More Food Xenophobia

If food is made by a foreigner, is it still food? Absurdity in the New York Times.

I went to one of my favorite restaurants in New York City last night, Do Hwa, an amazing Korean place co-owned by Quentin Tarantino. I guess it is a good thing that Tarantino wasn't cooking because according to some of the people interviewed in this ridiculous New York Times article "Is the food still Italian if the chef is a foreigner?," it wouldn't be authentic. My god, more food xenophobia. Here are a couple of gems from the article:

Pierluigi Roscioli, a member of the family that runs the restaurant that won the best carbonara award, said there was a risk that tradition would slowly erode if Italian chefs did note oversee those foreign ones who had less training.

"Without supervision, they tend to drift toward what is in their DNA," he said. "When it's by choice, it's great, but not when it happens because someone isn't paying attention."

Wow, our DNA tells us how to cook? The people in this article claim they aren't racist, but what else would you call it? Here is another:

He did well, in part because he made the pizzas bigger but kept the prices low. Now Markhyyeh, 41, presides over an untraditional pizza empire. He has 11 restaurants in Milan, 4 in Jordan, 2 in Cyprus and franchises in Dubai, Beirut, Sharm el Sheik in Egypt and now in Shanghai.

Despite this success — and thousands of loyal Italian customers — he said he has never felt fully accepted. "Italians say they aren't racist, but then they say to me that in Milan, I have found America," he said, referring to a slightly insulting expression for finding success without really working for it. "It makes me feel lousy."

Qunfeng Zhu, 30, a Chinese immigrant who opened a coffee bar in Rome's center, has had a similar experience even though he makes an authentic espresso in a classic Italian atmosphere (overlooking a few bottles of Chinese liquor).

"Some people come in, see we are Chinese and go away," he said.

Of course, we can all see the irony in shunning a person from the country credited with inventing pasta. And carbonara? It was popularized in the United States by American troops returning from Italy, according to Wikipedia. Of course, like most foods its origins are unclear and obscure.