I just received this e-mail...

[jah_yout]

Re: I just received this e-mail...

for some reason i watched that show last night with that blonde english chef dude who curses a lot;
about restaurants in financial trouble...
he reviewed an 'italian' restaurant (owned by a british dude) that presents itself as 'authentic' italian food...

the chef haffi race up di bredda bout how him claim is italian food & pure off ingredients he's using

i thought of this thread...
like i would go into that indian restaurant as a jamaican, they serve me some dumpling; i'd be like the british chef

-'what the F--- is this?!!'

[barosa]

Re: I just received this e-mail...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">for some reason i watched that show last night with that blonde english chef dude who curses a lot;
about restaurants in financial trouble...
he reviewed an 'italian' restaurant (owned by a british dude) that presents itself as 'authentic' italian food...

the chef haffi race up di bredda bout how him claim is italian food &amp; pure off ingredients he's using

i thought of this thread...
like i would go into that indian restaurant as a jamaican, they serve me some dumpling; i'd be like the british chef

-'what the F--- is this?!!' </div></div>
Jah_yout, I'm amused by your post and couldn't help responding... Just goes to show that when it comes to cultural foods, if &quot;authenticity&quot; matters, be sure of the source, or else, be prepared to &quot;enjoy&quot; whatever is served up... If a foreigner doesn't know a 'cultural' food and buys it without proper knowledge, if he is lucky, he may like it! ~ if not, he may say, &quot;What the (sensored) is this&quot;? which is understandable, but a feem fault dat!
_______________________________

It's not where you are from that matters.
it's where you are going...

[Derek]

Re: I just received this e-mail...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: barosa</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: jah_yout</div><div class="ubbcode-body">for some reason i watched that show last night with that blonde english chef dude who curses a lot;
about restaurants in financial trouble...
he reviewed an 'italian' restaurant (owned by a british dude) that presents itself as 'authentic' italian food...

the chef haffi race up di bredda bout how him claim is italian food &amp; pure off ingredients he's using

i thought of this thread...
like i would go into that indian restaurant as a jamaican, they serve me some dumpling; i'd be like the british chef

-'what the F--- is this?!!' </div></div>
Jah_yout, I'm amused by your post and couldn't help responding... Just goes to show that when it comes to cultural foods, if &quot;authenticity&quot; matters, be sure of the source, or else, be prepared to &quot;enjoy&quot; whatever is served up... If a foreigner doesn't know a 'cultural' food and buys it without proper knowledge, if he is lucky, he may like it! ~ if not, he may say, &quot;What the (sensored) is this&quot;? which is understandable, but a feem fault dat!
_______________________________

It's not where you are from that matters.
it's where you are going... </div></div>

Authenticity.

I used to visit one of the Ethiopian restaurants in Dubai for take-aways.
But Sal wasn't impressed at all - as if they were giving me the 'foreigner won't know the difference'-type food.

It wasn't until Sal gave me a note in Amharic to take with me did the food improve to her standards.

[Tuff Gong]

Re: I just received this e-mail...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Derek</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Authenticity.

I used to visit one of the Ethiopian restaurants in Dubai for take-aways.
But Sal wasn't impressed at all - as if they were giving me the 'foreigner won't know the difference'-type food.

It wasn't until Sal gave me a note in Amharic to take with me did the food improve to her standards.

</div></div>
Speaking of which when I lived in Indiana I was friends with some Selassie Loyalists who owned a Restaurant. So authentic was this restaurant that the coffee serving was a long drawn out affair during which the host dimmed the lights, lit candle and roasted the bean, before making a serving the brew.

The cook was a Mexican immigrant.

[Derek]

Re: I just received this e-mail...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Tuff Gong</div><div class="ubbcode-body">the coffee serving was a long drawn out affair during which the host dimmed the lights, lit candle and roasted the bean, before making a serving the brew.

<span style="font-weight: bold">Up until there this could have been Sal's mum.</span>


<span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-weight: bold">The cook was a Mexican immigrant.</span></span>
</div></div>

An <span style="font-style: italic">authentic</span> Mexican immigrant!

[Tuff Gong]

Re: I just received this e-mail...

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Derek</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> An <span style="font-style: italic">authentic</span> Mexican immigrant! </div></div>

Yes he ended up leaving and the restaurant closed, part of the problem was due to her authentic Ethiopian Husband who did not want her to run her own business. Last time I called her she had gone back to teaching Kindergarten.

Her sister was in an even worse shape her husband forbade her to work period; she could only seek away to work in the restaurant occasionally.

When he sister was a young girl in Ethiopia she met one of Haile Selassie I nephews at school. Before the marriage could be arranged Haile Selassie I was overthrown and some of his family fled the country. My friend, her sisters and future husbands also left the country at some point. Everyone ended up in Washington and later settled in Indiana.

Fast forward to one day I walked in to the Restaurant with an Ethiopian with the last name Selassie, whom I had met some weeks before (I had decided to take him to restaurant to show him that there was indeed an authentic Ethiopian Restaurant in the city).
The Selassie guy and I took seats at the bar and ordered. When the owner’s sister <span style="font-style: italic">(who was working that night)</span> came out of the kitchen to serve us, she did a double take.
She then started questioning the Selassie guy in their language……pretty soon they all but fell into each other’s arms and I could see tears.
Then I learned the whole story as they explained to I in English the story of the meeting as children, the terrible events, the separation and flight from Ethiopia.