EU full of Picky Eaters - Page 5

Oerdin · August 30, 2003, 04:34

That maybe an acceptable way to solve this case.

Buck Birdseed · August 30, 2003, 04:34

Sure it's just a recipe for making food. It's a recipe that begins: "take one leg of italian pork and prepare it under the special and unique conditions that prevale in Parma..."

The point is, these are foodstuffs that only taste like the original creators intended them to taste if they're prepared by the original makers.

Az · August 30, 2003, 05:37

yes, Yes, YES!!! Let that venom come out!

damn, that's some silly **** to argue about.

Thorgal · August 30, 2003, 05:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin

Confuse people? I have yet to find a label more confusing then your average old world wine. A new world wine will have the verital and region of origin right on the lable while your average European wine will only have the region of origin. Therefor you know exactly what you are buying with a new world wine but with an old world wine you are gambling. You really don't know what you are buying and you're just hoping you guess right.

I dont have to investigate the label to know that a wine with the Origin Denomination from Jerez is an excellent Wine, or Rioja, or Ribera del Duero......... If a ham has the Origin Denomination from Jabugo (Huelva, Spain) you can be sure it is simply the best in the word.
In fact, you only have to taste it (and to pay his prize) to know where it comes from.

On the other hand, In Spain we drink "Cava", no Champagne made in Spain.

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 06:09

I can understand wines, because the region the grapes were grown in and the environment the wine matures in is distinctly regional. I can understand certain cheeses, because some are dependent on the concentratrations of local microbial life.

I cannot understand the regional defense for cured meat.

Rogan Josh · August 30, 2003, 06:12

Quote:

Originally posted by HershOstropoler
The real fun will be about "Budweiser".

Yes - that one will be interesting. Especially since the US Bud is deliberately trying to fool European shoppers into thinking it is the original. They have changed their labeling to be almost exactly the same as the original with just some tiny differences that you really have to look for.

Presumably this isn't a problem in Germany though, since US budweiser will be illegal to sell there. Or is it just illegal to call it 'beer'? Anyone know? (I certainly never noticed it for sale when I lived in Germany.)

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 06:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Buck Birdseed
Sure it's just a recipe for making food. It's a recipe that begins: "take one leg of italian pork and prepare it under the special and unique conditions that prevale in Parma..."

The point is, these are foodstuffs that only taste like the original creators intended them to taste if they're prepared by the original makers.

The original makers are hundreds, if not thousands, of years dead.

Harovan · August 30, 2003, 07:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Rogan Josh
Presumably this isn't a problem in Germany though, since US budweiser will be illegal to sell there. Or is it just illegal to call it 'beer'? Anyone know? (I certainly never noticed it for sale when I lived in Germany.)

Unless it's brewed under the German purity law (made of water, hop and malt and nothing else) it can't be called beer hereabouts. I have never seen the American version in our stores, only the Czech original. Not that we wouldn't taste the difference...

.

There are btw almost no US food products in our stores. Only some Californian vinegar among French, Italian and Spanish wine. A pity, since I love American tortilla chips and all the several dips. I have to go to the american stores, but they're getting rare. Not that this would be a bad thing, though.

Oerdin · August 30, 2003, 07:18

Quote:

Originally posted by Sir Ralph
There are btw almost no US food products in our stores. Only some Californian vinegar among French, Italian and Spanish wine.

Is that why our wine routinely beats European wines even in European contests?

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 07:20

I understand that you have similar laws for your sausages.

Will you be going after Frankfurters, Weiners, and Wursts next?

Thorgal · August 30, 2003, 07:22

Quote:

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
I cannot understand the regional defense for cured meat.

The difference can be huge, even in the same country, in relative near regions. Even with the same elaboration process (b.e. in Spain Guijuelo (Salamanca) vs Jabugo (Huelva)), . You only have to taste it to know the difference. Maybe it is the pig diet, some slighty variations in pig races, climate, altitude, water, some secret in the elaboration... I dont know, there are too many factors.

Harovan · August 30, 2003, 07:25

Quote:

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
I understand that you have similar laws for your sausages.

Will you be going after Frankfurters, Weiners, and Wursts next?

It's Wiener. And you'd better not give us ideas.

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 07:35

Wiener Whiner.

Spiffor · August 30, 2003, 07:52

I completely agree with that measure.

As you know it, I'm a big Feta fan. But in today's supermarkets, it is nearly impossible to find real Feta (made of goat milk) as the supermarkets are full of fakes from cow milk. Cow milk feta tastes very differently (and very bland) in comparison to real Feta, and it is time the consumer doesn't get confused anymore.

While Champagne is way overrated, I understand why they defend such protection from usurping the name too. The taste of wines (at least, wines that aren't a mix from several grape species and several terrains, like they're done in France) heavily depends from the particular terrain where it comes from.
The Champagne region has a very different terrain and very different climatic conditions than Chile, and this particular Chilean wine is simply not the same product then (even if it uses the same methods after grapes are collected).
Many local products are dependent of local particular geographic features, and are not generic products. It is only normal the name of the locality gets protected to avoid confusion by the consumer.

I'm sure you Yanks would hate it if some local Cola brand was called "Coca Cola" while tasting different. And I'm sure you'd understand why your government will try to stop it.

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 07:58

Actually, most of us probably wouldn't care, and many would be displeased if the government stepped in on a matter where Coca-Cola could easily take care of itself.

