3WholeCardamoms

Anybody here/there? If this topic still burns for anyone a good resource for reflection is Chapter 2 of Lisa Heldke's Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer. The chapter is entitled "The Pursuit of Authenticity". Quoting: "What we identify as authentic in that culture is often simply what is new to us -- which may or may not represent what insiders to that culture would identify as significant, traditional, or genuine elements of it...In fact, our choices reflect our own experiences; whether or not they identify anything important about another culture is often an open question. However, in practice, what counts as an authentic aspect of a cuisine gets built around the expectations of the eater." Clearly, this may or may not pertain to all of the above discussion(s), or rather, does in varying degrees. I slid over - was directed to - this thread after questioning someone's request for info on "the most authentic Indian food in Vancouver". While the topic of 'authenticity' does deserve its own forum, or even several, I'm a little dissapointed that regional discussions of it get overlooked in favour of a topic-specific 'authenticity discussion' spanning the whole continent. This seems especially important in a multicultural, 'emerging' food city such as Vancouver. A local discussion can confront locale-specific issues. I'm interested in any discussion troubling the casual usage of "authenticity". It seems to me, that its usage often reveals more about the presumptions of the speaker than of any possible or findable so-called authenticity. It is an interesting and messy subject. Uma Narayan's chapter entitled "Eating Cultures" from her (Dis)locating Cultures is very pertinant to this discussion. And, if anyone can point me to readings they have come accross i would be very appreciative. There is a growing body of literature on this subject, especially as it pertains to food/eating, but it requires alittle networking to find it. Thanks. 3WC

sorry to bring up the subject again, but i can't let it go. has anybody found any good bread lately? other than the malty-but-nice ciabatta at the mix, i'm having trouble. somewhere between the west end and ubc i should find some good dough, no? imagine a (vancouver) where we had neighbourhood bakeries. sorry, but terra is baking in a wharehouse now. no, its more like an airplane hangar. any new input is appreciated... 3WC

-you should go to Cucina in Dragon Alley for lunch (cuz she's not open for anything else). I (me) would skip Bravo. Can you bring back some Olive Baguettes from Wild Fire? "Mo:Le" is somewhat new and worth a try. Well, more than 'worth a try' but i'm trying to restrain my everything.