僕は日本にいます。Follow

Yeah, no, sorry. I'm not a fan of heart attacks and obesity and I like vegetables in my food.

So you make a half portion, split it with friends and have vegetables on the side. I'm not saying eat something like that every day.

Tell that to my BLT.

I am the speaker.

Banana.

REDACTED.

There are some things the Japanese do well and maybe better than others. But I don't think they have any sort of mastery that a skilled chef of any other cuisine has.

But high class cuisine isn't something that you eat everyday unless you're rich. When the everyday cheap foods are delicious, zomg, you never want to stop eating. Then again, this is probably just because it's something I don't get to eat often. I think everyone should spend 1-2 months eating one style of food and then switching, then repeat, etc. It'd probably be pretty awesome for your tastebuds.

This may sound obvious, but I imagine that what Japanese chefs have over other chefs is a mastery of the Japanese concept of cuisine.

You can replace the "Japanese" uses in that sentence with any cultural group, really.

There was this big event in the culinary world years ago (in the 2000s, or whatever that decade is called, I think) where the top Chinese chefs were invited to the US to tour some of the best American restaurants. This may have continued into the EU - I can't remember.

Long story short, the Chinese chefs thought the food wasn't good. Because it didn't exemplify anything that they believed was a precondition for quality cuisine. And even when it came to taste, the sort of flavor profiles they had culturally learned to appreciate weren't being presented.

So I don't really see much reason to compare chefs across culinary disciplines. They're all going to be trained to present the most delicious food they can to the demographic they serve.

Sushi isn't really standard Japanese fare. It's more frequently eaten for special occasions, or for times of celebration/elation in general, than anything else.

Sort of like... pizza? Sure, there are times you eat it just because, and sometimes you eat it just because you're happy it's the weekend. And sometimes you eat it because you're out with friends and it sounds like a fun time?

It's not a perfect analogy, by any means, because sushi is "classier" in general. But sushi in Japan can quickly become ridiculously expensive, as you move up the tiers of quality.

And the Japanese style restaurants in the US are rarely attempting to remain fully authentic to the native dishes. They try and remain as authentic as they can, while still serving what the general public wants. That's not to say you can't find authentic Japanese cuisine in the US, particularly in cities, just that what most people perceive as Japanese cuisine isn't what you'd really get as the average experience in Japan.

And if we're moving on to high-end Japanese cuisine, that's going to become vastly less common. Many chefs will incorporate Asian ingredients and styles into their cooking, but few will do so with the goals of honoring Japanese culinary ideals in general.

[EDIT]

I see that you were using Vancouver, not a US city. So this may be irrelevant - I know nothing about Vancouver's culinary scene.

Edited, Jun 9th 2013 8:55pm by idiggory

The reverse is also true, but not for the better. I can find whatever I want and it's of the highest quality because all those great international chefs come to NYC to open shop and make money. However, the minute I leave the city I find myself really annoyed because I've come to expect to find whatever I want whenever I want. Like finding Moroccan food in Georgia.

San Diego is also pretty much beer heaven. You'd be hard pressed to find many places with a craft beer scene as big as there.

Certainly Chinese and Vancouver; Japanese I'd still take Seattle.

Or just stay home and have the Mrs cook.