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| sushi made with jasmine rice - not only inauthentic, but photographed in horrible light as well |
But it's also not to say that I don't adhere to some notion of authenticity in my cooking. Note I said *some* because I'd like to think my days of being ignorant enough to believe I have a credible and accurate grasp on the authentic preparation of more than a handful of dishes are far behind me. Not to mention that what is authentic for a particular dish varies from region to region, from family to family, and there's only so much one can believe that the Chinese invented or originated. (That's an Asian joke, folks. I'll be here all week...)
As with the debate over stock, a foodnik has to make his own informed determination as to the degree of importance and application of a concept to his own kitchen and palate. Suffice it to say, I have my own arbitrary boundaries regarding authenticity, and those boundaries are often expressed in my little side comments about how inauthentic I'm being by substituting this, shortcutting that, etcetera, etcetera.
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| frappified pico de gallo - not authentic, either... |
Because *authentic* in my usage is not a statement of quality, and certainly not a guarantee of deliciousness, I take it as a statement of fact in the technical sense of the word, nothing more or less. It just means that in a person's mind, in her experience, in his family history, in their culture and worldview, a dish, an ingredient, a preparation, or a presentation goes wayyyyyyyy back.
Why bother to make this clarification? Well, I don't want to misrepresent my recipes to someone new to a cuisine and striving for authenticity as a main priority in their cooking. By the same token, I'd like to encourage those who are intrigued by the idea or flavors of an exotic (to them) cuisine to wade in that pool a little bit without having to go whole hog stocking their pantry with loads of rare and or expensive ingredients they might never find another use for. And I guess it's also a preemptive address to some of the pundits out there: It's not necessarily because I'm ignorant or unable that I like to do it differently (although sometimes it is... ;) ).
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| a whack gringo-Mex pie that's not authentically anything in anyone's universe... |
That said, unless I'm doing all-out fusion, I do try to keep flavors in what I believe to be their proper contexts. For instance, I've seen pho recipes that include sesame oil and daikon. While I don't doubt that it could be delicious in it's own way, there's no way I would post a recipe like that without making note of the fact that neither one of those ingredients is *typical* (which, btw, is often a more helpful and accurate term, in my opinion).
Shoot. I'd be hard pressed to even call it pho. And it's not necessarily because the ingredients themselves are not authentic or traditional - I make substitutions and approximations all the time out of necessity or practicality. It's more because the flavors those ingredients impart to the dish take it so far away from typical that it bears distinction and acknowledgment. See? I am somewhat sort of concerned with authenticity...
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| quasi tandoori chicken |
...But not so much that I'm going to lose sleep over the fact that I made the ponzu for my tataki with lemon instead of yuzu, my kimchi with fish sauce rather than salted shrimp, or my Vietnamese braised pork with brown sugar rather than coconut syrup. It seems to turn out delicious anyway. (Although in that strange gray space known as my brain, it does matter that I know they are substitutions - just not always necessarily inferior ones.)
With that mouthful, and a bit of caution to keep this post from becoming unwieldy, I leave you to write up a much requested recipe post for somewhat inauthentic nahmool (NAHmool) (a Korean word for vegetable bahnchahn, among other things...).
To deliciousness above all else,
shinae
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