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You're the one who keeps insisting that WE insist Lake Michigan is an ocean.
You're the only one in this whole thread who has said that.
Houston is not on a coast, so quit with that.
And when I think of Houston I think of Tex Mex and cactus, not shrimp or crab.
Stop clinging on to seafood. There's more food then that. You've made an entire page out of seafood. Talk about something else.
Yeah...its why we get coastal afternoon rain showers in the summer months that last for 5 minutes then its sunny again like South Florida. That explains it.
Never seen a cactus in Houston, I do however see all types of palm trees. You're thinking of far West Texas near El Paso. Totally opposite landscapes. Houston is like the Panhandle of Florida...flat, forested, humid, & semi-tropical.
As you can clearly see, Texas is divided into 7 different regions with Houston being on the coast.
That's why I love being a foodie: there are so many different ways to conceptualize food that it almost becomes as individual as the person who is eating it. I can't think of very many other things that are like that.
I definitely agree with that.
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There are a lot of "food elitists" out there who strictly argue over things like "authenticity", as if there is a hard and fast bench mark for what "authentic" is. To be honest, it's probably one of those things you can't quantitatively measure, but you'll know exactly what it is when you eat it.
I think a lot of times, "authenticity" means "what I'm used to." There are definitely people in South Carolina who think Texas barbecue isn't authentic (I mean, they don't even use pork). I find authenticity to be overrated at times--at least if it's used as a substitute for quality. Honestly, if I'm New York, sometimes I want authentic Italian-American, not authentic Italian.
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The word 'cuisine' is interesting itself because when does a 'new cuisine' pop up? For example, taking the sushi example, a lot of people in the United States associate "California Rolls" with sushi, even though things like avocado and imitation crab meat aren't part of the Japanese cuisine vernacular. Where does the line get crossed between an old cuisine to something totally new? We can argue about it for the rest of our lives, but in the mean time, I'll enjoy the tasty (and sometimes not-so-tasty) results.
Sorry for the sidebar, but its interesting.
I like this conversation. It's pretty hard to tell when a line gets crossed until well after it's been crossed. In California Rolls example, there are a lot of maki-rolls that exist only in the United States. It's really become its own cuisine. You can argue whether dragon rolls or rainbow rolls are good, but they are attempts at moving cuisine forward.
A quick clarification, imitation crab does exist in Japan, but it's not usually put in sushi.
You guys put your palm trees in storage during the winter time. Thought that was pretty funny the first time I heard that.
In Houston you see palm trees all over the city unwrapped in the winter.
Houston is on the coast & is semi-tropical. Chicago is a midwestern city set on a large lake. The climate is not condusive to tropical foliage like Houston.
While not in the millions by any stretch, hundreds of thousands of people do live in metro Houston near the water.
What the hell do palm trees have to do with anything? There are palm trees in the desert, and they have nothing to do with seafood.
And what is this idea that there are only three coasts in the U.S.? Michigan has nearly 3,200 miles of coastline!
Last edited by Maintainschaos; 10-26-2012 at 01:29 PM..
A lot of items are so americanized it is obvious though. Particularly ethnic cuisines that are traditionally very spicy, that when served in a restaurant here aren't near spicy enough in terms of heat or overall pungency. A lot of asian food leaves out the more heavy fish/shrimp sauces. Most cultures in south america and asia eat a lot of organ meats and fattier cuts which you rarely see on menus here.
Foods get adapted to local tastes. Sometimes the result is interesting and delicious and sometimes it's just a watering-down of the food. Some of the best foods I can think of are fusion dishes, though. Pho would not exist without French-Vietnamese fusion (cows were not often eaten before the French came). A lot of Latin American food is fusion. Even barbecue is fusion between the indigenous cooking technique and the Spanish pig. The Japanese don't usually consider Ramen to be authentically Japanese, but it only exists in that form in Japan.
What the hell do palm trees have to do with anything? There are palm trees in the desert, and they have nothing to do with seafood.
Desert palms, or those you commonly see in places like Phoenix, Vegas, & California don't do well in Houston because of our warm & damp climate. They will get root rot very easily if over irrigated.
Nothing coastal about Houston?
Typical shot of Downtown Houston with palms:
Courtesy of texasboy on SSP.com
Typical shot of suburban Houston with palms:
PalmtreesofHouston.com
Last edited by Metro Matt; 10-26-2012 at 01:50 PM..
Lake Michigan has a shoreline, Texas has a coastline.
The Gulf Coast is the only 3rd Coast of the US.
Gulf Coast has seafood.
Great Lakes has what we would normally use here as shark bait.
I don't see how this makes Houston a better food place? Are you really resorting to this to somehow justify that this makes Houston a better place for food?
I don't see how this makes Houston a better food place? Are you really resorting to this to somehow justify that this makes Houston a better place for food?
To that add Sao Paulo, Montreal, Toronto, Madrid and I am sure there are plenty of other cities out there not on coasts that are reknown for having great food.
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