When It Comes to Food, Is “Good” All Relative?

Pizza. Bagels. Lobster rolls. To many, many people, there’s a right way to make ’em — and that’s the only good way.
I mean, don’t try to pass off a high-quality, mass-produced, packaged bagel to a New York bagel aficionado, you know? But someone who’s grown up in, say, the Midwest (or the South or wherever — not calling anyone out here!) might consider that same bagel the best bagel ever.

This recent NY Times Magazine article got me thinking about this, because, well, I did grow up in the Midwest and I fully enjoyed the bagels I got from a place called Big Apple Bagels. Were they authentic New York bagels? I’m sure not. But they were delicious, and even though I’ve since enjoyed many a true New York bagel (oh, Ess-a-Bagel, you make my heart sing), I don’t find the non-NYC bagels I get down here in Florida any less delicious. But some people would probably find that statement just as contentious as me suggesting peas in guacamole.
This basic discussion comes up pretty frequently for me in the summer and I show up at a BBQ with some veggie burgers in hand. “Are those any good?” people ask. And, generally, my answer is, “I like them!” Because while I truly do — some veggie burgers are, in my opinion, better than any beef patty I ever ate before I went veg — the fact is that they do taste different.
But different doesn’t mean that one is necessarily better than the other, does it?
What do you think? If there’s an original or famous version of a food, does that mean other versions are automatically inferior? Or does it not really matter to you — if you like it, you like it? —Kristen