Your argument is sound but I think it’s actually because of its diversity in the base foods. Pasta and pizza is 95% of italian food, rice and noodles are the base of 80% of chinese/japanese/korean food, etc… In french cuisine, there is no base that is often used so you must have a lot of different ingredients. Not the best thing when you operate at “small scale” (when you’re not very expensive or cheesecake factory)
I don’t know if french restaurants are pretentious outside of france, but that looks more like a parisian problem than a french one.
I am confused to see multiple people make the ’95% pasta/pizza’ claim about Italian, Secondi is very much a thing, as are appetizers, even in NYC where pizza is everywhere I’d say maybe 65% when dining out.
When dining in, I suppose yes, because we wouldn’t think of the other dishes as Italian then—I don’t make an ‘Italian steak’ it’s just a steak, etc.
95% was most likely an overexaggeration but that was to underline the main idea that overall if all of your recipes need several ingredients that will be used in none of the other recipes, it’s much harder to make a restaurant work.
When dining in, I suppose yes, because we wouldn’t think of the other dishes as Italian then—I don’t make an ‘Italian steak’ it’s just a steak, etc.
Indeed, I may be biased but many “italian things” do feel like normal things were “italian” has been added to it because they have a great cooking culture. Especially among the appetizers, where the spanish do the same, incorporating every small dish under the tapas umbrella
That’s true for fancy meals, the opposite for regular diets. Chinese people have very high-carb diets (200 kg of grains (rice/ wheat) per person, one of the higher grain consumers globally), but fancy meals are intended to signal prestige, so therefore avoid cheap carbs.
But when you go to a chinese place that’s what you expect right ? Overall, even italian food is not as restricted as my comment makes it look but when you go to an italian restaurant you expect pasta and pizza
Cuisines are not limited to what is sold abroad as X cuisine but it’s easier to sell when customers can know pretty much what to expect. That’s not doable with french food, which is what I was trying to say
100%! I have seen abroad varieties of pastries that I have never seen in France (often weird ones) and I did not understand why but this actually makes it sense, if 50% of what you sell is “croissant with XYZ” it’s an easier sell. Can’t believe I did not get that before
Your argument is sound but I think it’s actually because of its diversity in the base foods. Pasta and pizza is 95% of italian food, rice and noodles are the base of 80% of chinese/japanese/korean food, etc… In french cuisine, there is no base that is often used so you must have a lot of different ingredients. Not the best thing when you operate at “small scale” (when you’re not very expensive or cheesecake factory)
I don’t know if french restaurants are pretentious outside of france, but that looks more like a parisian problem than a french one.
I am confused to see multiple people make the ’95% pasta/pizza’ claim about Italian, Secondi is very much a thing, as are appetizers, even in NYC where pizza is everywhere I’d say maybe 65% when dining out.
When dining in, I suppose yes, because we wouldn’t think of the other dishes as Italian then—I don’t make an ‘Italian steak’ it’s just a steak, etc.
95% was most likely an overexaggeration but that was to underline the main idea that overall if all of your recipes need several ingredients that will be used in none of the other recipes, it’s much harder to make a restaurant work.
Indeed, I may be biased but many “italian things” do feel like normal things were “italian” has been added to it because they have a great cooking culture. Especially among the appetizers, where the spanish do the same, incorporating every small dish under the tapas umbrella
On a recent trip to China I found the trend there—at least for fancy meals—is low carb, with few noodles and often no rice at all.
That’s true for fancy meals, the opposite for regular diets. Chinese people have very high-carb diets (200 kg of grains (rice/ wheat) per person, one of the higher grain consumers globally), but fancy meals are intended to signal prestige, so therefore avoid cheap carbs.
But when you go to a chinese place that’s what you expect right ? Overall, even italian food is not as restricted as my comment makes it look but when you go to an italian restaurant you expect pasta and pizza
Cuisines are not limited to what is sold abroad as X cuisine but it’s easier to sell when customers can know pretty much what to expect. That’s not doable with french food, which is what I was trying to say
That could also explain why French bakeries, with their staple and iconic baguette and croissant, seem to be faring better in my experience.
100%! I have seen abroad varieties of pastries that I have never seen in France (often weird ones) and I did not understand why but this actually makes it sense, if 50% of what you sell is “croissant with XYZ” it’s an easier sell. Can’t believe I did not get that before