Badenoch

Those women were stupid because they bragged about it. Even Colonel Sanders understood the importance of a "secret recipe."

Vaucluse

The best dimsum I had in North America is in Vancouver. I have no problem locating a good Chinese restaurant in most US & Canada major cities.

Maluku_Flyer

Bwahahahaha. MSC, eh?

SJCFlyerLG

That's pretty hysterical. American Italian food is often slathered in a sugary tomato sauces that is close to ketchup. Having spent a lot of time in Italy, there is a zero chance that American Italian is better. And cruise ship food is about as bad and bland as it can be,

Badenoch

It's a matter of perspective. If ones only exposure to Italian cuisine was Chef Boyardee then the floating equivalent of an Olive Garden on a cruise ship would be a quantum leap forward. LOL.

The neighbourhood I grew up in was about 50 per cent Italian immigrants. It is possible to get quality Italian food in North America. You just aren't likely to find it at a restaurant offering an all-you-can-eat pasta bar or unlimited bread sticks.

weero

In S'Pore it is mostly an indicator (or dog whistle to use proper /PR lingo)_ for Halal food in steak or burger form.
Excellent crime stats too! And once the Chinese overcome their driving habits and traffic rule interpretation they brought along, they make for the perfect immigrants .
AFAIK he volunteered - he wasn't asked or pushed to depart.

Bouncer

I was wondering who came up with the "Five Great Kitchens" and how Turkish made the cut, but Greek didn't. Are they insane? I was in Crete the other week and my goodness, some of the best food I've ever had, and I am a fat boy who likes his foods!

Regards,
-Bouncer-

Disagree, but it depends on the dish, where made, and by who. I love southern Italian, and I'm convinced the extra nitrogen in the soil from Vesuvius is what gives the tomatoes from that region (Campania) such a unique taste (and high fructose content). It's true that you can eat the lemons off the trees in Naples, and equally true that the tomatoes just taste more sweet, and since tomatoes make up the base of like 70% of the dishes, it changes the texture/taste of all of those dishes. Simply put, Spaghetti Fra Diavolo in southern Italy is probably the best there is, it's this spicy/sweet combo that makes your mouth water anytime you think of it. Add in that the pasta in the small restaurante is made by the Nonna in the kitchen with the hairy arms... Just the best. Having said that, I prefer Italian-American pizza and Italian-American lasagna over the Neopolitan versions of either.

Like most of us, I've eaten on most continents and many places. Many times taken there by locals, and I don't think you can simply make across the board declarations that there is zero chance any Italian-American is ever better than any Italian in Italy. There's some pretty ugh touristy/expensive restaurants in Roma I wouldn't put up against my local Italian place owned by Italian immigrants in my folks' town in Virginia. /shrug

Regards,
-Bouncer-

pinniped

Same here. Most West Coast cities have reasonably authentic Chinese food.

That said, I don't know why people get so worked up about this. America has long riffed on cuisines from around the world and created their own styles and flavors. Even within the genre of "westernized Chinese food", I know a couple restaurants that do it consistently well and I know a few that are utterly terrible. Same with Mexican, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, French, etc. We have American chefs doing creative things with each of these, and that's awesome. Some try to stay pretty true to the old country; others mashup with other cultures, ingredients, or techniques not really used at home. It's "authentic" to no one beyond that chef, and it's often great food. Typically, no such claim is made as to authenticity with anything else. (Except those silly Olive Garden commercials.)

LapLap

Can’t answer that - and the post where it comes from is vile and undependable anyway.
But there is a widely held conviction that there are 3 “Grand Cuisines”.
Admittedly, I came across this in Japan which has a propensity for grouping best of any category into 3, so finding out what the world’s best 3 cuisines are there is hardly a surprise. But the idea is not limited to Japan.
Those “top 3” are French, Chinese and Turkish.

Don’t have cruise ship experience (not since I was 11) but I am a seasoned Economy class flyer. I’ve flown Alitalia, Air France, Air China and Turkish Airlines. Based on this, Turkish cuisine is most certainly the world’s greatest

lamphs

I logged on to make a post to another thread, and noticed this thread. I completely agree with MSPeconomist. I enjoyed the 'old' Travel' channel, not so much anymore. In fact the only TC show that I look for on demand or DVR is Andrew Zimmern's.

