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Of Bries and Gorgonzolas

So what makes a place popular to the point that it is synonymously used in daily jargon to convey a food product?  Of course I speak of the way Europeans have marketed their edible (debatable sometimes if you are not a fan of purposely consuming fungii and mold) wares to the consumers.

Cheeses from parts of the Med (Italy, France et al) are sold in western markets (and now perhaps in the Orient although I have not encountered them yet) with an implied genteel connotation.  Available in upscale groceries (and regular ones but with a lower price point and from suspect manufacturers) these smelly (usually foul) concoctions are doled out at premium price.

Fancy meals are simply a series of towns producing soft cheeses and gassy alcohols along with generic colors to add interest.   Perhaps the chesse also contributes to eventual gassiness but that is for 'another time'.  So a typical high class luncheon might read like -

Starters - Platter of Camembert with Crackers and Gorgonzola on Flox

Main Course -  Seared Beef with Sauteed Greens with a medley of roots in Spring Colors accompanied with 1989 Champagne Cru

Wash the Desserts with - Napa Pinot 1999 along with candied walnuts

Now compare this to a yet non existent fancy Indian meal -

Starters - Orange Pune (fill in what signifies Pune on a plate) with Calcutta on a ?

Main - Belampalli in a blanket (what?)

Conclusion - Jaipuri 1888 in a cup?

What is the problem here you ask?   
Town pride or lack thereof in the other?
Marketing savvy?
Gullible public?

All of the above.  The only other place name that 'sounds' like something associated with eating or gassiness is Dakar.  That place is in Africa.

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  1. RajendraJune 7, 2013 at 10:38 AM

    Madras Rasam, Andhra Podi, Avakai pachchadi, Dahi maach from Orissa, Doodh jalebi/chaat from U.P. and Kachori from Rajasthan would make a yummy but jumbled menu. Many such combos would be mouth-watering without the fluff, or the cheese.

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  2. Diamond HeadJune 7, 2013 at 11:20 AM

    admittedly an orchestra in the mouth but saying - Have a Madras or Bellampalli or Jodhpur in and of itself does not convey anything let alone what food it is ... unlike a Camembert standing in for Cheese - brand recoginition I guess..

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