Cuisines That Shouldn't Start with "Fusion"
 

Compliments of this late summer/winter season, fellow FTers

Living in NYC much of the time I'm far too frequently made aware of various cuisines that have teamed up to produce a hapless array of meals. No, I'm not against "fusion" cuisine (if I like it, I'll eat it), and based on the wide array of nationalities in this city you can certainly stumble upon a hoot or two (in Woodside, there was a place with Filipino//Nepali/Indian cuisine), a place called Salt & Pepper sells "Spanish"/American/Indian/Pakistani foods and in Sunnyside I saw a Japanese/Nepali place. A traditional tea ceremony with yak butter, sure...

What are your thoughts on the broad-ranging "fusion" wave? Has it hit your city/country yet? Secondly, which cuisines do you never want/expect to see together?

Thanks,
TBS (or more currently, BuildingMyBento)

Cuisines That Shouldn't Start with "Fusion"
 

Carlos Murphy's
Mexican Irish food

I think I'd have a hard time with Mexican/Japanese fusion. Somehow, tripe sushi/sashimi just doesn't sound that appetizing.

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On the other hand, Peruvan-Japanese is some of the best ceviche out there.

Much of the "local" food (not the tourist food) in Hawai`i had its start in a seemingly unlikely fusion.

I grew up eating at the Chinese pizza place. Great Mongolian beef pizza.

There's a find! Granted, the UK has a significant Polish expat population, but...maybe this type of place would do alright in Chicago?

Also, I realize that many cuisine have been influenced by so many others in one way or more, but I'm looking more for your opinions/knowledge of less common pairings/cuisines that probably don't belong together. It might inspire some of us to attempt a dish as well... balut Benedict, anyone?

Bubba's Barbecue and Borscht!

Is that place by Penn Station?

Is it fusion, though? I thought it was two distinct menus, so to speak.

Indeed they are separate, (pretty sure that one closed, but there's still one by 14th and 1st) but I'd say it can be included only because the sign eagerly announces the presence of the four cuisines...perhaps they haven't tested the waters of daal a la parrilla, but an outgoing customer may suggest it. This idea isn't to be confused with a hotel buffet, where you can often find many cuisines served, because I'm more curious about how local populations have taste buds have influenced the dining scene. Putting Pakistani, Indian, Spanish, and American into one eatery is a good example.

Tabla NY (now closed) www.tablany.com

offered fantastic Indian-French fusion cusine - French food with Indian spices, and Indian food with European spices

I'd almost claim that Mexican and Okinawan fare go together rather well. Not that much compability regarding the main isles of Nihon.

So which of those 4 would fried plantains fall under? :)

In Reykjavik I happened upon a Mexican restaurant run by Chinese. The chimichangas tasted like egg rolls.

Around here, combination Thai and Southern BBQ restaurants are surprisingly common (though it's a two category menu rather than fusion) and I can think of a Cajun sports bar run by Koreans with assorted Korean items on the menu.

I'll joke that if we ever do develop a regional cuisine around here, it's going to be Thai-Cajun fusion, given the demographics of my part of the Florida panhandle.

Beachmouse, is that because there is a growing Thai population in the FL panhandle, or just that one Thai place opened, locals liked it, and so more appeared as a result?

As for the largest city in the Cajun region, aren't there a substantial number of Filipinos in New Orleans/its environs?

Did taco rice make you think of the combo? Now if Mexico started using a lot more bitter gourd and shikuwasa, I'd be on the bandwagon...even more so.

Mexican-Italian

http://www.mexitaliansantacruz.com/

Cuisines That Shouldn't Start with "Fusion"
 

Palm Springs Mexican Sushi restaurant
www.margaritasrestaurant.net

The Thais are in the central Panhandle because of Eglin AFB- lots of Vietnam-era Thai 'War Brides' ended up in the area with their American spouses after he retired from active duty. Then they've often daisy-chained other family members over here under family reunification visas since that first woman in the family set up shop, I mean restaurant. The first Thai restaurant in the area opened in something like 1966, and since that worked out well, many others have followed over the years. Considering how Ft. Walton Beach effectively didn't exist before WW2, the Thais have now been part of the food of the metro area for more than half of its history.

We've also got a good-sized Filipino population from the days of bases over there, but they don't seem to have the same culture of restaurant entrepreneurship as the Thais.

Not sure about Filipinos in New Orleans, but southern Louisiana does have a pretty large Vietnamese population, and a lot of the shrimping boats in the Mississippi Gulf Coast and coastal Alabama are also now run by the Vietnamese these days.

