On Aug 7, 12:14*pm, ChattyCathy > wrote:
> The Julia thread (and a few other recent threads) got me to thinking
> about this...
>
> Do you think that one can become an acknowledged "expert" at cooking
> authentic cuisine(s) from other countries/regions without actually
> living and/or studying a particular cuisine in the applicable
> country/region of origin?

With French cooking, where there are rules, maybe. But most ethnic
cooking is something that you learn to taste from your mother's milk
onward.

> Would taking a course (in your home country) or being taught 'how to' by
> a relative/friend who came from that country/region do the trick?

I have a friend who married a Jain, and spend weeks in the kitchen
with her M- and S-IL's preparing the wedding feast and daily meals.
While she teaches the classes here in the US with her husband, when it
comes to the spicing, she leaves it up to him since even she can tell
her sense of taste differs from the cultural norm.

When her MIL comes to visit, she also watches and helps her in her(my
friend) own kitchen. Her MIL's pinch and shake are still different
from her's no matter how hard she tries to quantify them.

Giusi's comment about the kitchen is something I hadn't thought about,
but makes a lot of sense.

maxine in ri