"Ethnic " foods forum

[PrincessFiona60]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

If all foods are world foods, why do they need a separate category? We also have "World Foods" recipes in the generic categories. Why confuse the issue?

Chinese Pepper Steak - World foods or Beef?

Hungarian Goulash - World foods or Beef or Soups, Stews and Casseroles?

American Chop Suey - World foods or pasta?

I vote we eliminate the category all together. It makes the site more inclusive without arbitrary segregation.

Agreed.

[LPBeier]

I totally agree with Andy. Eliminating the category makes the most sense. Then people can tag their recipe as "Asian", "Italian", etc. Keeping the categories to the actual food items then searching on that for specifics is the most logical IMHO.

[taxlady]

Originally Posted by LPBeier

I totally agree with Andy. Eliminating the category makes the most sense. Then people can tag their recipe as "Asian", "Italian", etc. Keeping the categories to the actual food items then searching on that for specifics is the most logical IMHO.

Ya know, I think that's the way to go. We just have to remember to tag posts.

[GotGarlic]

Originally Posted by LPBeier

I totally agree with Andy. Eliminating the category makes the most sense. Then people can tag their recipe as "Asian", "Italian", etc. Keeping the categories to the actual food items then searching on that for specifics is the most logical IMHO.

I agree as well. I know it would be a huge task to move all the threads in that category to new ones, so I'd like to volunteer to help with that, if needed.

[roadfix]

Andy rocks! Total elimination, I think, is the answer.

[Kayelle]

The more I think about it, the more I agree with Andy's idea of eliminating "ethnic foods" as a sub category.
For example, if I'm browsing the pork category for something to make with the pork I have, many good pork recipes are hiding in the "ethnic foods" and missed altogether.

[pacanis]

Originally Posted by Kayelle

The more I think about it, the more I agree with Andy's idea of eliminating "ethnic foods" as a sub category.
For example, if I'm browsing the pork category for something to make with the pork I have, many good pork recipes are hiding in the "ethnic foods" and missed altogether.

That's true. But by that reasoning a lot of pork recipes are hiding out in the outdoor cooking forum, let alone the sub-forums of smoking, grilling and what have you... or the slow cooker forum or one of the other ones. I was surprised to see we didn't have a stir-fry forum, or maybe I missed it.

That is the caveat. You can never be too descriptive. And on the other hand KISS.

I thought Andy's suggestion was perfect when I read it. Now I'm thinking the World Cuisines idea might be better. If you have some pork and are leaning towards sweet 'n sour, go browse through the Asian Cuisines/Pork forum. It narrows it down instead of one catch-all pork forum, let alone what to do with Outdoor Cooking or any of the others. As in what if I take my wok outside

So my ultimate suggestion is to turn the whole index page (concerning foods) into World Cuisines. Get rid of Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison and instead have American: Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison, European: Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison, African: Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison... actually, Venison should probably be omitted and in a "Game Meats" forum...

So really I do not see a right or wrong way to go about this. Nothing will work to appease everyone. But I still think the term ethnic is a bit clumsy. What is ethnic to some isn't ethnic to others.

[Somebunny]

Oh!!! This is a dilemma, at first I agreed with GQ , then with Andy, then as each post came along, I could see merit......my head is spinning! I guess it's a good thing I am not a mod or tech. ;). I like the term Cuisines of the World, but honestly how would we break that down? There are 196 countries in the world and for the most part, the cuisine is different. Talk about cumbersome. What about International Cuisine and just breaking it down to

Middle Eastern
Asian
Italian
French
German
and
Other
But then we would probably miss someone and oh dear!!!! As I said a dilemma :)

[Andy M.]

Originally Posted by pacanis

...So my ultimate suggestion is to turn the whole index page (concerning foods) into World Cuisines. Get rid of Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison and instead have American: Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison, European: Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison, African: Beef, Pork, Lamb & Venison... actually, Venison should probably be omitted and in a "Game Meats" forum...

I agree simplification is good idea. Fred, with your suggestion, we'd have to add a group of new forums for every location around the world. Besides, many foods cannot be tied to a single modern country so much as a region. I can see arguments over whether a specific dish is Libyan, Moroccan or Egyptian.

As globalization continues, we'll all be eating new and different foods for us. I suggest we don't apply labels at all, just identify a dish by its main ingredient.

Having an Ethnic Foods forum with "other countries'"recipes and American dishes in other categories says this is an American food forum first. Not a good message to send. DC has become a global forum with members from around the world. We shouldn't try to label food origins, just ingredients.

[PrincessFiona60]

Diligence with tags, not only of ingredients but also cuisine would be needed.

Andy's idea is elegant and simple. Creating a whole slew of new forums and then getting all the recipes in the correct one could be very time consuming.