Lost in Translation: How Dishes Evolve

[flyinglentris]

The restaurant owners want customers, so they will modify the food to suit the generally bland American palate.

The judgement that the American palate is bland is erroneous. The American palate is no less bland than any other country's commercial food preparation output.

CB is an international cooking web site and we see people here from many different countries, our fellow members, rejecting certain things all the time, either for health reasons or by preference. This is an issue that every commercial producer from grocery prepared meals to restaurant entrees deal with by toning down their offerings toward the bland. It is not a generic palate issue at all. It is a market issue.

In some markets, small markets that local to small population centers, the toning down is less severe. But in large population centers, restauranteers and commercial food goods providers are forced to find an appeal to a percentage population factor that will accept what they put out. And this is done by trial and error or survey. This is the source of generic blandness is commercial food offerings, the deviations from the original potency of some home spun foods.

The American palate, indeed any country's palate often finds these foods bland and either finds a restaurant that they like or they modify the food they buy from the store. I do it all the time to make those foods more likeable and palatable to me.

Therein lies the truth about the American palate.
'

 

[JAS_OH1]

The judgement that the American palate is bland is erroneous. The American palate is no less bland than any other country's commercial food preparation output.

CB is an international cooking web site and we see people here from many different countries, our fellow members, rejecting certain things all the time, either for health reasons or by preference. This is an issue that every commercial producer from grocery prepared meals to restaurant entrees deal with by toning down their offerings toward the bland. It is not a generic palate issue at all. It is a market issue.

In some markets, small markets that local to small population centers, the toning down is less severe. But in large population centers, restauranteers and commercial food goods providers are forced to find an appeal to a percentage population factor that will accept what they put out. And this is done by trial and error or survey. This is the source of generic blandness is commercial food offerings, the deviations from the original potency of some home spun foods.

The American palate, indeed any country's palate often finds these foods bland and either finds a restaurant that they like or they modify the food they buy from the store. I do it all the time to make those foods more likeable and palatable to me.

Therein lies the truth about the American palate.
'

I respectfully disagree. Most people I know don't eat like I do and the reason so many restaurants churn out bland food successfully in the US is because that's what (most of) the people in our country like. You are different. I am different. The other American members of our community are different, but the stereotype is otherwise correct (IMO).

 

[TastyReuben]

Here's a video of a biscuit recipe I've used several times:

View: https://youtu.be/d348FGXomg0


Drop biscuits are a bit quicker (not that the other is terribly time-consuming), and also taste great. Here's a recipe for those that I've used:

Biscuits and Gravy For Two

As to the blandness of the American palate...yes and no. We're like most places. Plenty of cheap, quick, bad food that a lot of people eat, and plenty of good, from-scratch food that other people eat, and a whole lot in the middle.

Just like that stereotype that British food is bad, you just have to examine it a little further to get to the truth.

My dad is the most set-in-his-ways eater I know. He won't eat anything "foreign." He likes pork chops and gravy and fried potatoes and biscuits and gravy and salt-cured (country) ham and red-eye gravy (the man likes his gravy). That's his kind of cooking. Simple? Yes. Bland? No way, no how.

 

[rascal]

Two types of bacon- no, you would never get streaky on a proper fry up.
Hash brown - again no, it is an American abhomination and has no place on a British breakfast plate. The only place you should get hash browns is at McDonalds, and if you go to McDonalds for breakfast then you will get everything you deserve.
Fried Bread and Toast - one or the other, not both.
As for the portion size, expect a sausage, an egg, two rashers of bacon, beans, half a tomato, black pudding and occasionally mushrooms along with your chosen cooked bread.
You would also expect the tea cup to be full, if you gave a British person a half full mug of tea they would tut under their breath and silently plot your murder.
As for the condiments, there should be red sauce, brown sauce and English mustard available.

Not that I have any strong opinions on the subject

Exactly the same for me. The moat house hotel in Kensington did the best ever by a street breky, eggs X 5 different ways, cheeses you name it, croissants and dozens of fillings, different cuts of bacon. We went every morning. Even shrooms done two or three ways. Unbelievable.

