My French cooking teacher had a saying something along the lines of "Tradition is the last bad performance."

He is in fact quite traditional, but he understands the basic principle: If there was a significant migration from a famed food region to "here", what would they do to adapt, to interpret the spirit of their beloved dishes?

Anyone who can't do that, doesn't understand what they're cooking. He taught me a brilliant bouillabaisse, by the way, structured around principles rather than ingredients.