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I'm from Buffalo originally and I learned early on (from my Pops) that the only real way to eat a wing is to put the entire thing in your mouth and work it around for a while until you pull out a clean bone.

De-boning a chicken wing? Get real.

there's a wrong way to eat a chicken wing?

I have my own technique. I push the middle section of meat up and bite it out, then rip the wing at one end to unfold it with the "hinge" at one end. Then eat the meat off of each bone. No cartilage consumption (blech) and I get all the meat off the bone.

I've eaten wings like this for years. I usually just pinch the cartilage to separate it from the bones and use it as a handle to dip in blue cheese or hotsauce, then just bite the meat off and toss the cartilage bits. Quicker than eating other ways and much easier to dip. Sometimes the big bone doesn't always come out, so its almost like a drumette at that point.

I ate at several different "Mexican" places in Germany back in '91, and shockingly enough they were run by Latinos from El Paso and other places in the US. I have no idea what I was served, but it didn't resemble anything like any iteration of Tex-mex or Mexican food I've ever had. It was much closer to Greek & Turkish food and kebabs. I asked the guys what they thought they were doing and they said they'd caved to bizarre local expectations.

If my weird "tacos"/Mexican gyros (not even vaguely close to a taco, burrito, or gordita - they were entirely new foodstuffs) actually tasted any good, I couldn't have cared less about authenticity. These restaurants think that wrapping themselves in a flag will make people overlook the horrid food they're serving.

I always stay away from restaurants here in Canada that advertise "English-style Fish and Chips". For some reason these places seem to think that by just putting the "style" in there, then this makes their food authentic.

My wife and I were once in Manchester, U.K. and decided to give Pizza Hut a try, just to see if there was any difference in taste and quality. We were pleasantly surprised and enlightened to the fact that these huge chains do take the trouble to try and replicate their products wherever they may be!

When I was a child, my parents would take us to India for the summers, and about a month or two in, we would crave pizza, McDonald's, and all sorts of other representatively American foods. We would whine until my parents buckled and took us to the "Pizza Hut" (total knock off). And of course, every year, we would be terribly disappointed by the Indian version of American pizza. Tomato ketchup instead of tomato sauce, and not nearly enough cheese.

So what's new? You have to come to NYC to get the authentic NYC experience. Let them interpret the bagel anyway they want...We do our own versions of all kinds of cuisine here too!

http://chillonthecheap.wordpress.com/

@ wthrop - I am Chinese, and I am aghast at Panda Express. What of it? The point is never to highlight things that are wrong exclusively for the sake of finding the inaccuracies, but to think about what the misconceptions are, and why such impressions exist. I'll admit, I was going for an easy laugh, but I do think it'd be great to export some of the lighter and fresher varieties of food from around this lovely nation, but instead, the perception is that we and our food are seen as loud, boorish, and unrefined. Your comment explains why.

Your indignation would be a lot more believable if you weren't so quick to highlight other people's faults every other time you post.

@wthrop - Amen.

@KateRuby - Bagels are just different in our respective countries. The place in the above post just isn't representative. You were on the right track with Golders Green but you should also check out the Jewish places further north (Edgware, Finsbury Park; areas in Barnet and Harrow) as well as the Brick Lane Beigel place.

I believe putting pastrami and cheese together is not kosher.

I was taking a weekend in Bucks County Pa. When I stumbled upon a Deli named Bagel Junction in Newtown. Their Flagels and traditional Bagels are as good as any in NYC .The lines to the front door were there for a reason and their prices were a relief compared to NY. This place is like home away from home. If your craving NY food this is the place!

I worked at a RT as a line cook. Their food is pathetic. All of their steaks and burgers come in frozen, individually "cryovac"ed in plastic. The burgers are pink and void of any moisture what so ever. Even the rice comes pre-prepared in a plastic poach and nuked. The mashed potatoes and soup also come in bags and reheated in a pot of boiling water. All the seafood comes in frozen and ran thru a conveyor type mini-pizza oven. Bassicly, you're buying a TV dinner. Even all the salads come in in bags. UGH. I quit when I decided to return to a cooking job, rather than be a professional re-heater.