Cultural Appropriation of Food is a thing?

[RedAngie]

I wonder how they'd feel if anyone was insistent on ethnic purity when it comes to restaurant workers. Quite a few Chinese restaurants around here rely on Hispanic employees. Once I was at a dim sum place at the end of lunch, and the employees were already taking lunch together. They did self segregate, but they were eating the same thing.

I've worked with Europeans. Their take isn't so much about authenticity but about being good.

I suppose the oddest fusion was Indian-Chinese at the insistence of some Indian coworkers. It was vaguely Chinese food. Americanized Chinese cuisine would be more recognizable to someone visiting from China than what they served. That didn't mean it didn't serve a purpose. It was more like comfort food for Indian expats.

Authenticity is overrated in my opinion. As long as the food tastes good, I don't care if it's true to its origins.

Just over a year ago DH and I were having lunch with my 85 year old uncle and aunt at a Chinese restaurant in Naples, FL. The waitress was Hispanic. He made the cringe-worthy comment, "They let you work here? You're not Oriental." She just smiled, but was probably rolling her eyes inside.

 

[bcla]

Authenticity is overrated in my opinion. As long as the food tastes good, I don't care if it's true to its origins.

Just over a year ago DH and I were having lunch with my 85 year old uncle and aunt at a Chinese restaurant in Naples, FL. The waitress was Hispanic. He made the cringe-worthy comment, "They let you work here? You're not Oriental." She just smiled, but was probably rolling her eyes inside.

Actually at one of the better dim sum restaurants around here, one of the longest serving servers was Hispanic. She didn't speak Chinese, but her English was fine and she was extremely competent. She knew the restaurant and menu better than nearly anyone else there.

 

[Wendy31]

Once, on our way home from a short trip, we stopped at what we thought was a Mexican restaurant. It was actually a Mexican AND Italian restaurant - you could order tacos or burritos OR lasagna or spaghetti. LOL! And the servers were all Hispanic.

Regarding the tortillas, I'd just be happy to have freshly made tortillas & would think it was cool that someone learned how to make authentic tortillas on a trip to Mexico.

Like someone else mentioned, is pizza next on the "cultural appropriation" list? Because, while there are a couple of Italian restaurants in our area owned by native Italians, there are many more that aren't.

Complaining about this kind of thing only serves to detract from actual, real issues & weakens one's argument/stance.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

It's the Age of Being Offended. Or the Age of Being Offended on Behalf of Others. Dumb and Dumber.

Personally, I think until we collectively decide we are all one race, the Human Race, this nonsense is just going to get worse and worse.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I wonder how they'd feel if anyone was insistent on ethnic purity when it comes to restaurant workers. Quite a few Chinese restaurants around here rely on Hispanic employees. Once I was at a dim sum place at the end of lunch, and the employees were already taking lunch together. They did self segregate, but they were eating the same thing.

I've worked with Europeans. Their take isn't so much about authenticity but about being good.

I suppose the oddest fusion was Indian-Chinese at the insistence of some Indian coworkers. It was vaguely Chinese food. Americanized Chinese cuisine would be more recognizable to someone visiting from China than what they served. That didn't mean it didn't serve a purpose. It was more like comfort food for Indian expats.

I do have to admit, it's rare around here to see anyone working in a Chinese restaurant who isn't Chinese. Almost as rare for non-Mexicans (or at best 2nd gen Americans) working at Mexican restaurants. And really, that seems strange given the very Caucasian makeup (90+%) of this area.

Edit: one of the best Mexican restaurants I've found was staffed almost entirely by pale-faced gringos who spoke little Spanish, and it was in San Antonio to boot LOL

 

[Wendy31]

Oh, & I just remembered!

We have a new-ish Caribbean restaurant in our area.

DH & I ate there one evening, & the owner came to our table to see if we were pleased. When I asked her if she was from the Caribbean, she told me that she was actually from Australia & her husband was from New York. They had visited the Caribbean many times & fell in love w/ the food & culture. Since she had some prior restaurant experience, they decided to open a restaurant serving authentic Caribbean dishes served in the traditional manner w/ the traditional Caribbean spices & flavors.

It never occurred to me that she was appropriating the Caribbean culture.

 

[DisneyOma]

I thought the US was a melting pot? I just don't get the uproar over cultural appropriation in the US. Although I do laugh at the Caucasian kids in our tiny, mostly Caucasian high school, in our mostly Caucasian town trying to act like the non-Caucasian kids in the nearby bigger cities. These are not kids that moved here from the big cities. Just wanna-bes. They'd probably wet their pants if they met a group of kids from those tough places!

