What an excellent essay.
In some sense if one tries to be fully authentic, one can actually experience the opposite and end up being stifled. The example that immediately comes to find is "authentic" Texas brisket: the rub is salt and pepper and that is it. Q.E.D. No deviations.
(The irony, of course, is that many Texas BBQ places that are perceived to be authentic, probably deviate from the strict formula themselves!)
I've also experienced something similar in my recent pizza experimentations. I've been getting hung on up finding out what is "true" Neapolitan, what is "true" Detroit-style, etc..... and feel weird if I try to deviate from that just due to my own tastes and preferences (I don't like cooked sauce on pizza!).
In some sense if one tries to be fully authentic, one can actually experience the opposite and end up being stifled. The example that immediately comes to find is "authentic" Texas brisket: the rub is salt and pepper and that is it. Q.E.D. No deviations.
(The irony, of course, is that many Texas BBQ places that are perceived to be authentic, probably deviate from the strict formula themselves!)
I've also experienced something similar in my recent pizza experimentations. I've been getting hung on up finding out what is "true" Neapolitan, what is "true" Detroit-style, etc..... and feel weird if I try to deviate from that just due to my own tastes and preferences (I don't like cooked sauce on pizza!).
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