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My Turn
by

Wayne Chan

From The Asian Reporter, V35, #2 (February 3, 2025), page 6.

We are so much more than hamburgers and pot roast

Taste Atlas has released its 24/25 "100 Best Cuisines in the World," a list compiled by people across the globe and that includes nearly 500,000 ratings, of which 15,478 foods were taste-tested and ranked.

After browsing through the list … um, I have questions.

Now, I consider myself a foodie. And I’ve travelled quite a bit. By my count, I’ve visited 39 countries in my lifetime. I love discovering new cuisines. I believe the food served in various countries reveals a sense of the people themselves — their values, customs, and experiences.

Having said that, as diverse as my culinary experiences are, the best description I can provide is that it’s a mile wide but an inch deep.

Take the number one cuisine on the list: Greek.

I have some experience with Greece. I was fortunate enough to visit there several few months ago. It’s a beautiful country filled with friendly people. And yes, I enjoyed the food. But I must confess, we encountered the same few dishes whether we were in Santorini, Crete, or Athens.

There was Greek salad (and by the way, if you’re eating a Greek salad in Greece, do you really need to call it a Greek salad?), pita, olives, gyros, souvlaki, and moussaka. As good as it all was, we found a hamburger place on our last day as I was craving a boost in my cholesterol.

Everyone has their own preferences. Mine happens to be Chinese food. The cuisine of China was ranked tenth-best in the world.

But the type of cuisine on the list that I have many questions about is number 13 — American cuisine. And the main question I have is … really?

A few things to consider: Greece was officially founded in 1830. Archaeologists say that early settlements there date back to about 3200 B.C.E. Italy (#2 on the list) was reportedly inhabited by people since at least 850,000 years ago. Scholars say that China was originally founded in 221 B.C.E. Say what you will, but that’s a lot of time to develop a country’s culinary chops.

The U.S., as a country, is only 248 years old. And it’s number 13? To put things into perspective, I’ve been a citizen of this country for about 25% of its entire existence.

Here’s another observation: When I walked around the busy streets and markets of Athens, I routinely saw signs in the windows of restaurants that said "Authentic Greek Food." In China, it’s a bit different. People won’t see any "Authentic Chinese Food" signs out and about. Instead, small restaurants cater to a specific food — noodles, dumplings, hot pot, and so on. Many of these restaurants have been operating for generations, and they know what they’re doing.

I was born and raised in the U.S. I love this country. But I don’t ever remember seeing "Authentic American Food" signs in the window of any restaurant. I mean, what would authentic American food be anyway? I suppose barbeque is a valid answer, maybe chicken pot pie, too. You can’t say hamburgers and French fries — they’re from Hamburg, Germany and Belgium (nope, not France), respectively. So what’s left — meatloaf and tater tots?

I’m being facetious, of course. In fact, the Taste Atlas includes several dishes that stand out for each country. For the U.S., Pacific Smoked Salmon is one of the "must try" dishes. But that brings up another question.

While the U.S. is number 13, Canada is number 43. But Taste Atlas lists Pacific Smoked Salmon as a highlight of both countries. So why is Canada listed 30 spots lower? Both countries share a common border. I’m assuming that the salmon don’t know they’re crossing territorial boundaries while swimming about. Is there a class distinction when it comes to salmon in the Pacific Ocean? Is that why they’re in schools? Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

Seriously, though, I think I know the answer to why there aren’t "Authentic American Food" restaurant signs here. While in Greece, I noticed that the restaurants were located next to each other, one after another. I noticed the same thing in China.

But here at home? There might be a burger place, but it’ll be next to a pizza place or a French bakery, or a Chinese, Japanese, or Italian restaurant, and so on. In fact, most of my foodie experiences and trying different cuisines didn’t begin by visiting other countries. It was actually trying them out right here at home. Sampling the same dishes while travelling just confirmed that we can do it all right here.

That is one of the blessings of living in the U.S. It really brings home my original thought — eating a country’s food has given me a good sense of the people.

Humor writer Wayne Chan lives in the San Diego area;

cartoonist Wayne Chan is based in the Bay Area.

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My Turn by

Wayne Chan

My Turn
by