Food Trends

» Scousegit - Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia

I agree wholeheartedly with Mariluz on Morth American tapas being overpriced but in response I think the same can be said for food and drink generally in North America, not to mention its mediocre quality. As a European who has spent much of his life in Latin America, I despair at food here being either junk or overpriced and pretentious.

On the pricing: I am ever amazed at the retail price of produce in North America. Despite having massive economies of scale, much cheaper fuel and labour costs than in Europe, produce this side of the pond is still much more expensive in shops than in Europe. To look at retail prices, you would think even backward, under-invested Portuguese farming was somehow far more efficient than its North American counterpart.

I suspect farm-gate prices are pretty cheap in North America, but I think what is at work are deeper-seated cultural factors: lack of an autochthonous cuisine and the enduring legacy of Puritan settlers.

Lack of an autochthonous cuisine: This is the elephant in the living room. For the sheer size of North America, its contribution to world cuisine has been negligible, apart from Cajun cooking. This dearth of anything home-grown sets the bar pretty low, so everything else I can think of is plagiarised from somewhere else, and often adulterated to boot. I suspect this is the same with most former white settler colonies, and I know it is most unlike other former colonies. I have lived for long enough in enough places to know that whenever North Americans try to imitate an elaborate cuisine they nearly always get it wrong or debase it: the only exception I have found is in select Mexican barrios in the U.S. with a lot of recent immigrants, and where they don't cater to gringos.

Puritan values: Puritans were able to run riot in North America in a way they never were back in Europe. Protestant cultures in colder climes generally have tended to eat to live rather than live to eat, but this has been taken to extremes in North America. The result is that North America doesn't really do cheap and cheerful; if you want anything even half-way decent, you're going to have to pay for it, almost like a penance.

The same goes for wine, which is likewise an expensive luxury in North America rather than one of life's simple pleasures. Bad wine in a shop here is more expensive than decent stuff at a Portuguese restaurant (I often pay less than four euros, or six bucks, there for a BOTTLE, not a glass!), and in Spain they often give the stuff away with a "menu", their equivalent of a prix fixe. And while I'm on this subject, why would I even bother tasting wine from Ontario or California when I can get a decent Rioja for less, even with the usual North American mark-up?

Sadly the same also goes for shop-bought ingredients. Yes, they have industrial cheese and preserved meats in Europe, but over there the stuff is at least fairly decent and often very good: in Toronto, supermarket fare is dire and I have to go to one or two delis to get anywhere even half-way decent stuff, and pay through the nose for it, while the truly decent stuff simply isn't available.

Back to tapas: First of all, a quibble with the term "tapas bar", which I see as a tautology in Spain, where all bars have tapas and drinking without having at least something to eat is unknown.

Now a bit of history. I have been visiting Spain regularly for decades and have close family connections with that country. Once upon a time, a tapa was something the barman gave you without asking, literally a "lid" to cover a drink. He would take a slice off the cured ham hanging up behind the bar and slap it on a hunk of bread, or push a dish of olives at you.

We hardly used the word "tapa": anything you asked for was far more hearty and called a "ración", if it was called anything at all. Bars in those days were dirty, rather than chic, and it was the done thing to throw your olive pips, peanut husks and used serviettes on the floor. In fact, wading up to your ankles was a sign that a bar was the place to be, but the tapas were still better than anything I've tasted yet this side of the pond. In North America, they seem to have banished taste along with bacteria.

Then, as Spain swiftly went from being a backward, poverty-stricken dictatorship to modern, prosperous democracy, they started charging for tapas: I had my last free one in 2000. The bars are cleaner now, but they have kept the taste. They also started opening these things called "tapas bars" abroad, but back in Spain they were still NOT expensive.

Unlike Mariluz, I will take issue with the lack of authenticity in North American tapas bars, or restaurants generally, as when the owners choose to call a place a "tapas bar" and seek to charge people, they do have an obligation to live up to the claim. I am likewise sick of the "Mexican" restaurants whose food is a travesty when compared with the real thing.

Of course, I know that, sadly, I can't expect to see jamón de jabugo, lomo ibérico, morcilla de burgos or ventrisca de atún over here. But it IS fare like that which makes a true tapas bar. If it ain't available, then call the place something else!

The trouble with North America, is that restaurant owners can get away with calling food pretty much what they like, and lack of authenticity is almost always synonymous with mediocrity and lack of imagination.

Until they can come up with an original, gastronomically workable (rather than attention-seeking) alternative that is also reasonably priced, I don't see the point in parting with my hard-earned cash. I would rather wait for an annual trip to Europe than be disappointed here, and in the meantime, cook at home.

-- posted by Scousegit

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» Mary Luz Mejia - Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia

In response to Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia posted by Scousegit:

Wow! I hadn't given that much contextual thought to the whole subject- glad to read you have Scouse! It does put some things into perspective- althouogh I still think food is pretty pricey in the UK- even in supermarkets. I'm guessing you don't...

Either way, given we live in Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities in the world- I'm torn on the topic of Tapas authenticity. Yes, I agree- it would be LOVELY to have some of the REAL stuff. The closest we ever came to it was a funky (and decidedly UNpretentious) little place called appropriately enough: Tapas on Carlton right off of Parliament if I recall. A Spanish born and bred man named Luis owned it- great chorizo, gambas al ajillo, tortilla, sopas and Sangria. It was nothing fancy, just honest bar food and a great ambience (again- it was like a Spanish rec-room circa 1975 but it had a certain energy and charm with serious music). We have NOTHING like that today- paler versions at best.

Those places that present "tapas" style food and aren't entirely Spanish, can be fun though. Torito does a decent job in Kensington- the chef is Latin American but he's a very good, imaginative chef and the co-owner's roots are Spanish. Chef Carlos' Tongue in Cheek dish is a lot of fun- his interpretation of tapas is quite tasty, even if it isn't authentic. And they are infinitely more reasonable than other places in the city where you can drop a lot more coin for a lot less.... One day, I think someone will get smart and offer the best of both worlds where dropping peanut shells and paper-thin, tiny napkins on the floor to ankle-deep heights will be invited and a sure sign that this is a place worth chowing at!

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» Scousegit - Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia

In response to Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia posted by cookbook:

Yes, food is pricey in the UK, especially with the current exchange rate. Nonetheless, as far as supermarkets go, hey do make up for price in quality and even when British food was at its lowest ebb, we never had "hamburger helper" on our shelves!

Besides, they aren't always dearer. Cheese is actually cheaper there, and of a quality in supermarkets you can only find in Kensington Market or the St. Lawrence here in T.O. You can also buy cheese at specialist shops, old-fashioned or increasingly popular "farmers'" markets of a quality you simple won't find here. And it is all original, not a bland copy of something a long, long away.

But then take a look at supermarkets in Spain, Portugal, France or Italy, they ARE usually cheaper -- despite the exchange rate -- and show just how awful their counterparts in North America really are.

As for local restaurants, thanks for the tips, but I am personally tired of food which is "the best under the circumstances" or going to places which will not compare to what I can get on any street corner in Spain, yet cost at least three times as much. At the end of the day, as they say in Spanish, they're giving me cat for hare and charging me even for the smile! Like I said, I'd rather cook at home and invite some friends round ;)

-- posted by Scousegit

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» Scousegit - Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia

In response to Response to article by Mary Luz Mejia posted by Scousegit:

While on the same theme, why not coin a term for pseudo-tapas, to distinguish them from the real thing, in the way that "Tex-Mex" is used to mean something that is decidedly not true Mexican?

-- posted by Scousegit

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