A better example would be the Bourbon / Scotch trade-off mentioned earlier.

ANY AMERICANS READING THIS WHO CARE IF SOMEBODY MADE A EUROPEAN "BOURBON", POST!

Oerdin · August 30, 2003, 08:03

Bourbon is just a whiskey made atleast 50% out of sour corn mash. The place it is made doesn't matter any more then if I make a "Greek Salad" in Greece or not.

Oerdin · August 30, 2003, 08:04

Quote:

Originally posted by Spiffor
As you know it, I'm a big Feta fan. But in today's supermarkets, it is nearly impossible to find real Feta (made of goat milk) as the supermarkets are full of fakes from cow milk. Cow milk feta tastes very differently (and very bland) in comparison to real Feta, and it is time the consumer doesn't get confused anymore.

Don't you have ethnic markets in France? Or specialty stores where you can buy feta?

Spiffor · August 30, 2003, 08:09

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin The place it is made doesn't matter any more then if I make a "Greek Salad" in Greece or not.

Indeed. "Greek Salad" can be made anywhere with the right contents.

Feta is different than that. Feta is a specific recipe with specific ingredients whose quality depends of the place of extraction. Actually, I couldn't care less if Feta was made in Turkey, Corsica or Spain, as long as it really took goat milk that has been processed in the real Feta way (Actually, I am not for the localization protection for feta... I think regional protection should only happen to regional products made of plants, or made of wild animals). As of today, the Feta name is taintened by the despicable cow-milk feta, and that's the real problem.

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 08:12

Okay then...what about Port, or Sherry wine?
Their production is much more about the method than the locale, I believe.

Spiffor · August 30, 2003, 08:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin
Don't you have ethnic markets in France? Or specialty stores where you can buy feta?

You can buy plenty of goat-milk Feta in about any marketplace in France (not necessarily Greek though... Often it is Italian). But to go there requires some knowledge of taste and some financial well-being already. For the many poeple who shop exclusively in supermarkets, there is only one brand of Feta that I know of which sells goat milk.

Things are even worse in Germany. The goat-milk Feta company is hardly known (no advertisement campaign unlike in France), and I could find its products in only one supermarket. All the other consumers are fooled into believing Feta is the pure crap from cow milk

Harovan · August 30, 2003, 08:13

Quote:

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
A better example would be the Bourbon / Scotch trade-off mentioned earlier.

ANY AMERICANS READING THIS WHO CARE IF SOMEBODY MADE A EUROPEAN "BOURBON", POST!

We don't drink Bourbon. If at all, we drink Scotch. Needless to say where it comes from.

Rogan Josh · August 30, 2003, 08:13

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin
Is that why our wine routinely beats European wines even in European contests?

It may be that your wine growers just don't export their best wines and save them for the domestic markets, because the US wine on sale here are pretty uniformly shite.

Spiffor · August 30, 2003, 08:13

Quote:

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Okay then...what about Port, or Sherry wine?
Their production is much more about the method than the locale, I believe.

I don't know these products... With "Port", do you mean Porto wine ?

Spiffor · August 30, 2003, 08:15

Quote:

Originally posted by Rogan Josh
It may be that your wine growers just don't export their best wines and save them for the domestic markets, because the US wine on sale here are pretty uniformly shite.

Yet, I have never tasted any Württemberg wine that was better than the few Californian wines I've tasted. Granted, I quit buying Württemberg fairly quickly

Oerdin · August 30, 2003, 08:15

Quote:

Originally posted by Spiffor

Indeed. "Greek Salad" can be made anywhere with the right contents.

Feta is different than that. Feta is a specific recipe with specific ingredients whose quality depends of the place of extraction. Actually, I couldn't care less if Feta was made in Turkey, Corsica or Spain, as long as it really took goat milk that has been processed in the real Feta way (Actually, I am not for the localization protection for feta... I think regional protection should only happen to regional products made of plants, or made of wild animals). As of today, the Feta name is taintened by the despicable cow-milk feta, and that's the real problem.

I don't deny there are differences in taste but they are "like items". Feta simply describes a type of cheese and not where the cheese is from. It's up to individual makers to establish reputable brand names instead of trying to squat on common English worlds.

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 08:15

What you're saying about Feta makes sense -- a definiton based on the ingredients and how they're processed. That's what you find for a lot of foods and liquors in the United States (such as bourbon, or mayonaise).

Oerdin · August 30, 2003, 08:16

I say let the market decide which cheese is better. Are you afraid there really isn't that much of a difference?

(edit: I'm talking about between different types of salted goat's milk cheese from countries other then Greece)

Rogan Josh · August 30, 2003, 08:16

Quote:

Originally posted by Spiffor

Yet, I have never tasted any Württemberg wine that was better than the few Californian wines I've tasted. Granted, I quit buying Württemberg fairly quickly

That's true. German wines aren't my cup of tea either.

Rogan Josh · August 30, 2003, 08:19

Quote:

Originally posted by Oerdin
I say let the market decide which cheese is better. Are you afraid there really isn't that much of a difference?

Would you be happy if lamb was packaged as beef? That wouldn't break any copyright laws, but would be very misleading, even if it did say somewhere on the package in small print '100% lamb'.

Or should we let the market decide?

The Mad Monk · August 30, 2003, 08:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Spiffor

I don't know these products... With "Port", do you mean Porto wine ?

Yes.

Sherry wines are another type of fortified wine, produced in the Jerez region of spain.