One source that was particularly meaningul for me was an article called Reclaiming Indian Food from the White Gaze that was particularly insightful to me. The article discussed what is missing from the way Indian food is presented by white chefs. One thing that stuck out to me particularly was the author’s idea that many westeners view Indian food through a take out lense. When I first read that I initially disagreed with it and didn’t quite understand why that was a bad thing since I beleive many cultrual cuisines are seen through a take out lense in the west. But after reading more I realized how limiting that could be. It also adds to the fetishization and exotification of Indian food since it’s not presented as something that is or can be made at home. This made me think about how only eating and seeing Indian food as “take out” food would prevent an authentic experience of eating or interacting with it. The author goes on to talk about how modern wellness culture has distanced themself from Indian traditions. This stuck out to me because through research I’ve seen a lot of Indian food historians and bloggers discuss the substituting ingredients for “healthier” ones which would be considered blasphemous to an “Indian auntie”. The problem is not substituting ingredients itself but substituting ingredients that wouldn’t normally be there and still labeling it as authentic. It’s also dangerous becuase the more white chefs become the face of Indian food the less authentic Indian voices can be heard. Westerns often accept Indian cooking presented by a white chef but not by a brown one. Why is that?

Another source that connected to my essential question was the article What Makes Food “Authentic”? by Matt Brady. Brady discusses how what might think eating pasta in Italy would be authentic than eating it in New York. But he brought up the fact that both chefs in both places are emmulating and reimagining recipes that their grandmother gave them. It made me wonder about how location is tied to authenticity. Is Italian food cooked in Italy more authentic than Italian food cooked in New York just because the chef is in Italy? Going into this project I had thought that the meaning of authenticity was going to relate to location and that of course Italian food in Italy would be more authentic. But reading this article made me think that while location might be important, it doesn’t make or not make something authentic.