Russ

 

[Timenspace]

Here's a video of a biscuit recipe I've used several times:

View: https://youtu.be/d348FGXomg0


Drop biscuits are a bit quicker (not that the other is terribly time-consuming), and also taste great. Here's a recipe for those that I've used:

Biscuits and Gravy For Two

As to the blandness of the American palate...yes and no. We're like most places. Plenty of cheap, quick, bad food that a lot of people eat, and plenty of good, from-scratch food that other people eat, and a whole lot in the middle.

Just like that stereotype that British food is bad, you just have to examine it a little further to get to the truth.

My dad is the most set-in-his-ways eater I know. He won't eat anything "foreign." He likes pork chops and gravy and fried potatoes and biscuits and gravy and salt-cured (country) ham and red-eye gravy (the man likes his gravy). That's his kind of cooking. Simple? Yes. Bland? No way, no how.

Thank you so much! I went into analyzing and understanding the recipes, just cleared out the baking soda and baking powder difference...and I feel there were 'pogačice' back in my childhood similar to these biscuits sold in some of the local supermarkets here, which I loved, these home baked ones being of course 10 levels up, like most home made food or food made with special attention and good ingredients vastly different for the better...

The discussion is really interesting, I know too little to participate, but I have always wondered how come the supermarket meals are as they are. I buy them from time to time when I run short in time. My line of thought was they do not know how to cook better or they do not care to cook better, and sometimes when it was good or not too bad, I'd think, wow, they hired a new skilled cook. And someone told me, when I asked why are the pommes frites unsalted, that they are not allowed to salt them, as they have some health regulations to follow with so and so g of salt or 0...it sounded strange, but it might be the case...like with school meals.

I don't know...my daughter hated the school meals, most of them. What I gathered that sometimes they were not even prepared properly...was that also a part of the regulations, hard to say. She would have the yoghurts and fruit and baked goods, she tried to eat the cooked meals, but then two years ago she said she wouldn't have me pay any more for those...and I agreed.

On the other hand, I see many small, creative, new restaurants pop up (or at least pre Covid) and patisseries/cake shops with apparently great food, made with fresh ingredients, good ingredients, 'real' food and upscale food too...and of course the whole helath awareness movement and the meal prepping and quality food, home cooking etc...I was hoping there was a very broad movement globally of real food comeback...

I cannot say I have a vast restaurant going experience, not at all, very limited, but I would love to know if the creativity and quality take over mass production or low quality in the last 10 years?...oh I am being unclear...Is there any data on the subject? Or is it impossible to look at it that way...

As you say it well, there is excellent and good and bad food all over the globe...

 

[JAS_OH1]

I'm not sure if it's the same in other countries as it is in the States, but I automatically assume that whatever ethnic food I eat here is probably different in some way than the way it originated in the Old Country. For example, I'm fairly certain that any "Chinese" restaurant over here almost certainly serves a modified version of what's served in China. Mexican restaurants labeled as "authentic" are often not. All of this, I know, is because of the relationship between immigrants and potential customers at restaurants they open in their new country. The restaurant owners want customers, so they will modify the food to suit the generally bland American palate.

It's not always a change in the dish to make it more boring. I am reminded of this in seeing MypinchofItaly comment on Alfredo Pasta. As she notes, the usual preparation is Pasta Burro e Parmigiano, which means butter with parmigiano reggiano. There are two interesting articles about this:

• Is Fettuccine Alfredo Really Italian? | LivItaly <- thank you, JAS_OH1!
• Here's Why You'll Never Catch a Roman Ordering Fettuccine Alfredo

Knowing boring American palates (since most of my extended family have them), I can see how this evolved: butter and cheese is good, so butter, cheese and cream is even better!

I know there is certainly a place for authentic food, regardless of where you go. But, it seems that the process at a high level goes something like this:

• Authentic cuisine too spicy? Lower the spice level.
• Authentic cuisine uses unusual components? Replace them with more familiar components or get rid of them.
• Authentic cuisine is relatively healthy? Add heavier components.

Needless to say, when a family member tells me that the food at a certain restaurant is "great", I am skeptical.

In afterthought, should the thread be named "Lost in Translation: How Dishes Devolve"?

