# What Cuisine Do You Just Not Care For? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326 "2016-09-08T12:55:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/101 "2016-09-09T16:29:57Z")
the problem with worrying about “authenticity” in regional/ethnic cuisine is that a lot of dishes considered “traditional” are not that old. Tomatoes are a New World vegetable, yet they have a strong association with Italian cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/102 "2016-09-09T17:19:44Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, if **scabpicker** is looking for spicy or well-spiced, he’s not going to get it in German or really most Central European cuisine. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Most of that type of food (and I grew up on Polish and lived with Hungarian food as well for a number of years) doesn’t need more than salt and pepper, and maybe a flavorful fat like lard or bacon. But, like I said, I grew up with that food, and I like the meat-and-starch simplicity of much of it (and it gets even more meat-and-starch as you head into Slovakia and up to Lithuania, where it feels like every dish is based on potato or a dumpling of some sort. With bacon, of course. And sour cream.) On the other hand, I love the spicy and well-spiced cuisines you get in Asia, as well. Variety is good. As much as I love a blazing hot gai pad krapao (Thai holy basil chicken), it’s every bit as good as a simple weinerschnitzel served with boiled or mashed potatoes (or, better yet, a jaegerschnitzel with spaetzle.) My wife grew up in a Polish family and still loves pierogi, while I find it bland and usually have to slather mustard on it. I do like a flavorful bigos, however. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/103 "2016-09-09T17:22:39Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Barbecue not “Southern US?” An odd perspective indeed. > > Not only is barbecue extremely popular through much (can’t speak about all) of the South, but the various \*styles \*of barbecue within the region are extremely popular–and there is much debate over which is the best. My father was an enthusiastic proponent of the vinegar-based-no-tomato Eastern North Carolina style, and was quite scornful of the very different Memphis style. Then there’s Augusta (GA) style, and the mustardy flavor common in parts of South Carolina, and the mutton-based stuff popular around Owensboro, KY… “Barbecue is not Southern” is an odd perspective _only_ to a Southerner. Look, a Chicagoan will argue endlessly over whether to put ketchup on a hot dog, but you will not hear a Chicagoan say that hot dogs are exclusively a Chicago thing. It simply isn’t true. And barbecue is a universal, even global phenomenon. Boiling hominy grits is not. Therefore, grits is considered a Southern dish, while barbecue is universal. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/104 "2016-09-09T17:29:48Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > “Barbecue is not Southern” is an odd perspective _only_ to a Southerner… ??? Just FYI, I have never lived in the South. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/105 "2016-09-09T17:37:38Z")
I don’t like large pigs with apples in their mouths. I don’t care where it’s from. It’s just a bit much. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/106 "2016-09-09T18:10:41Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > ??? > > Just FYI, I have never lived in the South. Nor have I. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/107 "2016-09-09T18:10:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Middle American cooking isn’t so much a _cuisine_ as it is a _crime against humanity._ Jello Salad is a perfect example. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/108 "2016-09-09T18:33:25Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Look, a Chicagoan will argue endlessly over whether to put ketchup on a hot dog, but you will not hear a Chicagoan say that hot dogs are exclusively a Chicago thing. It simply isn’t true. And barbecue is a universal, even global phenomenon. Boiling hominy grits is not. Therefore, grits is considered a Southern dish, while barbecue is universal. Case closed. I’ve never had anything resembling Southern US barbecue anywhere outside the US in the world. Sure, great grilled meats; fantastic pig and oxen roasts, tasty smoked sausages, but not barbecue. By “barbecue” I am talking a cooking method that involves slow cooking, often with indirect heat, at temperatures ranging from about 200-300F, using wood to impart a distinct smoky flavor to it. It’s a type of hot smoking, but a bit hotter than that. It’s not spit roasting. It’s not grilling. It’s not cold smoking. Most of the types of “BBQ” you are talking about is what I would call grilling. Korean barbecue is not barbecue in the sense being talked about here. Plus you can go further into how traditional Southern barbecue is served, the specific types of meats, what with the sauces (or not), side dishes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/109 "2016-09-09T18:36:42Z")
FWIW, Chicago-style Hot Dogs (will all the stuff on them) ARE a Chicago thing. They even advertise that. Same thing with their pizza (or NY style pizza). Southern style barbecue IS a Southern thing. To say otherwise is incredibly strange. And it’s as much Southern cuisine as fried chicken is. FWIW, many cultures have a fried chicken dish as well… does that make Southern fried chicken not Southern? ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/110 "2016-09-09T18:45:28Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > FWIW, Chicago-style Hot Dogs (will all the stuff on them) ARE a Chicago thing. They even advertise that. Same thing with their pizza (or NY style pizza). > > Southern style barbecue IS a Southern thing. To say otherwise is incredibly strange. And it’s as much Southern cuisine as fried chicken is. FWIW, many cultures have a fried chicken dish as well… does that make Southern fried chicken not Southern? Then SAY Southern Style Barbecue. NOT just Barbecue. Then we agree on terms. If you just say hot dog, I will picture a wiener in a bun. If you say Chicago style hot dog, I will picture a hot dog with all the trimmings. Geez, broaden your perceptions, people! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/111 "2016-09-09T18:51:50Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Southern style barbecue IS a Southern thing. To say otherwise is incredibly strange. And it’s as much Southern cuisine as fried chicken is. FWIW, many cultures have a fried chicken dish as well… does that make Southern fried chicken not Southern? I was gonna say, what’s more Southern than fried chicken? But fried chicken is all over the world. Chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken? That’s basically schnitzel. Grits? Polenta. (OK, hominy grits are slightly different.) Biscuits? A riff on scones. Pimento cheese? Not too different from various paprika cheese spreads in Central Europe (liptauer or obatzda). I’d argue that Southern barbecue is more distinct than these typical southern dishes. Pecan pie? OK, you got me there. That’s pretty distinctly Southern. American-style pies in general, too. