When I was in college a new restaurant opened up. It was called Olga's Kitchen and I loved its food and the picture of the Mediterranean-looking lady who spearheaded the place. Who knew that Greek food could be so yummy?! I mentioned this to a classmate who snarled back that it wasn't real Greek food and it would never fly anywhere in Greece. Olga did well because she adapted Greek cuisine to the American palate.
Just like every other national cuisine adapts to the palate of its new home.
And that goes for "American" food in Australia. And we are not talking about McDonald's here but the staples that appeared on plates in just about every dining room in America--and in every American movie or TV show with a dining table in it. You knew Mom loved you when she served up meatloaf and mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, turkey with gravy/stuffing/yams/cranberry sauce, Jell-o with fruit in it, etc. You get the picture. So when I go to events here in Perth that have an American theme, my hopes rise high for a nostalgic meal. I should know better.
Yesterday's tourism industry event had a western hoe-down theme. Too hot for cowboy wear, we were OK'd for cooler clothing--I did wear my cowboy earrings, bolo tie and best John Wayne accent to get in the spirit of things. There was a mechanical bull to ride (no, thanks) and a real horse too spooked by its surroundings to oblige the promised rides (drats). Then there was the food: Old El Paso salsa with domestic corn chips, mac and cheese (inedible in any country), cracker crust pizza with either pulled pork or tuna on it (Really? Can someone look up Chicago-style pizza recipes and attempt that, please?), some kind of meat pie (totally Australian), pulled beef on a bun (not tooooo bad) and some nasty mess I cannot name nor could swallow. And all of it was served in miniature (an act of mercy.) The desserts were from a Swedish bakery named Miss Maud's and were a welcome--if not overly American--sight. The mini cherry pies had no solid fruit and too much crust but very edible, the brownies were more fluffy cake than dense treat (a common mistake) and the mini jam filled doughnuts were yummy and disappeared quickly. I softened my critiques (when asked) by mentioning how foreign foods are adapted to the local palate as I put my unfinished whatever on a passing tray. The above menu has pretty much appeared at other American themed events--with slightly better success. The menu is right, its execution....Australian.
For a moment I thought I should change vocations and go into catering real American food. But, would anyone eat it...?
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From D.F.:
ReplyDeleteMight be fun sometime for you to make a REAL Chicago-style pizza (no tuna allowed, for crying out loud!!) for a select group of friends and see what they think of it. It's so hard for me to wrap my head around how and why they got so far afield from it . . . maybe there's something about real pizza that makes Strine taste buds cry foul.
I grew up eating my grandmother's marvelous spaghetti with her homemade sauce and thinking I was eating Italian. Then I lived in NYC for a while and found that what I'd enjoyed my whole life was in reality American-Italian cuisine, a whole different animal. No harm,no foul . . . just different. Turns out that the sauce my grandpa's mother made for the family when they first "got off the boat" morphed over the years to an Americanized version (maybe due to the difference in ingredients available here versus in Italy) which my grandpa loved, and which my Irish grandmother learned to make for him. Talk about your melting pot, right?