 

[bcla]

I do have to admit, it's rare around here to see anyone working in a Chinese restaurant who isn't Chinese. Almost as rare for non-Mexicans (or at best 2nd gen Americans) working at Mexican restaurants. And really, that seems strange given the very Caucasian makeup (90+%) of this area.

In California it's not unusual for help wanted signs at Chinese restaurants in English, Chinese, and Spanish. And sometimes even the kitchen staff.

The big Asian supermarket chains around here are some of the best places to get fresh (and live) seafood. The staff they have there are a combination of Chinese and Hispanic fishmongers. The latter often understand English better. The only guy there who was atypical was a younger guy who seemed to be ethnic Chinese but grew up in the US. And it gets really complicated because a lot of the customers are Spanish speakers.

 

[mummabear]

Oh, & I just remembered!

We have a new-ish Caribbean restaurant in our area.

DH & I ate there one evening, & the owner came to our table to see if we were pleased. When I asked her if she was from the Caribbean, she told me that she was actually from Australia & her husband was from New York. They had visited the Caribbean many times & fell in love w/ the food & culture. Since she had some prior restaurant experience, they decided to open a restaurant serving authentic Caribbean dishes served in the traditional manner w/ the traditional Caribbean spices & flavors.

It never occurred to me that she was appropriating the Caribbean culture.

Apparently you better tell them

Seriously people are just getting ridiculous.

 

[disykat]

I'm surprised at how frequently Disers seem to be able to find obscure, minor issues to get worked up over. It seems to me like a certain percentage of the posters here are really sensitive and look for things to be post about being offended by. I cannot imagine having the time to be perpetually offended at the things that bother other people, much less post about it on a message board, but to each their own, I suppose.

LOL. I see what you did there!

(Not so sure it was intentional, but it's always funny to see people posting to scold people for posting!)

 

[Uncranky Donald]

Cultural Appropriation of Food is a thing?

Nope, nope, ahhhh no, not a thing. Mmmm no...not even a little bit. No.

 

[ronandannette]

And a lot of the chefs on the food net work channel do the same thing. They replicate the recipes where they visited and I guess no one says a word to them. You can probably get the recipes off the internet. Just crazy to me.

Ever hear of cookbooks? I've got "appropriations" of 6 or 7 different cultures sitting on a shelf in my kitchen right now, most actually written, sold and profited-from (gasp) by chefs native to the regions.

 

[penn19]

Lol! People are getting weirder all of the time.

I'm glad you said it. I often think I'm the only one who thinks this.

 

[Gracie09]

Is it is bad that after reading this thread I want to go to Chipotle for lunch to get some "Mexican" food.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

This is a good article on what I feel like is a good argument regarding cultural appropriation of food. Calling something an "Asian chicken salad" because it has an "Asian sauce".

https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/cultural-appropriation-of-food-is-offensive


It's like calling Taco Bell "Mexican". If you've ever been to an authentic Mexican restaurant, you know what Taco Bell is selling ain't Mexican.

What these women did is the opposite. They aren't taking some basic already Americanized food and stamping the word "Mexican" on it. They are using a a recipe they got from members of that culture.

 

[rwdavis2]

I guess Rick Bayliss needs to shut down his place in Disney Springs.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

This is about as much cultural appropriation as if Taco Bell stole the menu from La Hacienda de San Angel.... LOL

 

[wenrob]

Way, way, waaaay back when I was a kid there was this place called Sam's Tacos a short walk through the desert behind my house. Sam was Chinese and the tacos were simple-meat, cheese, avocado and tomato. It's all they served. There wasn't a drop of salsa or hot sauce in the place but every bag full of tacos came with containers of white rice and soy sauce. So even though they didn't have the fancy names (fusion) or PC names (cultural appropriation) it certainly existed even 40 or so years ago and no one thought a single thing about it.

Over by my folks there's a place called George's Italian Deli. Not a single Italian in the place or as far I could tell a guy named George. I sincerely doubt Italians or guys named George are up in arms over this place or even give two craps about it. The world is losing it's damn mind and folks have lost sight of the bigger picture.

 

[cabanafrau]

If it were a thing I'm sure that would be huge news to sociologists.

 

[Diznotyzed]

Portland, Oregon-home of pretentious hipsters and the perpetually offended crowd.

...and plenty of average people like me!