Correct. I'm sorry if I let that question pass, perhaps I should have addressed it.
What are YOUR favourite 3-4 home-grown fast foods? What do you miss when you travel, extensively, even if it is cross-country or interstate?
In China & Vietnam, I missed meat pies, chiko rolls, & dim sims, but most of all, Cheese. So, in China I developed a method of making fresh cheese from UHT milk. In Vietnam, I started a made-to-order Pies, Pasties, Sausage Rolls business and added a Weekend Farmer's Market Grill Station where I developed a Vietnamese variation of the Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, using all local ingredients sourced from the Farmer's Market. Every time I go back to Australia, a Four'n Twenty meat pie, a chiko roll, and a couple of steamed dim sims are always on the lunch menu in the first couple of days.
So, why reverse engineer these commercial nightmares? Because they are a deep and integral element of my childhood. They are the comfort foods that remind me of home, happiness and all that was good in the world. Can I make better quality versions? Absolutely. But, understanding the fundamental elements of the pastries that go into making these items… and the pastry is absolutely integral to the memory of these items: the tactile feel in the hand, against the tongue, resistance to the teeth, and all the rest. The filling is not as important, although it does present its own interesting challenges, as well as tangents into molecular gastronomy, regarding emulsions & thickeners, etc.
Lastly consider, why do people bother to try and recreate the "Original" Kentucky Fried Secret 11 spices and herbs? Why do people want to know how to make Chinese hand pulled noodles? Why to people want to recreated authentic Peking Duck, Tandoori bbq, Nan Bread... (the list is long.) For me? The point is in the challenge, in making it right, and to the standard as I remember it, to say, ahhh! that's it!
So, this is the foundation, from which the stepping stones to something more personal and possibly better starts.
