Flavors of the Past: Classic Recipes vs. Modern Blasphemy

  • Thread starter Evo
  • Start date
In summary: Food blasphemy!In summary, people have been creating "updated" versions of classic recipes that usually do not even resemble the original. One example is the "updated" chicken cacciatore that substitutes tofu for the chicken, and the "cheesy breakfast baklava" that contains peach puree instead of chocolate. Change the ingredients in these recipes and you no longer call them by that name. My friend's frozen "meatless chicken and vegetables" dinner is an example of this. There is no chicken in it, but it is still marketed as chicken cacciatore. Another example is the "chocolate mousse" that does not contain chocolate. These "updated" versions are
  • #1
Evo
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Food blasphemy!

I've noticed it's become trendy to take well loved, traditional recipes and create "updated" versions of them. I've also found that the "updated" version is usually not even close to the tasty original and can actually be quite revolting, if not frightening.

I was looking for chicken cacciatore recipes online. This I thought was a no brainer, chicken, a marinara type tomato sauce, mushrooms and olives, served over pasta.

Instead I find "In our updated version of the classic Chicken Cacciatore, we have substituted tofu for the chicken, mango chutney for the tomato sauce, chilled and poured over a bed of mung bean sprouts". :yuck: :confused:

It's like the "cheesy breakfast baklava" recipe I found. That's NOT baklava! (although I admit as a cheese and phyllo dough recipe it looked quite yummy).

And the "chocolate mousse" recipe that contained peach puree and no chocolate. :bugeye:

Come on people. There are traditional, classic recipes that should be made in a certain way with certain ingredients. Once you change that, you can no longer call it by that name.

Like my friend's frozen "meatless chicken and vegetables" dinner. I think "meatless" might mean there isn't really any chicken in it. Is it legal to call it chicken?

It's like non-alcoholic wine. Uhm, maybe that would be GRAPE JUICE? Except it's packaged in a wine botle and costs 10 times more than grape juice. :rolleyes:

I guess my rant is brought about by the destruction of some very old, out of print cookbooks I had and I'm trying to find the REAL recipes and all I'm finding are these bastardized imitations. :grumpy:

Am I the only one that thinks classic recipes are classic for a reason?
 
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  • #2
Evo said:
I was looking for chicken cacciatore recipes online. This I thought was a no brainer, chicken, a marinara type tomato sauce, mushrooms and olives, served over pasta.

Instead I find "In our updated version of the classic Chicken Cacciatore, we have substituted tofu for the chicken, mango chutney for the tomato sauce, chilled and poured over a bed of mung bean sprouts". :yuck: :confused:

Just like chicken cacciatore - only different!

ay yi yi!
 
  • #3
Does anyone know of a Mexican restaurant that still fries their own taco shells? I've noticed lately that even the better restaurants are using those crappy preformed shells that taste like paper.
 
  • #4
Bad, bad, bad!
 
  • #5
Cheese baklava??!


People have been saying the world is going to hell...but until now I didn't believe them.:eek:
 
  • #6
I'm hungry...again.
 
  • #7
G01 said:
Cheese baklava??!


People have been saying the world is going to hell...but until now I didn't believe them.:eek:
I kid you not. The only ingredient this shares with baklava (which is a sweet desert pastry) is the phyllo. :rolleyes:

Cheesy Brunch Baklava

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 cups (8 oz.) Sargento® Fancy Mozzarella Shredded Cheese
1 cup Sargento® Part-Skim Ricotta Cheese
1 egg, beaten
16 sheets (about 1/2 pkg.) prepared frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
Non-stick cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Baking Time: 35 minutes
Serves: 8

Cook sausage, onion and red pepper in large skillet over medium heat until meat is brown and crumbly; drain and cool. Combine Mozzarella cheese, Ricotta cheese, egg and sausage mixture; set aside.

Spray 13x9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Trim phyllo sheets to 13x9-inch. Working with one sheet at a time, (keep remaining phyllo covered), spray eight sheets with cooking spray.

