Authenticity does not mean dirty.
Authenticity does not mean clean.
Authenticity does not mean it has to be made by someone versed in that cuisine.
Authenticity does not mean cheap.
Authenticity does not mean expensive.
Authenticity does not mean obscure.
Authenticity does not mean difficult to western palate.
Authenticity is not branded.
I have difficulty saying what is and isn’t authentic. The word gets banded around a lot and if someone is speaking about an “authentic place’ generally they mean it’s not been diluted to the hegemonic standards of the ruling class; that is to say populated by locals and with a menu suitably obscure to allow for some pontificating on the fact that members of your party have never had bitter melon before.
This is bullshit.
When arguing authenticity one never hears the case for General Tso’s Chicken, although, as a dish developed here in chinatown over 100 years ago, what else is it? Sure, it’s most of the time a terrible sweet affair, but it’s something invented here, from here and still served here still mostly to white tourists; it’s an unusual example of something that is truly authentic, with absolutely no perceived authenticity. The other end of the scale is the innovative things that the chef at “The Pot Sticker” is cooking up, preserved egg with jalapenio;. That’s not a Szechwan dish, or even a dish before he invented it, it’s a made up perfect creating using traditional (that is to say unusual to western palates) ingredients, and because of this it has a high perceived authenticity.
John Hutt 