In Asia, it’s often cheaper to buy food outside rather than cooking at home, whereas in Europe, the ratio is completely reversed. Also, culturally, everyone is often taking food and bring it back home.
I can see some reasons that might explain this, such as the cost of labor or stricter health regulations in Europe compared to Asia. But even with these factors in mind, it doesn’t explain it all.
Of course, I understand that it’s not feasible to replicate a model like Thailand’s street food culture in Europe. The regulations and cost of labor would likely make it impossible to achieve such competitive prices. But if we look at a place like Taiwan, for example, where street food is less common and instead, you have more buffet-style restaurants where you can get takeaway or eat on-site for around €3, while cooking the same meal at home might cost between €1.50. The price difference is barely 2x, which is still very far from the situation in Europe.
Why isn’t something like this possible in Europe?
In: Other
Europe rich. SE Asia poor.
If you have money you’ll have time and space. If you have money and time and space you’ll have a nice kitchen. It’s fun to take your abundant time to cook in a nice kitchen. Make what you like the way you like it and feed others in the dining room and it’s great.
If you don’t have money then you won’t have time or space. If you don’t have money or time or space then you won’t have a kitchen. It’s awful to try to cook on a hotplate in a bedroom in a hurry… even worse trying to serve your hot plate special to friends sitting on your bed. So they eat out.
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