Place phyllo pastry into prepared baking dish. Spoon filling over phyllo. Spray remaining 8 sheets with cooking spray and layer over filling. Using a sharp knife, cut into 8 squares. Bake, uncovered, in preheated 400°F oven 35 minutes or until golden brown.

http://www.sargentocheese.com/recipe/recipeDetail.jsp?recipeId=436 [Broken]
 
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  • #8
Evo said:
I kid you not. The only ingredient this shares with baklava (which is a sweet desert pastry) is the phyllo. :rolleyes:

Baklava is delicious. The only problem with it is that if you eat a 1in. X 1in. square you automatically have rotted teeth.:rolleyes:

Italian Sausage in Baklava...AHHH!...Might as well make apple pie with meatloaf in it, or tofu gyros, or chick pea falafel...o wait...that last one is correct. Now I'm all confused!:grumpy:
 
  • #9
Interesting, I never knew Baklava was popular in the west.
 
  • #10
There are traditional, classic recipes that should be made in a certain way with certain ingredients. Once you change that, you can no longer call it by that name.
Indeed! :grumpy:

Baklava is a sweet pastry made of layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped nuts, usually walnuts or pistachios, and sweetened with sugar or honey syrup.
Honey is better than sugar.

Anything other than those ingredients - it is NOT baklava!

Now there is something called banitsa which is similar to the Cheesy Brunch Baklava, but banitsa is primarily phyllo and cheese without the meat. Sausage is OK, but thinly sliced prosciutto is better.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banitsa
 
  • #11
Evo said:
Instead I find "In our updated version of the classic Chicken Cacciatore, we have substituted tofu for the chicken, mango chutney for the tomato sauce, chilled and poured over a bed of mung bean sprouts". :yuck: :confused:

Um... we have vegetarians today. Thought about that?

I wouldn't eat that though. Sounds gross.
 
  • #12
JasonRox said:
Um... we have vegetarians today. Thought about that?

I wouldn't eat that though. Sounds gross.
The point though, is that it's no longer cacciatore. Cacciatore is a traditional rustic stew with meat, tomato sauce, mushrooms and olives.

It's not chocolate mousse if it's made of fruit and no chocolate, it's not chicken if it doesn't contain chicken. But I see this happening all over the place. People taking a recipe and changing all of the ingredients so that the end product has nothing to do with the original.
 
  • #13
Astronuc said:
Now there is something called banitsa which is similar to the Cheesy Brunch Baklava, but banitsa is primarily phyllo and cheese without the meat. Sausage is OK, but thinly sliced prosciutto is better.
Actually, it's closer to spanakopita, at least that's not a sweet desert.
 
  • #14
JasonRox said:
Um... we have vegetarians today. Thought about that?

Then why not call it tofu with mango chutney sauce? Why call it chicken cacciatore when it has no chicken and nothing resembling cacciatore?

Those are the types of vegetarians I cannot understand. If you crave meat so badly you have to pretend everything is still meat, then just eat meat. Our hospital cafeteria is horribly guilty of this, serving such dishes as, "Meatless meatloaf." :confused: Why not call it a vegetable loaf? Though, I do find it more amusing when the name appears more like, "Vegetarian Meatloaf." Does that mean the meat comes from vegetarians? I mean, maybe they're nice and tender from being grain-fed, but... :uhh: :yuck:

If you're creative enough to come up with a new recipe, think up a new name to go with it. I mean, that tofu dish actually does sound kind of tasty to me (or would if I liked tofu...but I can appreciate the concept), it's just that it's not even close to chicken cacciatore; it shouldn't even be called tofu cacciatore, because it's not even just a substitute of tofu for chicken.

Hmm...meatless chicken...does that mean it's made with the bones, beak, and feathers? :biggrin: :yuck:
 
  • #15
Pity. A chef who reuses an existing name for an entirely different dish is missing a golden opportunity to be recognized as creator of this new dish. As a chef (which I am not) I would coin a new name for every new creation I come up with and become famous as its inventor. My cookbooks might sell much better.
 
  • #16
out of whack said:
Pity. A chef who reuses an existing name for an entirely different dish is missing a golden opportunity to be recognized as creator of this new dish. As a chef (which I am not) I would coin a new name for every new creation I come up with and become famous as its inventor. My cookbooks might sell much better.

Chicken Out-of-Whackatore? :biggrin:
 
  • #17
radou said:
Interesting, I never knew Baklava was popular in the west.

I don't know how popular it is across the US, but it is definitely common where I'm from.
 
  • #18
Mango chutney in cacciatore and Italian sausage in baklava? :confused:
 
  • #19
morphism said:
Mango chutney in cacciatore and Italian sausage in baklava? :confused:
Frightening, isn't it.
 
