[fluoridation]

The point of a word is to convey meaning with a short string of sounds. The meaning of a word referring to a dish would normally describe the taste of the dish and what it's made of in general terms, because as you've pointed out, recipes are subject to individual variation. To say that a restaurant should not serve a dish called "carbonara" made with French cheese to me sounds similar to saying that an Italian carpenter should not sell a mahogany table and call it "tavolo in legno", because they don't grow mahogany in Italy. Who cares where the ingredients come from if the dish tastes good?

[cwnyth]

Great analogy. Why is it only food that gets this treatment? Are Italian clothes only made from Italian fabrics, grown from Italian plants? Is every part of an Italian car sourced and made completely within Italy?

But people have an irrational desire treat food as some sacred, immutable artifact.

[ciupicri]

Because not all cheese is the same.

[fluoridation]

Your point being?

[ciupicri]

The cheese you'll find in a typical French store or village will probably not be the kind required to make carbonara.

[fluoridation]

I had no idea the Italian government had regulations on what ingredients may be used to make "carbonara". /s