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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   3051 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for March 14, 2025

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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In my area of the midwest, many Mexican restaurants serve an almost certainly horribly inauthentic paella. Mexican rice plus fajita vegetables (onion, bell pepper, tomato), chicken, shrimp, and covered in queso. As far as I know, proper paella has no queso. Does that mean I never order paella? No, absolutely not, I love the stuff around here. I am similarly told that a chile relleno filled with liquid-ish queso cheese is also not authentic, and I usually order one of those too.

What is your favorite inauthentic dish that has been mangled by cultural transfer?

I'd assume most of ethnic food restaurants catering for general US public would be somewhat inauthentic in some way. Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Indian, Vietnamese, whatever it is - they would make some adjustments because otherwise Americans would just not go there. It's not that people's tastes never evolve, it's just it takes a long time to get used to something genuinely new, and the restaurant may not survive that long without customers. This is not true where there are a lot of relatively recent immigrants which have "old country" tastes, then the restaurant can rely on them and slowly expand their clientele to others but if that's not the case then they'd have to do something "inauthentic". I am personally fine with that - as long as it tastes good for me, I don't care it tastes differently thousands of miles away from here.

For sure, and a good pattern for how that can happen, but excuse me, I asked for your favorite inauthentic dish that has been mangled by cultural transfer. Like, worst of the worst, you're-doing-this-so-wrong type thing.

I told a friend from western USA that I put romaine lettuce on my tacos, and he reflexively said an incredulous utterance and immediately went to get his Mexican wife's opinion on it.

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