5 ms·

This is a really fun exercise; a rare example of something that's "data-centric" without being soulless. I think it's fascinating how it illustrates weirdness

This is a really fun exercise; a rare example of something that's "data-centric" without being soulless. I think it's fascinating how it illustrates weirdness about how Americans think about and categorize "ethnic" food. For example, the author's analysis of Google data shows Glendale, CA ranks #1 for "Highest prevalence of Mediterranean Restaurants." But I am nearly certain the majority of these, given Glendale's demographics, are in fact Armenian or Persian restaurants. Both Iran and Armenia are of course quite far from the Mediterranean region, but for whatever reason (rice? flat breads? grilled things on a stick?) have gotten lumped in with some Americanized, genericized conception of "the Mediterranean" that's indistinguishable from "the Middle East." I would imagine you'd find the same thing happening on Yelp etc.

yupitsme123 1y ago
To me, this is less about how Americans incorrectly categorize food (not that they don't do that) and more about how lazy algorithms do so.
hnhg 1y ago
Plus lots of salad and olive oil. I believe the use of "Mediterranean" is to avoid strange expectations about Middle Eastern food, which many people seem to erroneously expect to be more like Indian.
- gs17 1y ago
  I always assumed it was due to a lot of Americans thinking "middle eastern" has a negative connotation.
  - microtherion 1y ago
    Yeah, back in Europe, I used to associate "Mediterranean Cuisine" with Greek, Italian, Spanish, and possibly Portuguese (geographical reality aside).
lordnacho 1y ago
> some Americanized, genericized conception of "the Mediterranean" that's indistinguishable from "the Middle East." The same happens with the food itself. I had a chat with a restaurateur in Switzerland, and he explained all the modifications he had to make in order to sell "Chinese" food. "They didn't have bean sprouts when I first came, and they will look like they are dying if there's any amount of spice in it." The famous example of this is Chicken Tikka Masala, which is a British take on Indian food. You can't open an "Indian" restaurant in the UK and not put it on the menu, just as you must have the step-ladder of spice with Indian sounding names (Korma, Madras, Vindaloo). IIRC similar to General Tso's Chicken when it comes to ordering Chinese in the US, gotta be on the menu. People simply come to expect certain things with certain foods, often disconnected with the the place that inspired it. When you open an ethnic restaurant, it's almost like joining a franchise. You aren't formally paying MacDonald's when you open a Chinese takeaway, but you do have to have things on the menu that people recognize, so the labels "Thai", "Ramen", "Japanese", etc function a bit like a franchise.
- teddyh 1y ago
  A bit like writing a fantasy novel. You aren’t paying any Tolkien Estate licensing fees, but people expect the established elves, trolls, dwarves, goblins, dragons, etc. A more historical example of the same phenomenon may be commedia dell'arte.
- ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
  I'd say that the step-ladder of spiced Indian dishes are more associated with takeaways and cheaper restaurants. High quality Indian restaurants in the UK will tend to feature a specific region and only have a handful of dishes.
  - kurthr 1y ago
    Same with higher end restaurants in the US for Chinese and Indian food. Depending on where you are the cheaper restaurants in immigrant communities will be similar. You get the regional food the chef's mother made. Occasionally, there are local substitutions (different mangos, peppers, meat cuts).
ChuckMcM 1y ago
Agreed, I am wondering if you could extract food truck data from the various licensing databases. That question arises because in some places food trucks have replaced the statistically improbable 'hole-in-the-wall' restaurant for some of the same reasons those restaurants existed, relatively low cost of entry.
freetinker 1y ago
People lack nuance. Nuanced views are computationally expensive.

yupitsme123 1y ago

To me, this is less about how Americans incorrectly categorize food (not that they don't do that) and more about how lazy algorithms do so.

hnhg 1y ago

Plus lots of salad and olive oil. I believe the use of "Mediterranean" is to avoid strange expectations about Middle Eastern food, which many people seem to erroneously expect to be more like Indian.

gs17 1y ago
I always assumed it was due to a lot of Americans thinking "middle eastern" has a negative connotation.
- microtherion 1y ago
  Yeah, back in Europe, I used to associate "Mediterranean Cuisine" with Greek, Italian, Spanish, and possibly Portuguese (geographical reality aside).

lordnacho 1y ago

> some Americanized, genericized conception of "the Mediterranean" that's indistinguishable from "the Middle East." The same happens with the food itself. I had a chat with a restaurateur in Switzerland, and he explained all the modifications he had to make in order to sell "Chinese" food. "They didn't have bean sprouts when I first came, and they will look like they are dying if there's any amount of spice in it." The famous example of this is Chicken Tikka Masala, which is a British take on Indian food. You can't open an "Indian" restaurant in the UK and not put it on the menu, just as you must have the step-ladder of spice with Indian sounding names (Korma, Madras, Vindaloo). IIRC similar to General Tso's Chicken when it comes to ordering Chinese in the US, gotta be on the menu. People simply come to expect certain things with certain foods, often disconnected with the the place that inspired it. When you open an ethnic restaurant, it's almost like joining a franchise. You aren't formally paying MacDonald's when you open a Chinese takeaway, but you do have to have things on the menu that people recognize, so the labels "Thai", "Ramen", "Japanese", etc function a bit like a franchise.

teddyh 1y ago
A bit like writing a fantasy novel. You aren’t paying any Tolkien Estate licensing fees, but people expect the established elves, trolls, dwarves, goblins, dragons, etc. A more historical example of the same phenomenon may be commedia dell'arte.
ndsipa_pomu 1y ago
I'd say that the step-ladder of spiced Indian dishes are more associated with takeaways and cheaper restaurants. High quality Indian restaurants in the UK will tend to feature a specific region and only have a handful of dishes.
- kurthr 1y ago
  Same with higher end restaurants in the US for Chinese and Indian food. Depending on where you are the cheaper restaurants in immigrant communities will be similar. You get the regional food the chef's mother made. Occasionally, there are local substitutions (different mangos, peppers, meat cuts).

ChuckMcM 1y ago

Agreed, I am wondering if you could extract food truck data from the various licensing databases. That question arises because in some places food trucks have replaced the statistically improbable 'hole-in-the-wall' restaurant for some of the same reasons those restaurants existed, relatively low cost of entry.

freetinker 1y ago

People lack nuance. Nuanced views are computationally expensive.