What is ‘authentic’ food anyway?
And why is it such a buzz-word in America?
authentic: made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original
As I’ve started to dip my toes into US food culture, I’ve noticed that the word ‘authentic’ crops up over and over again, often intended to be high praise for whatever is being eaten. It’s not a commonly used word to describe food in the UK and it’s not a word that I would typically reach for when describing what I’m eating.
The only circumstance I could see myself using it is for food that I’m very familiar with, being prepared by someone who did not grow up with that dish but is aiming to reproduce it accurately (e.g. ‘wow this roast dinner is so authentic, just like my mum used to make’.) But I don’t get the sense that I’m seeing it used in this context. For example if I started saying ‘wow this grits tastes really authentic’, it would sound jarring as I am by no means an authority on grits (in fact I’ve never eaten it before).
It’s cropped up so much that I’ve started to wonder - are people actually comparing the food that they are eating in America to things that they know well, grew up with or have eaten overseas? Or is this a thinly veiled way of saying ‘this doesn’t taste like anything I’ve had before, so it must be good and is probably true to the food culture of wherever it came from’?
In my mother tongue of British English, words often convey more meaning than their face value. For example if I tell someone I’m ‘not bad today’ instead of ‘good’ or ‘fine’, I’m probably having the worst day of my year so far. When I cook for my family, my Dad often says ‘it’s different’ when what he really means is ‘this is weird, I’ve never eaten it before and I’m trying to decide if I like it’.
So when I hear the word ‘authentic’ my brain immediately starts looking for the hidden meaning and (particularly when used by white people to describe food from other cultures) it often arrives at ‘this is weird, I’ve never eaten it before and I’m trying to decide if I like it’. But is this what those using it are actually trying to convey, and even if they are, is that a bad thing?
Trying to decide if you like something when eating it for the first time is natural, and being challenged by food and experiencing new tastes can be a joyful experience. One of the things I’m looking forward to most about living in NYC is the ability to explore new cuisines. All humans need to eat, but different cultures put meals together so differently and we can learn so much about each other just from how we eat. It would be a shame not to tuck in.
To learn about the culture and history behind the food, we probably do need what we’re eating to be the dictionary definition of authentic and true to the culture that it is supposed to be from. But too much tradition stifles innovation.
Even if a dish isn’t authentic to the historical traditional recipe, food is almost always authentic to the chef (assuming that the finished dish is as the chef wants it to be). Trying to create something unique without being strictly authentic can create some of the most interesting fusion food out there, but equally I’ve also come across a lot of poorly conceived ‘fusion’ where random things have been put together on a plate just for the sake of being different.
The melting pot of cultures and cuisines in America lends itself very naturally to fusion, but I can see how it can be overwhelming and sometimes people just want something homely and uncomplicated, true to the tradition that they are expecting. In this situation, calling something authentic would mean ‘this is exactly what I was expecting and craving, which is a relief’.
The other place that my brain goes when I hear the word ‘authentic’ is its other meaning of real or genuine, or in food terms ‘not processed, made with real ingredients’. Having only been in the States for a few weeks I can already see why this is a complement. I knew that New Yorkers famously don’t cook, but it’s been amazing to speak to real New Yorkers and hear how often they Door Dash, eat out or reheat leftovers from a restaurant or delivery. And with the price of groceries not actually that much cheaper than eating out, I can see why.
But how and who can or should judge authenticity? I spent two weeks in India in 2016, mostly off the beaten path eating in whatever restaurant we happened to walk past and thought looked good. I had some mind-blowing curries while I was there, and since then have definitely fallen into the trap of saying that curries in UK restaurants are authentic to what I had in India. But I was only there for a short period of time, only visited a tiny proportion of a huge country and only tried a minuscule fraction of Indian food as a whole. While I can compare against what I did try, I am in no way qualified to rule on all Indian food.
I’m more than happy to accept when Italian friends tell me if pizza or pasta is authentic. Italian food with its focus on simple recipes with few, high quality ingredients lends itself to being described as authentic, but that doesn’t mean that a highly unauthentically Italian pasta dish like Fettuccine Alfredo is any less delicious.
With America’s long history of immigration of people and food, I can completely see how ‘authentic’ would easily become a highly complementary word. Finding a really good example of a home comfort food somewhere you aren’t expecting it is an absolute joy. Even in the age of modern communication and being able to fly home whenever I want, I’d still be ecstatic to find a great roast dinner or full English in NYC. Tastes and smells can transport you home in a way that nothing else can, and during the early 1900s at the height of immigration to America nothing else could anyway.
But I don’t think I’ll be calling food ‘authentic’ any time soon. While I might make an exception for a really great roast dinner, white people in particular need to knock it off and stop calling food authentic that they have no real expertise in. Let’s focus instead on building up our experience with different cuisines, learning about each other’s cultures and history along the way.