"Fusion" ?

[Suzanne F]

Hi, Paula! Thank you so much for opening yourself to us.

One of the joys of reading (and cooking) your recipes is the sense of authenticity they carry. There is such a purity to the ingredients; I cannot imagine anything non-indigenous (or at the very not least a close approximation) appearing.

But . . . come on, 'fess up: in your own home cooking, do you ever mix widely varying nationalities or ethnicities (for example, using fish sauce in place of salted capers)? Or is that sort of "mongrelization" anathema to you? And if you do it, what are some of your favorite multi-ethnic combinations?

[Wolfert]

Okay, fessing up: I once made a coulbiac using vermicelli noodles instead of vesiga. I've also applied Chinese cooking techniques to Mediterranean recipes. But, yes, I guess I do make a kind of fetish out of authenticity. Though I'm sometimes dazzled by the fusion dishes of creative chefs, I also find those dishes difficult to remember. For me, being dazzled by brilliant food, and truly adoring a dish are two very different things. I also find those brilliant fusion dishes very hard to reproduce. So...though I may pray in many churches...I worship in only one cathedral