This blog is part of my 38 37 before 38 series. I write a blog for every single day for the 38 days leading up to my 38th Birthday.
If you live any given urban metroplex, you have had Chinese food at a Chinese restaurant. At least once. Except it wasn’t “Chinese” food. There is a very good chance that if you were to mention the name of your favorite dish from your favorite restaurant, they would not know what you are talking about. If they did, and you managed to feed them that dish, they would not recognize it as the thing you just called it. Your favorite Chinese food is not Chinese.
And that is ok.
Khao Suey
My people, the Memon, hail from coastal areas of what is now Gujrat state in the Republic of India. The magic of British colonialism led to many people from the British-controlled India to be settled around the world. It is the reason some Caribbean islands are majority Indian. Some of my people were settled in Burma, modern day Myanmar. Many returned and then after independence from the British settled in Pakistan. They brought with them this Burmese curry noodle dish called Khao Suey. It spread through the community. And then it escaped, and now is a popular food court dish across Karachi.
However, there is nothing Burmese about it anymore. Ingredients were replaced as needed. The main component, the curry, means completely different in different parts of Asia. No just countries, but towns and villages have their own definition. So it was adapted to local tastes. It has morphed into its own thing.
There is no such thing as an authentic burger. Why do we have the authentic Pizza, or Ramen, or Chicken Tikka Masala?
The best version of these noodles is made by my mom. They are delicious. They are the most authentic way to taste this dish in my world. And you would be wrong to suggest otherwise.
Authentic Inauthenticity
This extends beyond food. You will see travel videos from social media stars talking about how they want the authentic [insert city] experience, or how you have to do some obscure crap to see [insert city]. Why?
Recently, I was in London. I was staying at my cousin’s, who’s a born and bred Londoner. So I was surprised to learn that he wanted to tag along with me to The National Gallery. Because he also had never been there. So by experiencing the London’s oldest museums, have I seen a “realer” London than locals? Or by going to this relic of a place, which the locals have deemed irrelevant, am I eschewing the genuine London and being a filthy “tourist”?
Both of those are examples of the rare stupid question. I can’t ever be a real denizen of London without actually living there. Trying to have the “local” experience is just tourism of a different kind. There is nothing wrong with it. But the explicit declaration of this being the One True Authentic™ way of experiencing anything is the problem. It is yet another method of unearned snobery.
You
The search for the best, most real, unique experience is a race to the bottom, not the top. You are probably doing this to be unique and original. The irony being that searching for the most “real” Kung Pao Chicken, or the hippest club in Berlin makes you unoriginal.
The best Tom Yum soup is from a halal Chinese place in suburban Houston, the best view in Paris is the top of Eiffel Tower, and the best song you ever listened to was when you were young and hopeful. The only authentic experience you’ll ever have is being yourself. So stop chasing this high.