This brings up a major point. There is no such thing as "authentic Chinese" or "authentic Indian" food, insofar as those cultures are in no way, shape, or form monolithic - there are regions and sub-cultures under the national banner. Heck, even with Italian food - what you authentically in Rome is not the same as what you see in Venice! And time is also an issue - I can prepare for you an authentic Italian dish... from the 1400s, translated directly from the cookbook of the Pope's personal chef, and you'd not recognize it as "Italian food".
Humans have this thing they can do, called "learning". Sometimes, we are pretty good at it. A guy from Mexico City can learn how to prepare the best, most proper Sichuan food there is, if someone will teach him.
Sorry for the snarky tone on that, but a lot of people in the culinary arts go to great lengths to learn what 'real' food is. While the short-order cook at the pizza place probably hasn't done much, so I think we have to be careful considering how often something is, or isn't, authentic.