Half-assed cultural appropriation

[Ashcroft]

If you are going to call something an Irish stew, actually fucking make an Irish stew. Not some modern stew with Guinness thrown in for some bizarre reason.
I know clicks mean business, and you get a lot more from countries with deluded romantisisation of the Irish at this point of the year. But if you are going to rip of this tiny island that loves its food, get it right.

--- the remainder of this rant is brought to you by 'Bad Mood'; buy 'Bad Mood' today and get 50% off your next social interaction ---

Do NOT add balsamic vinegar to what should essentially be a thin vegetable and meat soup with chunks of 'whatever was in date and cheap at the shop' floating in it.
Do NOT add French and American staples like celery and cornflour. Use effing cabbage and oats. Actual ingredients in actual Irish stew. Don't have oats? They are in something called a stew/soup mix available in most stores. It also contains lentils, so you could just use lentils. Anything but flour, please.
And all of that could have been forgiven, because who wants peasant food in this century, if you didn't get the potatoes wrong.

Do not, EVER, serve stew on creamed potatoes.
You Americans have this weird fascination with calling creamed potatoes mashed. Fine, that's your cultural prerogative. But please, something so loaded with milk and butter will not take kindly to a hot liquid being poured on it.
Cook the potatoes with the stew. Serve it on boiled potatoes or even roast potatoes. Maybe make Irish mashed potatoes (literally just the potato flesh mashed up with just enough butter to give it a golden hue).
Just please, don't serve it on the culinary equivalent of wallpaper paste.

And please, do not call it Irish stew just because you added Guinness, that is just adding insult to injury.

[HYHYBT]

Why shouldn't people be allowed to alter ethnic foods to their own tastes? So long as they're not claiming it's authentic if serving it to others.

[wolfie]

And for purists wanting the traditional recipe for Irish coffee, the closest is what Pan Am served to their flying boat passengers. After all, that's where it originated.

Corned beef and cabbage? That one's from New York City - the Irish were steered by another group of immigrants toward corned beef, as being the "new world" meat closest to traditional Irish bacon.

[Ashcroft]

And for purists wanting the traditional recipe for Irish coffee, the closest is what Pan Am served to their flying boat passengers. After all, that's where it originated.

Corned beef and cabbage? That one's from New York City - the Irish were steered by another group of immigrants toward corned beef, as being the "new world" meat closest to traditional Irish bacon.

I never said anything about the above items, and don't care for them anyway as I don't drink and never enjoyed corned beef. I grew up with bacon and cabbage, with brown sauce and roast potatoes. I'm talking from the perspective of someone who grew up eating this food and how frustrating it is to have people misrepresent what is a very basic, plain dish for a seasonal event in order to get more views on their channel.

He made no reference to personalizing it, going non-traditional or even saying 'this is just what I had in the fridge at the time'. I would encourage any and all of that in cooking.
Through omission he implied that what he created is a traditional dish. It is not.
His instructions on what he bought specifically for the dish, as well as his general preparation are not for an Irish dish. Stewing is a method used around the world, and should have no cultural or regional restrictions in itself.
But, when you say you are making a dish from a specific region, you should at least adhere to the basic concepts of that region's cooking style.

And it's not like Ireland is all that big, we couldn't have all that much of an internal variation like you would have in America or even just France or England.

It's a personal bugbear how every year people try to be Irish for a weekend, and get it SO wrong. Especially when it's people that should know better.

Celebrate, have fun, cook whatever you want. But if you say you are cooking an 'Irish Pork Stew' there are only two things it can be. A stew made with Irish pork, in such a case do whatever the fuck you want with it. Or a Irish stew with pork in it, in which case you have already gone wrong by using pork. Traditional food in Ireland was about making scraps into a meal. So substitutions and preferences are all fair game, but you can't change 90% of a dish and still call it the traditional recipe.

