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What’s authentic?

By Ann | April 7, 2008

 

Apologies again for slacking off on the Cooking the Books: The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics. I can’t even blame my laziness on my back, which is now (practically) pain free. What have I been doing instead of cooking? Well, this weekend I was away in Boston visiting my friends Sherry and Brian, who spoiled me with North End Italian fare, South End Franco-brunch food, and a visit/realization of life-long dream to Orchard House, home of Louisa May Alcott.

I will be back with another edition of Cooking the Books soon. Tonight, I’m marinating beef chuck roast in red wine; it needs to soak for 24 hours! Tomorrow I will turn that drunken beef into Martha’s daube de boeuf Provencal (ooh la la!).

Until then, I wanted to direct your attention to this fascinating article in the New York Times, Is Cuisine Still Italian, Even if the Chef Isn’t? It turns out most restaurants in Italy are (surprise, surprise) staffed by immigrants many of whom hail from Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Romania or Bangladesh. One Tunisian chef even won this year’s prestigious Gambera Rossa award for Rome’s best carbonara. Not surprisingly, some Italians are questioning if this food cooked by non-Italians can really be considered authentic. Obviously there are some racial elements to this story, but I do think the question is intriguing: If Italy’s high-end food is cooked by immigrants, will authentic Italian cuisine eventually disappear?

Topics: In the news |

One Response to “What’s authentic?”

  1. Sherry Haus Says:
    April 8th, 2008 at 8:45 pm

    We loved having you, Annie! We miss you already!!!

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