Taste Matters
Cooks, Culture & Taste
Francis Lam finally finds his way to the HRN studios on "Taste Matters" with Mitchell Davis! Francis Lam is a food writer, Top Chef Judge and editor at large at Clarkson Potter Publishers. Today's conversation focuses on culture and authenticity as it relates to food. Why do American raised-American born chefs cooking immigrant cuisines tend to be more heralded than actual immigrants cooking their own cuisines? Mitchell and Francis discuss the relationships between ethnicity, expectations, traditions and cuisine through various contexts. Francis also discusses his new gig at Clarkson Potter Publishers as Editor-at-Large and the current state of print media. This program was sponsored by 360 Cookware.
"Authenticity [in food] is always a moving target." [05:33]
"Ethnic cuisine is expected to be cheap - but for some reason we suspend that [expectation] for chefs who are photogenic and smart. We treat them as ambassadors." [9:59]
"In some weird, perverse ways the old way of doing things has only been reinforced - because it's that much harder for small publishers." [27:07]
--Francis Lam on Taste Matters