  • #20
Math Is Hard said:
Chicken Out-of-Whackatore? :biggrin:

Right on! Doesn't it just scream "eat me"?
 
  • #21
When I first married my now ex-husband, he asked me to make some of his favorite recipes his mother made. One was "chop suey". I absolutely could not imagine this New England matriarch doing a chinese style stir fry, so I asked her for the recipe. Here are the ingredients -

ground beef
Campbell's canned tomato soup
1 green bell pepper
macaroni

:confused: :bugeye:

Another dish he wanted was goulash. Ok, this I made quite often before I met him, with chunks of beef, and lots of paprika. Nope, not according to his mom. Her ingredeints for goulash -

ground beef
tomato sauce
oregano
macaroni

:confused: :bugeye:

Wait, that's chop suey! :rofl: Or no, it's a spaghetti sauce poured over macaroni and then cooked in a deep skillet until it forms a gloppy mess.

Of course the scariest "goulash" recipe is this one I just found.

12 ounces whole wheat macaroni (or other small pasta like bowtie or rotini)
1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/2 cup frozen sweet corn
1 (14 ounce) can kidney beans
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon italian seasoning
1 tablespoon paprika
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

The only ingredient this has that is actually in authentic goulash is the paprika. Therefore, any dish that contains paprika can be called goulash.
 
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  • #22
G01 said:
I don't know how popular it is across the US, but it is definitely common where I'm from.

Are you from the Balkan?
 
  • #23
radou said:
Interesting, I never knew Baklava was popular in the west.
It has gained in popularity in the US, you can find it in most pastry shops now.
 
  • #24
Moonbear said:
Those are the types of vegetarians I cannot understand. If you crave meat so badly you have to pretend everything is still meat, then just eat meat. Our hospital cafeteria is horribly guilty of this, serving such dishes as, "Meatless meatloaf." :confused: Why not call it a vegetable loaf? Though, I do find it more amusing when the name appears more like, "Vegetarian Meatloaf." Does that mean the meat comes from vegetarians? I mean, maybe they're nice and tender from being grain-fed, but... :uhh: :yuck:
:rofl:

If you're creative enough to come up with a new recipe, think up a new name to go with it. I mean, that tofu dish actually does sound kind of tasty to me (or would if I liked tofu...but I can appreciate the concept), it's just that it's not even close to chicken cacciatore; it shouldn't even be called tofu cacciatore, because it's not even just a substitute of tofu for chicken.
Plus cacciatore is "hunter's style", it's a hunter's stew. I don't know how many people hunt tofu here in the US.

Hmm...meatless chicken...does that mean it's made with the bones, beak, and feathers? :biggrin: :yuck:
Moonbear, you are a riot. :rofl:
 
  • #25
Evo said:
Plus cacciatore is "hunter's style", it's a hunter's stew. I don't know how many people hunt tofu here in the US.

:rofl: Well, you just never know.
 
  • #26
  • #27
Evo said:
4 bananas
chocolate

:!) I absolutely adore everything where chocolate and bananas act together.
 
  • #28
Moonbear said:
I do find it more amusing when the name appears more like, "Vegetarian Meatloaf." Does that mean the meat comes from vegetarians? I mean, maybe they're nice and tender from being grain-fed, but... :uhh: :yuck:
That's hilarious! :rofl:
 
  • #29
That's why I never eat baby food.
 
  • #30
turbo-1 said:
That's why I never eat baby food.
:rofl: :bugeye: :eek:
 
  • #31
radou said:
Are you from the Balkan?

Nah, I'm from the east US, Pennsylvania, to be more precise. I know we have baklava around here, but I thought it was due to the ethnic makeup of my area. I didn't know that is was equally as popular elsewhere in the states.

When I said, "across the US" I meant the other parts of the US where I don't live. Sorry for the confusion.:smile:
 
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  • #32
Evo said:
Actually, it's closer to spanakopita, at least that's not a sweet desert.
I think of spanakopita as "spinach pie with a filling of spinach, feta cheese (usually), green onions, egg, and seasoning (often including dill)." I know there is a different name when meat is the main filling - possibly - Bougatsa (Greek Μπουγάτσα, Turkish boğaça) - a pastry constiting of custard, cheese, or minced meat filling between layers of phyllo.

or http://www.eatgreektonight.com/recipe.cfm?TypeID=4&RecipeID=70 [Broken] - Minced meat stuffed in a fyllo (phyllo) pastry.

