one of the things that keeps me coming back. I've always enjoyed diversity, and have been curious about other foods, especially, since a young age. I make crepes at home, but regardless of how good they taste, they will never quite measure up to the ones I had in Quebec, and despite my best efforts, the most delicious salad I've ever had in my life was in Mexico.

 

[Rosyrain]

I have not done much traveling outside of the US, but I can attest for the fact that food changes by region here and only the locals make it the best. In the southern US, there is a high emphasis on fried foods, and spicy cajun cuisine. It tastes delicious when you travel there and eat food prepared by the locals, but it is hard to mimic in other areas of the country. You can try foods from all over the world, literally all over the world, but the food always tastes the best when it is being made by the creators and the ones that know the nuiances for the dish.

 

[sidevalve]

Interesting and thankfully optimistic. Perhaps my view was clouded by the fact that on a recent trip to Scotland I tried haggis, labelled 'genuine Scottish' etc etc on the menu and later discovered that yes although it was made in Scotland [so in a way it was 'local'] it was made in a factory and was the same brand as I could have bought in my local supermarket at home. I suppose similar things happen all over the world so maybe the question should have been - are big factory producers turning local dishes into watered down parodies of themselves ?

 

[classic33]

Answer to the question in the last part of the above, Yes.
Are they also objecting when foods try for regional protection status, again I'd say the answer is yes.
They don't wish to lose out on possible sales.

And to bring up a point made earlier, you may soon be able to buy Spanish Champagne, as it again heads for the courts.

 

[Corzhens]

With our country, I fully agree with the thread title that we are going to lose our identity in terms of food. When I was young, banquets and feasts would be pure Filipino food like the roasted pig, Chinese noodles called pancit (already a part of our culture), native vegetable dishes and meat dishes that are all native to us. But now, most celebrations have Japanese food and Korean noodles. We are going international with the roasted calf that is on the buffet table of the rich people.