Minor point re ethnic cuisine

[TylerDurden]

Just looked online re restaurants re taking someone out to dinner. Turns out Ethiopian restaurants (the good ones) traditionally expect customers to eat with their fingers(very palaeo). Ethiopians love eating raw meat(such as  "kitfo" or "gored gored"). It seems that Ethiopian warriors would hunt animals and then have to quickly eat the animal raw after a kill, as smoke from cooking-fires would otherwise  alert nearby enemies.

I also noticed a Peruvian-Japanese restaurant, combining the two, and seemingly, according to the menu, enlarging the possibilities of both cuisines as regards raw seafood dishes(re ceviche and sashimi).Other possibilities, of course, include "steak tartare/ beef carpaccio" found in many European restaurants etc.

[FRANCIS HOWARD BOND]

A little while ago, your previous reply indicated that many so called ethnic food restaurants in London do not live up to their true raw image, and in any case dowse their meat with sauces which hide whether it is raw or not.   Are these regrettable practices still true or are they learning to live up to a raw and revealing standard?

(Much prefer your new image, the other one did little for you!)

[TylerDurden]

I was referring to restaurants in Vienna, Austria just then. In previous times, I did refer to an Ethiopian restaurant in London which was frightened of serving their ethiopian food raw. This was due to overly stringent UK government regulations. Generally speaking, ethnic fast-food joints everywhere tend to have an appalling reputation re serving rat-flesh instead of lamb, being unhygienic etc. I was told that the trick is always to look at the type of clientele which frequents the particular ethnic restaurant you are interested in, if you are interested in quality. So, there is no point in having dinner at a Japanese sashimi restaurant unless you see some Japanese customers there, no point in visiting a Chinese restaurant unless there are lots of Chinese customers there, etc.

[dariorpl]

Keep in mind that most of these foods are raw by tradition, rather than because they believe it's healthier that way. So they will include cooked or chemical additives if they think it'll improve taste. Traditional peruvian ceviche often includes cooked potatoes and sweet potatoes, corn, and once I was served a sauce on the side that literally tasted like dirty gutter water.

Plenty of sushi restaurants that want to appear innovative will add lots of cooked sauces and things. Even traditional sushi is made with cooked rice, cooked vinegar and white sugar, but nowadays it doesn't stop there. Some of the fish can be cooked as well, even the sashimi. So don't automatically assume that just because it's a sushi place, they're serving you only raw fish.

The point is you have to ask what each food contains and/or tell them how you want it.

[TylerDurden]

You are wildly exaggerating. I have been to Peru where I had numerous ceviches served in the traditional way(ie fully raw and served with raw, freshly-squeezed lemon-juice), with no extra corn or additives or whatever.Never once was I served with extra corn  or sweet potatoes, or indeed anything else.

I was not referring to sushi restaurants, but to genuine sashimi restaurants. Sashimi restaurants do also provide some cooked dishes, but their sashimi dishes are always 100% raw. My only dislike is that many sashimi restaurants serve their raw fish in nouvelle-cuisine-style, with tiny amounts. I did once encounter an exception where I got served thick chunks of raw mackerel and raw  swordfish by a Japanese restaurant near King's Cross in London, but, sadly, they did not remain there long.

[dariorpl]

I'm not exaggerating. I'm sure there are some restaurants where you know you won't be served anything cooked along with the raw, but that is the exception rather than the rule. You're deceiving people if you want to make them believe that they can just walk up to any restaurant that offers raw elaborated dishes, ask for one without any in-deph inquiries as to the contents, and expect it to be fully raw every time.