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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I look at my Instagram feed and am met with beautifully displayed and watered down versions of Asian, middle eastern and and African cuisines. The girls making these recipes are not immigrants or POC but young, white rich women who “learned to cook in their kitchen and are foodies.”

I look at their recipes and it makes me a little sick. They’re using ethnic spice mixes and combinations of sauces that have so much history and context regarding the regions of the world in which they originate. I think of how white people used to eat pb&j now eat chicken curry and Korean tacos and naan.

As a POC it bothers me that our culinary heritage is discarded while a random white American person takes the basic idea and adopts it and presents it as their own.

So frustrating! [/quote]

Americans often cook Americanized versions of foods from other countries. What’s the issue? Most people in most cultures do this- adapt foods to their tastes.

I would never say my pad kee mow is the best and most authentic version out there. I’m not Thai, I’ve (sadly) never even been to Thailand. But my family likes eating it. I don’t know why it would make anyone sad that people are using new (to them) ingredients and spices in their cooking. [/quote]
Not OP, and I can't figure out what her issue is.

But an issue that is coming up lately with international cusines, especially those from non-Western cultures, is that many white/European-descended chefs are starting to reproduce Americanized versions of traditional dishes without acknowledging their cultural history. Often, these are the same foods that non-white/European-descended authors and immigrants were made fun of for eating. But if a white, blond lady publishes it in the NYT, all of a sudden it's "cool" instead of "gross". Alison Roman is the epitome of this. And many Indian, Chinese, African, etc chefs are irritated by it.

Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday from this perspective, because many of the "traditional" foods are actually Southern soul foods that originated in Black communities. Yet we talk about them like the Pilgrims at them. It's a form of cultural erasure that historically marginalized groups feel acutely. They've been told for centuries that their cultures are inferior...now all of a sudden the supposedly "superior" culture is taking their cultural heritage and passing it off as their own.

Anyway, since this is DCUM the majority of you will reduce this to "get real problems!" or "does this mean I'm a racist for eating spaghetti?"...but maybe some of you will read this and learn a little more about the heritage of the foods you eat. It can be fascinating, and provides more understanding of our rich multi-cultural heritage as well as more knowledge of formerly repressed communities. For example, it was because of a dish someone once cooked on Top Chef that I learned about the history of the Gullah Geechee: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/bj-dennis-gullah-geechee[/quote]

Pp I agree with what you’ve written. I guess I was thinking about this from the perspective of a home cook who in no way monetizes their cooking or tries to take ownership of the recipes. I think it’s great for people to expand on their cooking skills. I also do see how it would be deeply troubling to watch people who made fun of your family’s cooking growing up present themselves as an authority on that same food as an adult. [/quote]

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