
In Search of good Indian food - shankysingh
https://www.springboard.com/blog/eat-rate-love-an-exploration-of-r-yelp-and-the-search-for-good-indian-food/
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acconrad
I'm very intrigued by this "authenticity rating."

On the one hand, I feel like it's kind of racist to assume that someone of a
race will automatically know what good food from their native country tastes
like (for example, children of immigrants who have never been to their
ancestral country of origin).

On the other, I feel like it's at least an interesting start to try and find
what is "authentic". How do you extract that for other marketplaces like
Airbnb or Etsy? How do you define an "authentic" traveler? Or artisan? It's a
very interesting problem and a neat heuristic to explore.

~~~
fallinghawks
Yes and no. The average white/black American has their own idea of what
constitutes "good" ethnic food. I've seen Indian restaurants open serving very
hot spiced dishes, and within a year or two it'll be toned down because the
non-Indians can't handle it.

Children of immigrants hear their parents' opinions of authentic flavor. My
mom (immigrant) gives me (American born) these kinds of hints and I can find
restaurants and foods she'll like. When reading reviews I do tend to note
whether the reviewer is of the same ethnicity or look for statements like "I'm
X ethnicity".

~~~
jinushaun
But "authenticity" has no correlation with quality. An ethnic restaurant
packed with people of that ethnicity also has no correlation with quality.
People conflate authentic with good, but you can also be authentically bad.

I've been to plenty of "authentic" American Thanksgiving meals prepared by
mediocre American home cooks. I've been to plenty of "authentic" small town
American diners with horrible food.

Likewise, I've traveled around the world and have eaten plenty of poorly
prepared local food that are off the typical tourist track. Thai food didn't
taste better in Thailand. French food wasn't better in France. Coffee in Italy
was crap. Sure, there were also amazing stand-outs, but I'm talking about your
average business. It's impossible for all of them to be amazing. Just like
back home in the US, your average restaurant will be cheap and mediocre. This
is what your average person eats. Not everyone is a foodie. These are all
authentically prepared meals by authentic locals—born and raised. Likewise,
your average home prepared meal also won't be amazing because your average
home cook isn't a star chef. Yes, a villager who doesn't have easy access to
prepared foods may have a larger repertoire of cooking knowledge, but it
doesn't necessarily translate to making delicious meals.

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fallinghawks
> People conflate authentic with good, but you can also be authentically bad.

I do agree that conflation is inappropriate. In fact, I was just in a
Pakistani restaurant the other night and had one of the most dull biryanis
I've ever had. Yet the customers were primarily desi. And on a tour of China I
was fed nearly the worst Chinese food I've ever had.

But authentic is still authentic if you take the _best_ food you've ever had
"over there" and bring it over here.

