What do exotic recipes in gourmet food tell us about people?

This thought was posted on Thinkaloo on 18 March 2008 by member michelle

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The other day I was having dinner with a friend at an upscale, expensive Indian restaurant. We noticed that most of the items in the menu were variations of curry, a recipe that both rich and poor people eat daily. I am sure Indian gourmet food also includes recipes that you won't see people eat every day, but what is interesting is that most recipes on the menu or what people order the most in a gourmet Indian restaurant are curry variations with fresher spices and ingredients, better cooking and obviously better taste.

When I eat at an Italian gourmet restaurant this is also the case, recipes will be mostly pasta or meat variations, with pasta and meat being food people of all incomes eat every day in Italy.

But when I go to a French or Chinese upscale restaurant, chances are that most items on the menu will not be every day recipes, meaning food that people eat every day. It will be either an exotic recipe or a recipe with hard to find or very expensive ingredients.

Does recipe variation and its split on the menu of a gourmet, upscale restaurant between everyday recipes and exotic recipes tell us something about people in that country?

French kings and Chinese emperors for example were notorious for indulging in food with their chefs competing to produce food that was exclusive to the king and had exotic, exquisite taste.

Can we say that such societies are more exclusive and hierarchical? Japanese society for example is well-known for being hierarchical. Gourmet Japanese food is kaiseki cuisine which you rarely see people eat every day.

Sushi, on the other hand, was the laborers' food during the Edo period which is now considered gourmet cuisine in the West. But sushi is something that people eat often in Japan. This is why the Japanese have the highest fish consumption per capita in the world.

Don't you think it's interesting that if you go out to eat good, gourmet Indian food chances are that you will be ordering some kind of curry variation, curry being is a recipe most people eat every day in India anyway?

What conclusions can we make about the people in a country based on the composition of their gourmet food and its high or low inclusion of every day recipes and ingredients?

Have you ever thought about it? Do you think my observation is valid or is it me who might not yet have been to the truly upscale gourmet restaurants? What do you think?