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Is Your City or Town a Culinary


jamiemaw

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The American Midwest--Chicago included--has historically not been a destination for immigrants from abroad, though I hear that Minneapolis has become one for certain Southeast Asian groups.  (Chicago's culinary verve is partly the product of internal migration.) The coastal cities historically have been.  Those two facts, I would suggest, make all--or almost all--the difference.

Dear Sandy: I agree and disagree. Take a stoll with me along Argyle on a Saturday morning if you don't think Chicago is a magnet for migrants. But I agree that Chicago's culinary verve is inward looking.

By the way, jamie, is being an innie automatically bad? Seems French and Italian cooking would be dissed automatically if that were true.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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By the way, jamie, is being an innie automatically bad?  Seems French and Italian cooking would be dissed automatically if that were true.

No, it's not bad to be an Innie, just interesting I think Maggie. Older culinary cultures may slow in their evolution just as immigration (or the need to invent) slows, or as the 'two solitudes' that now exist in some European cultures present challenges for shared diets.

I'm interested in the assimilation of people and their cuisines, and how the interweaving of culinary DNA reflects who we are (and probably who we aspire to be) as an entire culture. Canada is called a 'Vertical Mosaic' (as opposed to a 'Melting Pot') because, while celebrating assimilation and commonality, it also celebrates differences. So do its cuisines - they stand alone, but certain nuances, ingredients and techniques find their way onto regionally-driven menus.

Here's a very current example - to be found in some of the dishes on the trial menu that a group of Vancouver chefs will be presenting at Jas. Beard House in late April. Note the BC ingredients but the converged preps and assimilated nomenclature:

hors d'oeuvres

Tai Naruto Maki

BC Snapper Wrapped in Egg Crêpes with Seaweed

Kashiwa Tsutsumi

Wild British Columbia Salmon Sushi with Marinated Kelp and Kashiwa Leaves

Chidori Ebi Kimizushi

Sushi Rice and Egg Yolk with Poached Prawns

Wild Goose Winery Gewürztraminer 2004

_____________________________

Green Sea Urchin with Ponzu Sauce and Kusshi Oysters with Pickled Vegetables and Horseradish Foam

Black Hills Estate Winery Alibi 2003

Gray Monk Odyssey Pinot Gris 2004

. . . the list goes on . . .

Certain areas of Spain may be the exception that proves the rule that Old World culinary cultures may now evolve with less velocity than those of the New World; they have become more codified. Of course, that was not always the case.

Just ask a tomato. :biggrin:

Edited by jamiemaw (log)

from the thinly veneered desk of:

Jamie Maw

Food Editor

Vancouver magazine

www.vancouvermagazine.com

Foodblog: In the Belly of the Feast - Eating BC

"Profumo profondo della mia carne"

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I asked a tomato and she bridled and blushed and said: "Jeez, that's one hecka a menu."

Great BC ingredients interpreted a l'Asie. That is an gorgeous example of an outie, but as the unwitting contrarian on this thread -- apart from the ingredients, where's the Occidental culture and terroir? Trust me, I'm from the same staunch Canuck Wasp stock as you are, and I'm wondering why and if BC chefs from the same gene pool come up with anything half this inventive. If not, why not? They have the same beautiful ingredients. Are our forebearers no longer paritcipants in the Canadian culinary mosiac?

And I don't mean to be Vancouver exclusive here -- it could apply to any outie city.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

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I asked a tomato and she bridled and blushed and said: "Jeez, that's one hecka a menu."

Great BC ingredients interpreted a l'Asie.  That is an gorgeous example of an outie, but as the unwitting contrarian on this thread -- apart from the ingredients, where's the Occidental culture and terroir?  Trust me, I'm from the same staunch Canuck Wasp stock as you are, and I'm wondering why and if BC chefs from the same gene pool come up with anything half this inventive. If not, why not? They have the same beautiful ingredients. Are our forebearers no longer paritcipants in the Canadian culinary mosiac?

And I don't mean to be Vancouver exclusive here -- it could apply  to any outie city.

Nifty segue, Maggie, as the balance of the menu might well answer your question about our forebears, and as you know there are quite a few bears here:

Wild Queen Charlotte Salmon with Dungeness Crab and Young Leeks

Winchester Pinot Noir 2003

Mission Hill SLC Chardonnay 2004

Boneless Saddle of Lamb with Root Vegetables and Salsa Verde

Poplar Grove Benchmark Merlot 2002

Osoyoos Larose Le Grand Vin 2003

Braised Kobe Beef Short Ribs with Pemberton Valley Crosnes, Organic Beans, and Purple Sunchokes

Laughing Stock Portfolio 2003

Burrowing Owl Cabernet Sauvignon 2002

Weiss Chocolate Tasting > Trio of Chocolate Mousse, Cherry Granité, and Spicy Hot Chocolate

Jackson Triggs Reserve Sparkling Icewine 2001

Lemon-Tamarind Frozen Soufflé with Strawberry Sorbet, Toasted Meringue, and Caramel Water

Hainle Riesling Icewine 25th Anniversary 2003

Note that even one of the wines is a co-venture. As for the chefs, two are native-born Canadian, two are Euro-Canadian (one English, one German) and one is Japanese-Canadian. All of their children are Canadian-Canadian, as is the cuisine that they prepare each night. :biggrin:

Edited by jamiemaw (log)

from the thinly veneered desk of:

Jamie Maw

Food Editor

Vancouver magazine

www.vancouvermagazine.com

Foodblog: In the Belly of the Feast - Eating BC

"Profumo profondo della mia carne"

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Fast reply: My little rural area is sooooo an innie. Hog maw, chicken and waffles, potpie, pickled beets/eggs, and other Pennsylvania Dutch delights. (Unless you count embracing McDonalds, I guess.) Being an innie isn't a bad thing, though. I'm grateful I can travel to an area and find people staunchly continuing the local food traditions -- how else would I experience them so well?

~ Lori in PA

My blog: http://inmykitcheninmylife.blogspot.com/

My egullet blog: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=89647&hl=

"Cooking is not a chore, it is a joy."

- Julia Child

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Fast reply:  My little rural area is sooooo an innie.  Hog maw, chicken and waffles, potpie, pickled beets/eggs, and other Pennsylvania Dutch delights.  (Unless you count embracing McDonalds, I guess.)  Being an innie isn't a bad thing, though.  I'm grateful I can travel to an area and find people staunchly continuing the local food traditions -- how else would I experience them so well?

My cousin is a notorious Innie.

from the thinly veneered desk of:

Jamie Maw

Food Editor

Vancouver magazine

www.vancouvermagazine.com

Foodblog: In the Belly of the Feast - Eating BC

"Profumo profondo della mia carne"

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I definitely recognize a California cuisine, but I'm not experienced enough, perhaps, to distinguish between Northern and Southern California cuisine. LA is an outie. So is New York. I suppose that's something fairly common in cosmopolitan port cities.

I remember reading about the differences at that time: IE: about 25 years ago.

LA = Contrived SF = Tastes Good

In "2006" I feel that they are coming together in positive ways. The Asian influence in southern California is comparable to the North, but taking everything together it is definitely better everywhere on the West Coast with Vancouver, BC the emerging light. This is partially due to the mydrid ingredients available there that aren't available in the States plus the percentage of educated immigrants from all over the world settling recently in British Colombia.

In availability and utilization of local products the "Pacific Rules" in 2006.

Irwin

Edited by wesza (log)

I don't say that I do. But don't let it get around that I don't.

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