Thanks for the background, beachmouse. I'm always curious about why certain ethnic groups can be found in various locations, not just because they are community-centric, so when one family went, all of them did, but also because I'm legitimately intrigued by immigration patterns. Lewiston, Maine and Somalis? Fresno, California and the Hmong? Koreans in Uzbekistan? No matter why they left their home country (to which I also add, Americans in Shanghai?...kinda), they've probably (or, hopefully) taken some of their culinary acumen with them. The Thais in the FL panhandle are a good example.

I had only eaten at their Bread Bar, but I thought their food was more like "schizophrenic Indian." It was like the food couldn't decide if it wanted to be Indian or not. But my bias was because I love everything about Indian cuisine but don't really like French cuisine, so mixing the two just didn't work for me. I met a girl whose boyfriend was a chef there, and she said the dude would tell everyone the cuisine was "New American" because people were confused by a French-Indian restaurant.

One good tv show about that is called 'Chinese Restaurants', which aired in the US on Link TV a while back:

http://www.chineserestaurants.tv/index.html

Some good stuff about how Chinese families and small communities ended up in all corners of the globe from Cuba to Israel (by way of Vietnam) to Norway to Trinidad, and how much of their culture and food they've kept or not.

In an old neighborhood of mine there was a late night Mexican/Chinese restaurant. Never ate there. ;)

I'm not into fusion restaurants in general. It gives me the impression of a jack-of-all-trades type if situation. I'd rather go see the master.

We have a food truk here in town serving Korean tacos. Quite tasty.

Vending Machine fusion.

I was reading an article (not exactly Economist-worthy) 'bout how there may be too many taco places popping up in the Dallas metro area. swag, what do you think? Weren't there decent taco places around already, as in, Mexican taquerias? And now it's the fusion, er, infusion what with the Korean variant as you mentioned? NYC is undergoing (or maybe it passed already?) this trend too.

This summer we popped into a place in Soldotna, Alaska, and discovered that in addition to their Greek/Italian/Mexican cuisine, they now offer sushi as well. :eek:

I don't really know - from what I've seen, the true taquerias are mostly located in the neighborhoods with lots of Mexican residents. I don't get to those areas often enough, I can't really judge the marketplace.

The Mexican fusion I've seen tends to lean more on the fused flavors, and use Mexican for the construction. For example, the Ssahm truck's tacos are meats (or soy) with a korean marinade, plus Sesame Soy Vinaigrette Salad, Caramelized Kimchee, Cilantro & Onion, Korean Salsa Roja, Spicy Mayo, served on 6″ Corn Tortillas. I'd say the cilantro is the only real Mexican flavor.

Likewise, a local Irish pub serves "Irish nachos", but it uses potato slices instead of tortilla chips, and corned beef and cabbage as the dominant toppings. The jack & cheddar cheeses add some mexican flavors, but it's more Irish in flavor, Mexican in appearance.

That's only three continents. Why not add some injera and tibs to the mix?

Irish nachos, that sounds pretty good actually.

I'm not from LA, but a mate pointed out that it used to be a pub, and now it's...http://www.mashtimalone.com/legend.htm Iranian ice cream.

Irish nachos are great ^ (saw them for the first time around 17 years ago at McGee's in Chicago).

But how are they a "Cuisine That Shouldn't Start With Fusion"? :confused:

There is a small local chain in the PHX area called Chino Bandido Takee Outee. They mix Chinese (well American Chinese), with Americanized Mexican, with Jamaican flavors so that you can end up with an orange chicken quesadilla or burrito with a side of jerk fried rice. It's awesome! And every meal comes with a snickerdoodle cookie for dessert or fudgy chocolate volcano cookie on Sundays.

http://www.chinobandido.com/

Has that been there for a while? I want to say I went to a Chinese/Mexican fusion place (and had an orange chicken burrito I think) maybe five years ago. It was really good though. I think it was in Chandler, too.

Dobson and Chandler location has been there for a few years.

I can't stand American Chinese food, but throw jerk into a corn tortilla with lime and frijoles and I'm a believer. Have they expanded into Vegas or Southern California?

But, where does a snickerdoodle cookie fit in? I hate to say it, but the first "eatery chain" I think of when it comes to cookies is Subway, just because they are stolidly waiting by the cashier, getting staler than asking about NW's DC-9s at Airliners.net...

Really? None of it? I've had some very very tasty American Chinese food at certain higher end places, and even a couple of hole in the wall joints. Better than anything I had in over 2 months in Hong Kong. I can relate though as I have yet to find decent American Thai food.

Nope, I think they only have 2 or 3 in the PHX metro area.

Eh, diffrn't taste buds, mate. When I was younger, I'd only ever want egg rolls and mustard, but after living in China and Hong Kong for a spell, I appreciate more the barely-"sauced" steamed chicken with broccoli in the US.

You didn't like anything local in HK? I abhor that stuff just as much. Ditto Taiwan. Notable exceptions include har friggin' gau and a couple of fish dishes where the bones have vacated the premises.