Egyptian Baked Branzini with Chermoula Pesto

Ethnic Food

For March 2012

In a recent Wall Street Journal article author Bruce Palling questioned whether there was really such as thing as “ethnic food.” He looked in various texts (“Larousse Gastronomique,” the “Oxford Companion to Food” among them) and didn’t see a definition. He concluded that ethnic food means “food eaten by people poorer than we are.” And while he did admit that the question of ethnicity was a hot button topic in the food world, he said that because contemporary chefs are inspired by global influences, ethnic cuisine will soon be redundant.

That’s probably a surprise to a good many home cooks, however fat or slim their bank account.

Ask anyone who makes Matzo balls or Tostones or who serves Jerk Chicken or Veal Parmigiana when family comes to dinner. You can bet that folks with ties to Poland still eat Pierogi, those whose ancestors came from Northern Africa still love fish that’s been marinated in Chermoula Pesto and those whose origins are in Thailand cook up a good Panang Curry in their kitchens.

But it is also true that for the last several decades American home cooks have been branching out and experimenting with the cuisines of cultures other than those of their own background. One reason for that is the enormous burgeoning of produce and packaged ingredients that have become widely available in most of our local supermarkets and that aren’t exceedingly expensive. Just a few decades ago most American home cooks had never heard of fresh ginger, lemongrass or panko. Today these items are commonplace. The same goes for miso and sriracha sauce, zatar, chick peas, chorizo and tahini. And for preserved lemons, tofu, quinoa and couscous. Cassava, chili peppers, nam pla.

From hoisin sauce, the Chinese condiment that became popular in the 1960s to chili peppers and salsa, which only became familiar to most Americans when “Tex-Mex” cuisine was popular, to Harissa, a more current seasoning favorite influenced by Moroccan cuisine, Americans today are able to buy and try ingredients our grandmothers and even our mothers never even heard of. These foods, once exotic and esoteric, are part of the market landscape, all of them awaiting input in our kitchens. Include or substitute one of these ingredients in a traditional recipe and it makes a huge difference.

How does it impact ethnicity? If you add chopped chili peppers or mascarpone cheese to classic Jewish potato latkes or serve latkes with a lemongrass-ginger dip instead of sour cream or applesauce, are the latkes still ethnic? If the new version turns out to be wildly popular, does it mean that people will stop serving the ethnic original?

The food media has had a huge influence over mixing and matching ethnic ingredients. Recipes for dishes with multi-national ingredients fill cookbooks and newspaper articles and chefs and other food professionals cook a variety of globally influenced dishes on TV. We want to cook what the pros are cooking, to use those products to our advantage by incorporating ingredients from everywhere and anywhere, even if our recipe strays from the classic version of a specific group of people or if we use the ingredient in ways never intended: like adding quinoa to traditional Italian white bean and tuna salad. Or seasoning a chicken breast with Ras-el-hanout, an Arabic spice blend, instead of plain old pepper and salt. Or including chopped sun dried tomatoes in classic Greek tiropitas.

These new recipes may not be strictly ethnic, but they began as such or use ethnic ingredients.

Health issues are part of the new global culinary landscape too and have influenced ethnic recipes. Are Mexican refried beans still authentic even when made with olive oil instead of lard? Is it still ethnic Bolognese sauce if you switch from ground veal to ground turkey, pizza if you put swordfish and olives on top? Would you say that Hot and Sour Soup is the real thing even if you leave out the pork strips or substitute chicken or turkey?

Home cooks have always created riffs on ethnic classics. It happens as people migrate, as transportation makes new ingredients available, as communication informs us about them. New and unfamiliar ingredients and recipes add variety to the dinner table. They make meals more interesting. The bottom line is, whether you wish to call food ethnic or not, as long as ingredients work and taste good together and are not simply mixed together in some sort of hodgepodge, recipes will work and cuisines will evolve. Favorite ethnic recipes endure, new ones are added. This is what good cooking has always been about.