[Nyoibo]

Corned beef and cabbage? That one's from New York City - the Irish were steered by another group of immigrants toward corned beef, as being the "new world" meat closest to traditional Irish bacon.

Reminds me of The Devils Own
"what is it?"
"It's corned beef and cabbage, I thought you people eat it all the time"
"No, I've never had it before"

[Gravekeeper]

I mean, I'm not Irish ( Well, not first generation anyhow ) but I think the point where you're adding balsamic vinegar to anything that begins with "Irish" is the point where you're bullshitting yourself. >.>

I mean Irish cooking isn't rocket science. You get potatoes, onions and a sheep and you're good to go.

Its perfectly fine to create fusion cuisine from multiple cultural styles, but at least call it what it is. I don't make flat bread pizza with Naan bread than claim its Indian cuisine. -.-

[MaggieTheCat]

Just for reference, here is the post that the OP is talking about but has so far failed to link to:
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2014/...bage-what.html

Do NOT add balsamic vinegar to what should essentially be a thin vegetable and meat soup with chunks of 'whatever was in date and cheap at the shop' floating in it.

Yes, because a "thin vegetable and meat soup" certainly sounds like it's going to be an appealing recipe that will interest people and generate views/hits to your site. You said it yourself; clicks mean business.

Do NOT add French and American staples like celery and cornflour. Use effing cabbage and oats.

I'm not sure what you mean by cornflour. White flour, which he used to thicken the stew, is wheat flour. Also, he did used cabbage, in the form of brussel sprouts.

You Americans have this weird fascination with calling creamed potatoes mashed. Fine, that's your cultural prerogative. But please, something so loaded with milk and butter will not take kindly to a hot liquid being poured on it.

You know, we have this dish here called mashed potatoes and gravy. It's served quite commonly, most often for Thanksgiving but also throughout the year as a standard side-dish for roasted meats that produce a lot of good juices while cooking, like beef roast or whole roasted chicken. The potatoes are peeled, cubed, boiled until tender, drained, mashed with some kind of liquid (usually cream or milk or sometimes chicken or vegetable stock) and butter and seasoning and mashed until smooth, then served with the gravy on top. They hold up just fine and are quite delicious. The stew in question has quite a similar texture to our traditional gravy, except that it has chunks of meat and vegetables in it, so I would imagine the potatoes he served it on were fine.

Stewing is a method used around the world, and should have no cultural or regional restrictions in itself. But, when you say you are making a dish from a specific region, you should at least adhere to the basic concepts of that region's cooking style.

Did you honestly just say that if something is called a stew, that it shouldn't be called Irish, because other cultures also use stewing as a cooking method? Then, ingredients not-withstanding, what would you call the cooking method he used to make this dish to make it more Irish?

Especially when it's people that should know better.

Why should Chef John know better? Because he is an American chef living in San Francisco who happens to have gone to culinary school in New York City? I don't believe he has ever studied or lived outside of the US (I don't recall ever reading or hearing him say he has, I could be wrong.) If you want to educate him, perhaps you should leave him a comment on his blog, but I would leave the vitriol behind; he does moderate his comments and rude ones are often deleted.

Or a Irish stew with pork in it, in which case you have already gone wrong by using pork.

Are you saying Irish people don't use pork in their cooking? You have pigs in Ireland, don't you? I'm not from the country, but I would find it kind of hard to believe that a pork stew is so unheard of. You yourself said that people use scraps; can't pork scraps be used? Just because Chef John specified a certain cut of pork for ease of writing his recipe doesn't mean you have to use that cut; use whatever scraps of pork you have laying around, if it makes you feel better.

If you know anything about his writing and cooking style, you know that he writes his recipes so that they are "dummy-proof" for the average American cook, who doesn't know a lot about cooking and doesn't have access to a lot of unusual ingredients (for our part of the world). Pork butt/shoulder is readily available in every supermarket, hence why he used it instead of leaving it arbitrarily as "pork scraps" or "meat scraps", at which he would have gotten tons of comments from viewers asking him to clarify. However, he also has said countless times in other videos that you should adapt his recipes to your liking based on your tastes and preferences. If you don't like the idea of brussel sprouts, or mashed potatoes, or using white flour as thickener, then use something else. Even better, post a comment on the blog with your suggestions so other people may see it and get some alternative ideas.

