To think if Yotam Ottolenghi is going to complain about authenticity of olive oil in hummus, he shouldn't put out nonsense like Thai lentil soup

[AgaPanthers]

Seriously mate, if Mary Berry wants olive oil in her hummus it's up to her.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2789159/yotam-ottolenghi-attacks-great-british-bake-star-s-mary-berry-s-recipe-hummus-inclusion-olive-oil.html

You won't find any lentils in Thailand either.
www.westernlivingmagazine.com/2014/10/08/thai-red-lentil-soup/

I have actually fallen over with laughter that its turned into such a bun fight about tinned chickpeas. truly only on MN would a post get deleted about Hummus.

For what its worth I love Parsnips I do cook them fresh no frozen already preped for me, does that redeem my chickpeas in tins habit?

Ah, but do you prepare the parsnips in an authentic way?

With, or without butter?

what the authentic way?
I roast them in honey....

Honey, LittleBairn? You filthy bitch, how very dare you?

Cote - are you due on, or do you not have a sense of humour at all? FWIW, I would never have guessed that you were not a native English speaker.

Your point on "authentic" and "superior" is interesting. Part of my family are Hungarian, and when we say we're making Goulash, we make a large soup with big lumps of potato and meat in it (which is the authentic version), but what the Brits understand as Goulash is a sort of thick stew with peppers and tomatoes (which we would call porkolt - it has accents on the "O" but I can't do them on this computer). I've cooked both for people here, and they overwhelmingly prefer the porkolt, which is, for them, Goulash. So I totally get where you're coming from, on something being "superior" based on their tastes!

I have made some lovely Yotam recipes out of the Guardian, and I think there are some things he is great at. Kind of fussy, complicated but delicious things that you make for a special occasion or when you have spare time.

However I went off him a bit when I read about him having a child (aww) and in the article he was really rude and patronising about a lesbian couple he met as part of the process (boo). So I can't see this Mary Berry-dissing without thinking that maybe he's just a leetle bit upset about a woman having all the kudos she has.

She btw is a genius, especially if you have an Aga thrust upon you like we did (came with house, Mary Berry's Aga book has made me an Aga supremo).

As for authenticity, tish and pish. I can't stand it when people fuss about whether it's authentic and like what they do in some country of origin. I'm not Italian, so why does it matter how or when I have a cappuccino? I'm not Indian or Israeli or Mexican, and I will do what I like with their food, and vice versa I'm sure. You don't create a great national dish like chicken tikka masala by getting po-faced about being authentic.

I honestly don't understand the 'Surely you read the recipe to learn how to make a dish from scratch.' argument made by CoteDAzur.

Should a bread and butter pudding recipe include instructions for making bread?

Should a coq au vin recipe include how to make wine?

I personally do make bread and wine from scratch (and buy them on occasion too), but I would find a recipe that included instructions for these things rather strange.

Why are dried chickpeas considered a 'basic' ingredient, but tinned ones not? They are the same thing, just preserved using a different method. The writer of a recipe can use whichever they prefer, and people are intelligent enough to realise they can use the other if they want.

"You don't create a great national dish like chicken tikka masala by getting po-faced about being authentic."

Fusion cuisine at its best

MrsS I shall go flog myself for crimes against the culinary world.
Suddenly feel like Goulash or should I say Porkolt...