Or even a smaller scale, your local dishes are completely different in another provinces, which makes you yell "This is not my mama's cooking!" Is it worse? Is it better? And this is a light-hearted thread so don't turn it into a sociological/historical thread. I know different cultures borrow elements of other cuisine all the time. So don't get nitpicky on what it means to be bastardized, 'kay? Play nice, 'kay?
I cook a lot of international food for my job, for people from all over the globe. I know that my "falafel" is a knock off because I don't have a deep fryer. I press them into patties and grill them. But I've been told my chicken tikka masala and my mapo dofu are pretty spot on. That's the highest compliment someone could give me! Great idea for a thread. Can't wait to see what other people have to say!
Oh totally! I bastardize dishes all the time! And most of them are from states adjacent to mine or other countries. The most common one is Vg Pulao/Biryani/Pilaf, a rice dish with vegetables and spices. Most kinds are made with many spices and powder, curries and vegetables. I tend to make my mine incredibly simple with Carrot, Peas, Salt and the bare minimum chilli powder. My friends and family goggle at me when I proclaim it to be a Pulao/Pilaf/Biryani. They laugh and say a biryani would be insulted at what I call my dish lol. Ah well.
I'm Latin American. So a lot of food from neighboring countries is a bit different, but not different enough for me to enjoy as its own food. So I rarely enjoy Latin American restaurants. But I still enjoy Mexican, Asian or food from other countries.
Don't know if this counts but I'm Belgian and I get so annoyed by fries being called French fries there's nothing like belgian fries
I'm Italian, Greek, Arab, Jewish. The last three, you don't see many American interpretations, but along with Mexican and Chinese, Italian is the most bastardized food there is! I still enjoy say...Pizza Hut...but it's definitely not the way my nonna made it!!
I find it funny that everyone says calzones are folded pizzas, when really pizzas are flattened calzones. Also, hard shelled tacos are an american invention. Also also, as far as I am aware, traditionally red/meat sauces go in thicker, more substantial pastas than spaghetti. Note that all of those are things I have simply been made aware of, I am not actually Mexican or Italian.
Panda Express. Not saying the food's bad, I actually think it's pretty good, but it definitely isn't authentic.
There's so many shitty kebab shops it's painful. Nothing comes close to what it's like back in Azerbaijan.
Most American food is way better after it's been redone in another style because the stereotype about genuine american food being really greasy and gross really is true.
Someone once told me that she didn't like Philly pretzels because she didn't like the cheese in them. Philly pretzels are not supposed to have cheese in them!
Kebab. It's not exactly "the" national dish of my home country, but kebab features prominently in the cuisine. The doner kebab that I can find in Europe is tasty but it's nothing like the kebab that I can get in my home town, which is why I stuff my face with kebab every time I travel to my home country.