[Aethian]

Pasties...a Northern Michigan miners meal. They are originally from your side of the pond. I made one for a friend who was from over there and got racked over the coals because of what I put into it. Because it didn't follow the original plan.

Well no it followed the recipe that was handed down in the family from the one Prusian relative I have who married into my half breed background. During the years a few substitutions were noted and you want to know why? When you have a cold cellar holding deer or bear because beef or pork is too expensive or cause it's the middle of winter you use the deer or bear.

[crashhelmet]

Are you saying Irish people don't use pork in their cooking? You have pigs in Ireland, don't you? I'm not from the country, but I would find it kind of hard to believe that a pork stew is so unheard of. You yourself said that people use scraps; can't pork scraps be used? Just because Chef John specified a certain cut of pork for ease of writing his recipe doesn't mean you have to use that cut; use whatever scraps of pork you have laying around, if it makes you feel better.

My grandmother was born in the US, but her parents emigrated from Ireland. She always made her "Irish Stew" with lamb, but had said that any meat could be used if lamb wasn't available (or affordable).

Then she added in potatoes, carrots, parsnip, and onion before seasoning it up.

[crashhelmet]

Its perfectly fine to create fusion cuisine from multiple cultural styles, but at least call it what it is. I don't make flat bread pizza with Naan bread than claim its Indian cuisine. -.-

There is a restaurant around the corner from my place called Komex. Just as the name implies, it's a Korean and Mexican fusion. Just the thought of it gives me nightmares.

[Gravekeeper]

She always made her "Irish Stew" with lamb, but had said that any meat could be used if lamb wasn't available (or affordable).

Then she added in potatoes, carrots, parsnip, and onion before seasoning it up.

and that is all an Irish stew is. Though for it to be traditional / authentic it should be scraps of wayward sheep. Not pork. Not that you can't make it with pork. Just don't use pork and claim its the authentic taste of your ancestors. -.-

Just for reference, here is the post that the OP is talking about but has so far failed to link to:
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2014/...bage-what.html

In fairness he does imply its traditional.

Why should Chef John know better?

Chef John does know better, because he says so in the comments at the bottom of the article:

Chef John said...
Ed, Spoiler alert, my stuff won't be close to the authentic.

>.> Even aside from that, Irish stew is as basic as you can get. I knew better after 30 seconds of Google.

They hold up just fine and are quite delicious.

He drowns them in the video, they have the consistency of fat free yogurt by the looks of it. <shudder>

[Ginger Tea]

The only reason I know Irish stew has lamb in it is because our Irish stew was labelled "Lamb Irish Stew" so that our customers would know what meat was in it, we did the same with pork and beef dishes, even if it meant the label reading "Pork Devon Pork", sometimes there would be a change in the ordering too late to affect production so the last Irish stew goes out and there are still one or two needing a dish, as long as what was sent was Lamb I was good to go (it was normally a frozen stock shepherds pie).

I did originally ponder if there was an Irish stew made with other meats, but after I got used to the naming I scratched that idea, our beef stew laid no claim to nationality.
Perhaps that is the crux of the issue, if it was a Lamb stew, no one would care as lamb stew is vague. "Dave smith's home made traditional family recipe stew" well the more that changes the more you have a right to say it's not remotely like "Dave Smith's"

[bainsidhe]

I appreciate reading the comments and getting different cultural perspectives. I also laugh, because although I love chinese food, it most certainly isn't authentic. Nor is the food from local mexican restaurants. Dorito taco anyone? It's true, Americans americanize everything.

When I was in Germany, the local McDonald's served beer. So you see, they germanized it.