wild goose chase
Active Member
..the old country? (Whoops... cut off that title of the thread here)
I know it's been said that North American versions of ethnic cuisine are modified in ways different from in the "old country". Now I'm sure this is true of say, the fast food chains you'd find in food courts in the malls around the city, as well as restaurants like Frankie Tomatto's or Mandarin, but I'd imagine that many of the smaller mom and pop stores located in the strip malls of the city and its boroughs/suburbs, and catering to a local community might serve what many would consider more "authentic" cuisine.
As Toronto is half-foreign born, there must be a large percentage of people whose tastes and memories of home cooking are still reflected in their restaurants. This might be less so in cities where people are farther removed from recent immigration (for example, US cities where the only "Italian" cuisine is distinctively Italian-American cuisine that Italians from Italy don't eat normally).
So, overall, would you say that many of Toronto's restaurants labelled as "ethnic" are recognizable to someone from the old country -- say, if tourists, visitors, or someone who just stepped off a plane from overseas were to come to dine, would they acknowledge what they see as "their own" food reflected here? For example, would a tourist from Greece go to the Taste of the Danforth, or an Indian or Chinese businessman go to the plazas in Brampton or Pacific mall and find something more or less exactly as made "back home"?
Are there some cuisines in Toronto that are mostly modified versus some that reflect more closely their place of origin?
I know it's been said that North American versions of ethnic cuisine are modified in ways different from in the "old country". Now I'm sure this is true of say, the fast food chains you'd find in food courts in the malls around the city, as well as restaurants like Frankie Tomatto's or Mandarin, but I'd imagine that many of the smaller mom and pop stores located in the strip malls of the city and its boroughs/suburbs, and catering to a local community might serve what many would consider more "authentic" cuisine.
As Toronto is half-foreign born, there must be a large percentage of people whose tastes and memories of home cooking are still reflected in their restaurants. This might be less so in cities where people are farther removed from recent immigration (for example, US cities where the only "Italian" cuisine is distinctively Italian-American cuisine that Italians from Italy don't eat normally).
So, overall, would you say that many of Toronto's restaurants labelled as "ethnic" are recognizable to someone from the old country -- say, if tourists, visitors, or someone who just stepped off a plane from overseas were to come to dine, would they acknowledge what they see as "their own" food reflected here? For example, would a tourist from Greece go to the Taste of the Danforth, or an Indian or Chinese businessman go to the plazas in Brampton or Pacific mall and find something more or less exactly as made "back home"?
Are there some cuisines in Toronto that are mostly modified versus some that reflect more closely their place of origin?