 

[caseydog]

Two types of bacon- no, you would never get streaky on a proper fry up.
Hash brown - again no, it is an American abhomination and has no place on a British breakfast plate. The only place you should get hash browns is at McDonalds, and if you go to McDonalds for breakfast then you will get everything you deserve.
Fried Bread and Toast - one or the other, not both.
As for the portion size, expect a sausage, an egg, two rashers of bacon, beans, half a tomato, black pudding and occasionally mushrooms along with your chosen cooked bread.
You would also expect the tea cup to be full, if you gave a British person a half full mug of tea they would tut under their breath and silently plot your murder.
As for the condiments, there should be red sauce, brown sauce and English mustard available.

Not that I have any strong opinions on the subject

I like hash browns.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Teabag, milk, sugar in the mug together before adding the hot water no no no no no

I steep my tea in a teapot, then pour the tea into my cup, with a little sugar or honey. No dairy for my tea, thank you.

CD

 

[caseydog]

Yes, I would never make a buckwheat biscuit, AP or self rising only. I believe buckwheat flour is used traditionally to make blinis. I made some for us once or twice, so I have a partial bag of buckwheat in the freezer. Don't remember if I have used it for anything else.

I grew up eating buckwheat pancakes sometimes instead of regular white flour pancakes. They were very good.

Buckwheat Pancakes

CD

 

[The Velvet Curtain]

I steep my tea in a teapot, then pour the tea into my cup, with a little sugar or honey. No dairy for my tea, thank you.

CD

Honey? HONEY??? That's just wrong.

 

[TastyReuben]

I like my tea like I like my women...strong and bitter.

That was the most family-friendly one I could come up with.

 

[TastyReuben]

I've documented my tea routine here before, and I make it every which way possible, from loose-leaf in a warmed pot on weekends, to a Keurig with tea pods during the week.

I use teabags, I'll make it in a French press if I feel like it, and I'll load up the basket on an automatic drip Mr. Coffee and make tea in that. Any way to get the water over the tea works for me.

Same with drinking it. I strongly prefer black teas (the ubiquitous English breakfast tea and its variants) and I'll drink it black...or with milk (by which I mean half-and-half)...or sugar...or all of that.

I'll use lemon if it's Earl Grey, or lemon and honey if my throat is sore. I'll drink it hot, warm, cold, fresh or leftover and stale.

I love tea!

 

[caseydog]

I've documented my tea routine here before, and I make it every which way possible, from loose-leaf in a warmed pot on weekends, to a Keurig with tea pods during the week.

I use teabags, I'll make it in a French press if I feel like it, and I'll load up the basket on an automatic drip Mr. Coffee and make tea in that. Any way to get the water over the tea works for me.

Same with drinking it. I strongly prefer black teas (the ubiquitous English breakfast tea and its variants) and I'll drink it black...or with milk (by which I mean half-and-half)...or sugar...or all of that.

I'll use lemon if it's Earl Grey, or lemon and honey if my throat is sore. I'll drink it hot, warm, cold, fresh or leftover and stale.

I love tea!

View attachment 59049

Talk about evolving, if you order tea in a restaurant in the US Deep South, you will get iced tea. The sever will probably ask, "Sweet or Unsweetened?" If not, it will automatically be "Sweet Tea," which means enough sugar to make your teeth hurt.

If you order hot tea, you'll get a Lipton tea bag and a coffee mug full of hot water.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

I grew up eating buckwheat pancakes sometimes instead of regular white flour pancakes. They were very good.

Buckwheat Pancakes

CD

But she is making biscuits.

I too ate Buckwheat pancakes. Once. One of my sisters-in-law made me some. They were dense and hard,, like hockey pucks. I drowned them in butter and syrup to get them down.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Talk about evolving, if you order tea in a restaurant in the US Deep South, you will get iced tea. The sever will probably ask, "Sweet or Unsweetened?" If not, it will automatically be "Sweet Tea," which means enough sugar to make your teeth hurt.

If you order hot tea, you'll get a Lipton tea bag and a coffee mug full of hot water.

CD

My grandmother made sweet tea so dark I couldn't see through it if I held the glass up to the light. Between the sugar and caffeine, I'd get a buzz off the first few sips.

I like hot tea with honey and cinnamon.