Does authenticity matter?
My thoughts on why you shouldn’t let worries about your meals being “authentic” hold you back - and when authenticity can be helpful to consider.
That’s not how you do a real…
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…insert dish here - carbonara, bolognese, curry, etc. Talking about real versions of famous dishes can simply be a topic of conversation, and it’s a super interesting one! It can get us all more connected with the cultures from which some of our favourite meals come from, techniques and methods, and even ingredients we hadn’t considered. However, if you are not a super confident cook, you may feel that the worry of making the “tabloid version” of a dish won’t live up to people’s expectations - maybe not so much if you are just cooking for your family or your partner, but if you are making something for a dinner party or even just having your in-laws over for dinner.
I’m here to tell you today that as a home-cook, you don’t have to worry about authenticity at all. No one is going to come and arrest you if you put some chicken in your Greek salad. If your bolognese hasn’t simmered on the stove all day. Or if your curry actually has curry leaves in it.
All that matters when you cook from home, is that the process is as enjoyable as possible, and that you, and whoever else eats the food you’ve made, enjoy the result! You can take inspiration from every corner of the world and make it your own. You can call it a “Mexican [enter dish here]” without having to research whether that’s actually something they make and eat in Mexico. If you love it, and your family knows what you’re referring to, then fantastic! That’s all you need. Making food from scratch takes effort and thought, but it’s not a test for you to pass.
This may seem a bit ignorant and dismissive of me. Do I not understand why certain dishes are made a specific way and how much culture and history there is connected to different types of cuisine? Oh, absolutely I do. But I also think that the less restriction we have around what’s “allowed” to do when cooking, the kinder we will be with ourselves when making something at home, and the more prepared we will be to experiment and actually tune in with what we love to eat. Follow your taste buds, follow your intuition and allow yourself to go a bit off-script!
Now, on the flip side of this, we can learn a lot from the odd bit of education on authentic recipes. For example, every time I make my carbonara sauce for someone new, it seems they are surprised that there is no cream in it. If you love cream in your carbonara sauce, then by all means keep making it, but I personally find an authentic carbonara sauce easier and tastier, and it is arguably cheaper and healthier too! I’ve had carbonara with cream served to me in a (supposedly fancy) restaurant, and that I don’t find acceptable. They have a different responsibility to authenticity than you do at home, in my opinion.
Maybe looking up what they do eat in Mexico will give you some super new ideas for cooking, and really inspire you. Maybe ditching the chicken and doing an actual Greek salad will make you realise that it doesn’t need the addition and that there’s a very good reason why it is a famous salad, just the way it is.
In conclusion, if authenticity can help you, and it’s something you love learning about and discussing, then fantastic! There’s so much inspiration to be found from other cultures, and you can have some amazing culinary experiences in your own home (both in the making and in the eating of the food). But I really recommend that you don’t let authenticity be a prison for you, allow your own spin on things and don’t take that stuff too seriously, when you’re already making such a great commitment to cooking your own food at home. Like my husband said when we talked about this topic over breakfast; “If a Dominos Texas BBQ can call itself a pizza…” - which made me laugh. YES! If that is the case, then whatever you make at home can be whatever you want to call it!
What are your thoughts on authenticity? Do you disagree with me? Do you have a favourite “non-authentic” dish, or do you have an example of where authenticity is very important? Let me know in the comments below!
