This is good. This, a little unclear: "It almost always implies a dominant culture stealing, snatching, taking something by force from those that have been subjected to colonialisation, extraction, economic subjugation, and, in the case of African cultures, enslavement." If a country such as Japan colonizes Taiwan - as was done in the past - and mandates that Japanese food be made by the Taiwanese (and the mainland Chinese when they colonized China) is that cultural appropriation? Or colonization and enslavement?
This was beautiful and so great to learn a bit more about your background. I am always curious how one gets to becoming a food writer, the stories are often fascinating and come from journeys of experimentation rather than expertise (atleast from the get go).
I really appreciated the nuanced way in which you define cultural appropriation. As an Indian I can only speak from my own experience that I LOVE when someone cooks Indian food or even gives it a go. I’m always wishing the best for them and cheering them on from the sidelines. The issue is when you call it something it’s blatantly not, like cooking Masoor Dal and saying it’s Dahl Makhani. Or when you make money without giving the original community any due credit.
I suppose a lot of the issues I see come from misrepresenting the "reimagined" food as representative of the culture. That is, whilst there's nothing inherently wrong with "vegan, triple carb pitta bread wraps", nor is there anything inherently wrong with taking flavour influences from the Indian subcontinent, to *CALL* it a biryani is an attempt - intentional or otherwise - to displace the cultural representation of those who originated it, and miseducate others about that culture which has so often been overlooked or exploited in the past.
It seems like the simplest thing in the world to just *not* call your food experiments by some pre-existing name whose origin, cultural significance and historical impact you're not personally intimate with. Even just logically, it's nonsensical: I'm not gonna invent some new form of water transportation and call it a "car", so why should food be any different?
This is a very well written and couldn't get straighter to the point article. Some of us have so been brainwashed by celebrity chefs and their so called expertise we let them get away with Divinity and think a twist on things is not a problem. Just today I told a friend who found no issue with Jerk Rice or flavoured jerk rice without understanding its more than about seasoning but a history and someone capitalizing on a culinary history which originated in a fight against enslavement, genocide and colonization!! Stakeholder consultation, acknowledgement of that history and culture and reinvestment of some profits back into the the source community should be a must and most times its not. I was glad in this case the Chef had the wisdom to get advice on the issue to continuously improve, acknowledge and not offend and hopefully give back
This is good. This, a little unclear: "It almost always implies a dominant culture stealing, snatching, taking something by force from those that have been subjected to colonialisation, extraction, economic subjugation, and, in the case of African cultures, enslavement." If a country such as Japan colonizes Taiwan - as was done in the past - and mandates that Japanese food be made by the Taiwanese (and the mainland Chinese when they colonized China) is that cultural appropriation? Or colonization and enslavement?
This was beautiful and so great to learn a bit more about your background. I am always curious how one gets to becoming a food writer, the stories are often fascinating and come from journeys of experimentation rather than expertise (atleast from the get go).
I really appreciated the nuanced way in which you define cultural appropriation. As an Indian I can only speak from my own experience that I LOVE when someone cooks Indian food or even gives it a go. I’m always wishing the best for them and cheering them on from the sidelines. The issue is when you call it something it’s blatantly not, like cooking Masoor Dal and saying it’s Dahl Makhani. Or when you make money without giving the original community any due credit.
Thanks for an excellent read
This was an excellent read, thankyou.
I suppose a lot of the issues I see come from misrepresenting the "reimagined" food as representative of the culture. That is, whilst there's nothing inherently wrong with "vegan, triple carb pitta bread wraps", nor is there anything inherently wrong with taking flavour influences from the Indian subcontinent, to *CALL* it a biryani is an attempt - intentional or otherwise - to displace the cultural representation of those who originated it, and miseducate others about that culture which has so often been overlooked or exploited in the past.
It seems like the simplest thing in the world to just *not* call your food experiments by some pre-existing name whose origin, cultural significance and historical impact you're not personally intimate with. Even just logically, it's nonsensical: I'm not gonna invent some new form of water transportation and call it a "car", so why should food be any different?
Thanks, again, for this read!
This is a very well written and couldn't get straighter to the point article. Some of us have so been brainwashed by celebrity chefs and their so called expertise we let them get away with Divinity and think a twist on things is not a problem. Just today I told a friend who found no issue with Jerk Rice or flavoured jerk rice without understanding its more than about seasoning but a history and someone capitalizing on a culinary history which originated in a fight against enslavement, genocide and colonization!! Stakeholder consultation, acknowledgement of that history and culture and reinvestment of some profits back into the the source community should be a must and most times its not. I was glad in this case the Chef had the wisdom to get advice on the issue to continuously improve, acknowledge and not offend and hopefully give back