I for one, have no issue with Andrew Zimmern's comments/critiques. Food is his area of expertise and I have actually used his show as a reference for at least two trips. I tire of the perception of a comment, made in a clear context, being offensive to some group of people, and then someone has to pay the price. The man doesn't care for 'Chinese' restaurants in the Midwest. So? Guess what, I don't care for many of the mom and pop 'Chinese' restaurants in the suburb county of WDC, where I live. And I don't see a WaPo or Washingtonian restaurants critic being crucified because the critic did not care for, insert ethnicity/region, food at a particular restaurant.

I look back at Adam Rich. He had great shows, but used the word 'thinspiration' regarding his own weight loss. I say good for him, regarding his weight loss. I seriously doubt if I asked any of my family, friends, coworkers, either before Adam's use of the term or today, that any of them would know or care that 'thinspiration' is 'offensive' to a group of people.

And by the way, if I unknowingly make an offensive statement, I won't apologize either; I will state 'I learned something new, and I'll try to be more considerate in the future'. End of discussion!

America - grow up!

anrkitec

He was certianly entertaining when he was providing the diminutive comedic relief on Eight is Enough in the '70s, but I was unaware of any recent forays into food-themed television.

SJCFlyerLG

I used to work for a company in Hsinchu. Sometimes they would have pizza delivered from Pizza Hut. We played it safe with pepperoni, because the locals preferred shellfish pizza, including a cuttlefish.


Taiwan - home of my favorite Asian dish, spicy shabu-shabu.

Badenoch

Read his quote in the article. The difference is he wasn't criticizing "a particular restaurant" he was calling ALL of them "horsesh-t" and that he was "saving the souls" by opening his own Chinese restaurant.
If the discussion is between some gas bag TV "celebrity" cook or the thousands of hard-working people running Chinese restaurants across fly-over country in North America put me in Column B.

pinniped

I read an article a few years ago that explained it in a little more detail. Basic idea is that these three have a long imperial history and have influenced most of the rest of the regional cuisines in the world. The French style influenced the rest of Western Europe. The Ottomans influenced the other Mediterranean cuisines. The Chinese influenced most of Asia.

The first thing that came to mind for me was whether Indian should be its own grand cuisine. Plus I think of Japanese as substantially different from other Asian cuisines. But I guess for this "rule of 3" purpose, French, Ottoman, and Chinese probably top the list. If they'd have asked me, I would have said Texas, Kansas City, and Memphis. But they didn't ask me.

Veteran of exactly 1 cruise here. We were on Celebrity X, which markets itself as more of a midrange brand above the Carnivals of the world. (I think Royal Caribbean owns it.) The food everywhere was decent - nothing awful, nothing great. They were proud of their "specialty" restaurants, but none would have been all that remarkable if they'd been in a shopping mall instead of on a boat. The sushi joint was reasonably good. The "main" dining hall was rather mediocre. The buffet sufficed for breakfast. About on par with your typical Marriott buffet. Unlikely that I'll do another cruise for many years.

lamphs

I read it. And maybe it shouldn't be 'ALL', but in the US, as compared to Asia, most of the mom & pop restaurants, are simply not that good. If his new restaurant is authentic, good for him. Still no reason to be fired for expressing an opinion in the context of food. And here in lies the problem with being PC. He didn't insult all Asian-Americans, he criticized the food prepared and served at a group of restaurants that are generally owned and managed by hard working Asian-Americans. This seemingly turned into the perception that he insulted an entire group of people, rather than the product.

FT can be hypocritical. There are many FTers who do not think much of TSA agents, in non-OMNI threads. Is it OK to insult an entire group of hard working folks (granted with a few exceptions), 57,600 in authorized strength, and not be barred from making future posts? It is OK to post such criticisms, fairly or not, because this is a travel forum, just like Zimmern is a food critic.

And finally, I'd venture to guess, and maybe with a bit of research, there are other public food critics that hold same opinion as Zimmern's regarding westernized "Chinese" food . Oh no, I found something from the beloved (including by me), Anthony Bourdain. "It’s a real departure from the Americanized Cantonese swill (which does fulfill a specific and valid kind of craving) more typically found in the U.S.", when referring to San Gabriel Valley, CA! But nobody here would dare call out the late Mr. Bourdain!