Topic: Devils Advocate

[tempest63]

It is highly unusual for me to put my head above the parapet but here goes.
There have been recent threads about the ongoing viability of CRO and whether or not it is effectively finished. I certainly hope not as I have posted many recipes to the site since I joined on the very first day of 2005 and I often use it as a repository; coming here to look for an old favourite recipe that had been ignored for too long rather than trawl through books to find the original source material.
I also noted a recent post linking a Facebook page for Goan cooking that not everybody wanted to access as they prefer to avoid Facebook.
My posts over the years have mostly been to the Traditional section as I moved away from trying (and abysmally failing) to replicate BIR, and I started to experiment with the more traditional recipes. I would take a dish, Rogan Josh being the most memorable, and would try any number of so called authentic recipes to find the one I preferred (Madhur Jaffrey won that battle by a clear mile).
My question therefore is why do we not expand the traditional section to the various regional cuisines which are rich in history and offer an amazing diversity of flavours and ingredients? The web is full of sites offering regional Indian variations and it would be great to attract some of that experience here, under one roof, as the site did with the BIR journey.
Could the Traditional section therefore be renamed Regional with sub-groups listing the different regions, e.g. Kashmir, Goa, Sri Lankan (Mmmm beautiful black curries), Pakistan, Afghan etc, etc, etc. There are regional and religious variations on the food of the sub-continent that a lot of people would be unfamiliar with and may enjoy exploring.
How many people know that, for instance, a Dhansak is from the Parsi cuisine and that its origins are Persian? With that knowledge curry aficionados may then delve further and experiment with the Patio type dishes and the other Parsi specialities.
Or that the Kashmiri Pandits eschew garlic and onions and offer variations on otherwise well known dishes.

These are just thoughts that I share with you to see if anyone else would be interested in trying to expand the site, maybe attracting a new group of subscribers, and breath new life into the forum?
T63

[Peripatetic Phil]

]...]My question therefore is why do we not expand the traditional section to the various regional cuisines which are rich in history and offer an amazing diversity of flavours and ingredients? [...] Could the Traditional section therefore be renamed Regional with sub-groups listing the different regions, e.g. Kashmir, Goa, Sri Lankan (Mmmm beautiful black curries), Pakistan, Afghan etc, etc, etc.

Definitely in favour.

How many people know that, for instance, a Dhansak is from the Parsi cuisine and that its origins are Persian?

Probably all those of us old enough to have eaten BIR foot in the late 60s/early 70s, at which time Dhansak (and Pathia) were invariably glossed as being of Parsi origin.

Or that the Kashmiri Pandits eschew garlic and onions[...]

Whence their widespread use of asafoetida/hing as a substitute.
** Phil.

[George]

T63 - It's a fair suggestion but I'm far from sure it's what the forum needs, I've always considered that traditional dishes cane be superior to the peculiar variations found in British curry houses. But that's not the point, The focus of this forum is the latter,. If we move over to a greater consideration of traditional dishes, then we risk losing the distinctive edge, There are many, many sites looking at traditional dishes, so how can we compete?

I'd vote against any expansion of the traditional section of the forum, just like I'd be against special sections for, say, pizza making or KFC recipes, even though it['s good to consider such topics under the 'anything else' section.

[littlechilie]

Hi T63, I also think your idea is a good suggestion and 10 years ago would of endured a strong following, however this is a time of competitive socialmedia YouTube and Instagram. Many people do not want to share their ideas or recipes. The do want to steal them pimp them up and post them for views. Also earn a wage from their channels.

Unfortunately you can see this all over YouTube,  many of the recipes here are still to this day being turned out by somebody in a shiny white pinny and a ebay chefs hat, all without any credit to the original poster.

I also would vote to keep the forum as is, although I would also vote to remove all possible posts concerning random members home dinners such as ham and eggs, pizza and roast potatoes for example.
But that

[madpower]

I am sure cro started going down hill once george had given up his moderator roll,i am sure at least a couple of people who wanted to see the back of him never or very rarely posted again,bring back george i say at least he did care about the forum,members are hoping the forum is not going to die but still dont post,well if you dont post it will die,perhaps the moderator needs to post some interesting topics himself to get people interested and a reason to post,i for one take a look at that days posts and if there are none or nothing i am interested in then i move on, i think the more posts and topics there are then the more new and old members will post,if you want to save the forum post more dont just watch it die and say what a shame.

[littlechilie]

Could Admin move above post and this one into the relevant post I started recently please?
Lc

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=14816.0

[madpower]

you could be waiting a fair while

[George]

I am sure cro started going down hill once george had given up his moderator roll,i am sure at least a couple of people who wanted to see the back of him never or very rarely posted again,bring back george i say at least he did care about the forum,members are hoping the forum is not going to die but still dont post,well if you dont post it will die,perhaps the moderator needs to post some interesting topics himself to get people interested and a reason to post,i for one take a look at that days posts and if there are none or nothing i am interested in then i move on, i think the more posts and topics there are then the more new and old members will post,if you want to save the forum post more dont just watch it die and say what a shame.

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, i was forced out by a bunch of online bullies and trouble makers., some of whom appeared to reform once their mission was complete. They succeeded in kicking up such a fuss that Admin thought it was a majority view and asked me to stand down, in favour of curry hell who was chomping at the bit to take over.  I tried to generate a bit of interest recently by starting a thread about dishes we've failed to crack. The thread failed. Either everybody no longer has any dishes left to crack or the lethargy is so bad, they can't be bothered to talk about it,. Another idea of mine was to attempt to go back to the good old days by somehow starting a few arguments, Those threads always seemed to attract record viewing figures.

[Les]

. Another idea of mine was to attempt to go back to the good old days by somehow starting a few arguments, Those threads always seemed to attract record viewing figures.

Go for it George,  ;D What harm can it do. 
I think that we have gone past the stage of throwing our toy's out of  our prams now, On to a more civilised stage.  so who needs mod's anyway.