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/112 "2016-09-09T18:56:19Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Then SAY Southern Style Barbecue. NOT just Barbecue. Then we agree on terms. The context of the conversation here should make it clear that we’re talking Southern style barbecue. I, though, as a Yankee do use “barbecue” just to mean Southern style barbecue, because that’s what real barbecue is. 😉 More seriously, though, there is a distinction in the American English lexicon between grilling and barbecuing, but it’s muddied. If someone, though, says a place has “good barbecue” it means exactly one thing to me: that slow-cooked, smoked style of cooking (and more specifically may even indicate pulled or chopped pork). Same if someone invites me over “for barbecue.” Now, if someone invited me over “for a barbecue,” that can be a simple cookout/grilling thing. Or if someone recommends a “great barbecue joint,” I’m not expecting a place that serves hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks–items that are/can be grilled over a live fire. I’m expecting pulled pork, brisket, ribs, and possibly hot links cooked in the manner described above. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/113 "2016-09-09T19:03:25Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the problem with worrying about “authenticity” in regional/ethnic cuisine is that a lot of dishes considered “traditional” are not that old. Tomatoes are a New World vegetable, yet they have a strong association with Italian cuisine. The last is true, of course. Same thing for the role of potatoes in various European cuisines. But… “authentic” doesn’t mean _old,_ anyway, certainly not 500+ years old. The whole history of some cuisines is less than that, but even where it isn’t, new dishes can still be perfectly authentic. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/114 "2016-09-09T19:03:37Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Back up the truck. > > The South is a rich and varied place. Despite the stereotypes, you’ll find plenty of Southerners who are politically progressive, who work actively against racism and homophobia, who support a strong social safety net. There are a lot of Southerners who are brilliant technologists and others who are quickwitted wordsmiths. Not all of us watch football or basketball. Some of us are even skinny. Sometimes southerners are funny, pointing out this when it was never mentioned in the first place! I think of basketball as being an Indiana thing. Which in some ways, they are much like the south. > [@](#): > > But barbecue? That’s the one thing we all agree on. Every one of us believes that our region’s barbecue is the best, and those of us in North Carolina have the added privilege of being 100% right about the subject. Which half of NC? Both have different barbecue styles. FWIW, I’m no expert of the subtleties of all the regional styles, and haven’t tried all of them, but either type of NC style has to be up near the top. My least favorite is Memphis because I don’t particularly like dry rub, but I haven’t tried enough to say for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/115 "2016-09-09T19:07:42Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’ve never had anything resembling Southern US barbecue anywhere outside the US in the world. Right. “Barbecue is not Southern” is a valid perspective only to someone who doesn’t appreciate what the term means in the Southern US context. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/116 "2016-09-09T19:10:56Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Then SAY Southern Style Barbecue. NOT just Barbecue. Then we agree on terms. When someone talks about fried chicken when talking about Southern food, do you tell them “WAIT, SOUTHERN frield chicken” so you may agree on terms? When people call barbecue part of Southern cuisine, it is understood to mean Southern BBQ, just as when people call fried chicken part of Southern cuisine, it is understood to mean Southern fried chicken. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/117 "2016-09-09T19:12:15Z")
Well said. eta: Both of you! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/118 "2016-09-09T19:12:46Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > My least favorite is Memphis because I don’t particularly like dry rub, but I haven’t tried enough to say for sure. Memphis actually has both dry and wet styles–it’s definitely not one or the other kind of place. And if you’re thinking Rendezvous (which I actually _do_ like), that’s a weird outlier of an example, and not really what I would call “barbecue” normally, but rather a grilled style of ribs. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/119 "2016-09-09T19:26:23Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > the problem with worrying about “authenticity” in regional/ethnic cuisine is that a lot of dishes considered “traditional” are not that old. Tomatoes are a New World vegetable, yet they have a strong association with Italian cuisine. Yeah, I realized at some point (after eating at a truly foul Mexican restaurant beloved by lots of Mexican immigrants to our town) that “authenticity” isn’t something I value at all. I’m not even sure it’s a coherent concept, but if it is, I’m much more interested in finding food that tastes good to me than I am in finding food that’s “authentic.” ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326/120 "2016-09-09T19:34:33Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I’ve never lived there, but I’ve been to two supposedly good German restaurants in town, and people who like German food love it. [Here’s](http://www.littlegermanyfortworth.com/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urlfile&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=inline%3B+filename%3Dlittle-germany-083012.pdf&blobkey=id&blobtable=Document&blobwhere=1301089600075&ssbinary=true&moddate=2012-08-30%2011:51:40) a pdf of one of their menus. Would you like to compare your “good” German menu to this one… [http://www.theberghoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SpringSummerDinnerWeb2016.pdf](http://www.theberghoff.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SpringSummerDinnerWeb2016.pdf) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-cuisine-do-you-just-not-care-for/765326.md?page=7)