I suppose sausage instead of minced meat counts. :uhh:

Here is a list of classic Greek meat dishes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_cuisine#Meat_dishes

and here is a list of classic Greek desserts and sweets
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_cuisine#Desserts_and_sweets

There is a difference! :rolleyes:

A great site for Greek cuisine -
http://www.eatgreektonight.com/recipes.cfm [Broken]
 
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  • #33
AAAACCKK!

I'm cooking corned beef with cabbage tonight and out of curiosity I looked up some recipes.

Oh my god, these idiots are talking about honey glaze for corned beef! With cabbage no less! Corned beef does not have a honey glaze nor does it have a sugar glaze (another idiotic recipe I found) and you don't put barbecue sauce on it.
 
  • #34
You can probably thank the food network for that.
 
  • #35
Evo said:
AAAACCKK!

I'm cooking corned beef with cabbage tonight and out of curiosity I looked up some recipes.

Oh my god, these idiots are talking about honey glaze for corned beef! With cabbage no less! Corned beef does not have a honey glaze nor does it have a sugar glaze (another idiotic recipe I found) and you don't put barbecue sauce on it.
Idiots! Corned beef is something that you don't screw with. If it's proper corned beef, you don't have to just stick with cabbage, potatoes, etc, but you can use any (mostly root) vegetables that you have on hand to make a delicious meal. Corned beef went on "special" here around St Patrick's day, but it was a WHOLE lot cheaper after that when the over-orders got sold off, and we would have great early-spring boiled dinners with our potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc from the previous growing season. With our salted leeks, chives, garlic, etc, and we were "stylin' " on the cheap.

My father is 81 and he still has a little garden, but I remember when I was a kid (before I got to 14-15 years old and could earn real money), caring for a garden about 10 times that size was my job, and my mother and I canned and pickled and froze enough vegetables and wild berries to keep our grocery list minimal. These days, when my wife goes shopping, her list might look like "mayonnaise, blade steaks, coffee, milk, potatoes, peppers, grapes" or something similar, though once the garden starts coming in, we hone in on those foods and our food purchases are minimal.
 
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<h2>1. What are some examples of classic recipes?</h2><p>Classic recipes refer to traditional dishes that have been around for a long time and are often associated with specific cultures or regions. Some examples include apple pie, lasagna, fried chicken, and sushi.</p><h2>2. How do modern recipes differ from classic recipes?</h2><p>Modern recipes often involve new or unconventional ingredients and techniques, as well as fusion of different cuisines. They may also prioritize speed and convenience over traditional methods of cooking.</p><h2>3. Are classic recipes healthier than modern recipes?</h2><p>It depends on the specific recipe and ingredients used. Classic recipes may use more whole foods and less processed ingredients, but modern recipes may incorporate healthier substitutes and alternatives.</p><h2>4. Can modern recipes be considered blasphemy?</h2><p>The use of the term "blasphemy" is subjective and can vary depending on personal beliefs and cultural norms. Some may view modern recipes as a deviation from traditional cooking methods, while others may see it as a creative evolution of cuisine.</p><h2>5. Is there any scientific evidence to support the superiority of classic recipes over modern ones?</h2><p>There is no scientific evidence to prove that one type of recipe is superior to the other. Taste preferences and opinions on food are highly subjective and can vary greatly among individuals.</p>

1. What are some examples of classic recipes?

Classic recipes refer to traditional dishes that have been around for a long time and are often associated with specific cultures or regions. Some examples include apple pie, lasagna, fried chicken, and sushi.

2. How do modern recipes differ from classic recipes?

Modern recipes often involve new or unconventional ingredients and techniques, as well as fusion of different cuisines. They may also prioritize speed and convenience over traditional methods of cooking.

3. Are classic recipes healthier than modern recipes?

It depends on the specific recipe and ingredients used. Classic recipes may use more whole foods and less processed ingredients, but modern recipes may incorporate healthier substitutes and alternatives.

4. Can modern recipes be considered blasphemy?

The use of the term "blasphemy" is subjective and can vary depending on personal beliefs and cultural norms. Some may view modern recipes as a deviation from traditional cooking methods, while others may see it as a creative evolution of cuisine.

5. Is there any scientific evidence to support the superiority of classic recipes over modern ones?

There is no scientific evidence to prove that one type of recipe is superior to the other. Taste preferences and opinions on food are highly subjective and can vary greatly among individuals.

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