I like how he can list all these neat little factoids about India but fail to even understand what the word Curry even means. This doesn't really even account for the Anglo interpretation of what this word has become or even the history of what even is a "curry." Just smooth brain shit all around, well done Gene 👍 https://twitter.com/AnandWrites/status/1429802465055096842

  • LoudMuffin [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    What the fuck do white Americans even want to eat all day? This country would be an absolute wasteland without all the ethnic food?

    What are you gonna do, eat your Oreos and shitty microbrews?

    • JoesFrackinJack [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      Listen, I'm embarrassed to admit this but I've had many white people in my life insist on doing some of the worst possible culinary mistakes of all time. Overcooking everything, never using seasoning, even salt on veggies, never taking the time to properly defrost things, like microwaving frozen ground meat and literally partially cooking it because they didn't pay attention or just don't understand how defrosting works or just simply planning ahead. I've seen people insist things are supposed to be bland which is why stuff like ketchup, ranch, just mayo or some other sauce is needed to enjoy things.

      One time I made real eggs benedict for mom instead of that packet stuff and she liked it but couldn't grasp that Hollandaise sauce wasn't just some thing McCormick invented that has always been sold in a packet.

      It's just a very very deep disconnect of what even is food, what's in it, what goes into making it and how it came to be. A lot of people seem to almost take pride in being ignorant about everything and food is definitely a big one. It's fine not to like things, but it's another to never ever want to do better, to explore flavors and maybe even learn a little bit of history and culture. It can be maddening to me, I really think sharing food with others is one of the greatest things people can ever do with each other.

      • LoudMuffin [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        As an American with full Mexican ancestry I'm more confused as to why Mexico has an enormous, wide ranging food culture that still exists today with a myriad of signature dishes and regional variations that are immediately recognizeable whereas checks notes

        the USA has

        New England Clam Chowder Hamburgers Corn Dogs Grits Texas Barbecue (!?!) Cajun

        It seems sometimes like there was an emergent regional culture ages ago but I have to wonder if the settler colonial mindset is inherently sterilizing or something. I've seen it in the attitudes around the white people I've known growing up back in my de facto segregated hometown, a lot of them seem to absolutely fucking terrified of anything "foreign", to the point where you have grown ass women screaming at you for speaking Spanish as a child.

        This place is weird, like I saw an ad for a tiki bar or something the other day and I made the connection between a post I saw talking about how stuff like tiki is just an outgrowth of colonialism and how they only seem to be able to enjoy a foreign culture at a distance: see the litany of Taco Bells and Chipotles dotting the landscape (which is itself an artifact of capitalism commodifying culture itself, but I still think there is a connection to be made ...)

        • Dingdangdog [he/him,comrade/them]
          ·
          edit-2
          3 years ago

          I mean barbeque is pretty diverse but it's by no means a white food.

          Probably the most unique food type we have here but it came about from black slaves for the most part.

          • fuckwit [none/use name]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Yeah, I disagree with the Mexcan comrade. America has unique, good tasting food. Cajun, Tex-Mex, Mid-Atlantic seafood, I can't think of anything else but I'm sure it exists.

            • LoudMuffin [he/him]
              ·
              3 years ago

              That's the thing though, Tex-Mex came from Mexicans and United Statesians mingling when the latter wasn't busy abusing/genociding the former, Cajun (IIRC) is the confluence of multiple cultures including that of African Americans

              It's not that we don't, but when I see rants like the one in the article I have to assume that a lot of these guys would have been perfectly fine with none of those groups existing or ever coming anywhere close to the country.

              I just rage because I see white dudes from the midwest talking about how much they love tacos while talking/implying about how Mexican Americans should GTFO and uninstall America

              you either want the benefits of being a melting pot or you don't, and if you don't enjoy your lack of 11 special herbs and spices

              • fuckwit [none/use name]
                ·
                3 years ago

                Trust me, I understand you completely and the sentiment extends to libs who 'appreciate the food'. I went to eat at an Indian restaurant the other day, it was full to the brim with white people. Literally 3 tables away from me some patrons were throwing racial slurs about me (they though I was black). I was getting racially abused as an Indian, for being black, in an Indian restaurant. brainworms shit lmao If it were up to America, there'd be nothing but boiled potato and dry turkey being served for 3 meals a day.

        • MarxMadness [comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          It seems sometimes like there was an emergent regional culture ages ago but I have to wonder if the settler colonial mindset is inherently sterilizing or something.

          Chains are the way to really make money in the restaurant business. They're probably what flattened out a lot of regional culinary differences in the U.S.

        • gobble_ghoul [he/him]
          ·
          edit-2
          3 years ago

          Might have to do with the fact that the natives of the US were largely displaced and replaced by Europeans, whereas Mexico retained a lot more indigenous influence. Colonization is inherently sterilizing in the sense that there is a leveling of cultural differences between colonizing peoples that necessarily leads to less diversity than the cultures of populations that have been settled in an area for a relatively much longer period of time. It's only with time, distance, and relative lack of communication and population movement that colonizing/conquering cultures can develop similar diversity to what existed beforehand. You see similar phenomena with the diversity of language (which is heavily intertwined with culture) and biology - diaspora populations tend to be more homogeneous than long settled ones.

          • Poison_Ivy [comrade/them]
            ·
            3 years ago

            whereas Mexico retained a lot more indigenous influence.

            It helps that some Mexican political leaders, political movements and even Presidents in some capacity embraced aspects of Indigenous culture and identity as a means to create a Mexican identity separate from Spain's and France's cultural nexus.

      • OgdenTO [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Look you can't blame them, historically food hasn't been an important piece of culture, community, jobs, resources, responsibilities, and wasn't and isn't crucial to the survival of each individual human and living thing. So I get it, there's no reason to learn anything about food.

      • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I always find it so weird. YOU EAT AT LEAST ONCE A DAY! You should get good at making food cause it makes every day of your life better.

      • zeal0telite [he/him,they/them]
        ·
        3 years ago

        I still remember I want to have Coronation Chicken but without the fruit in it and replace it with Jalapeños.

        One of my friends was like "you know you can just make it and it's like 3 ingredients" and sure enough it's chicken, mayonnaise and curry paste, and then the fruit which I replaced. Turned out better than the store bought stuff.

        I've also made Prawn Cocktail as well. Been meaning to make homemade mayonnaise at some point though, never tried.

        • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Homemade mayonnaise is super easy. Same with vegan mayo. It takes less than five minutes.

          • zeal0telite [he/him,they/them]
            ·
            3 years ago

            I've basically just never had the ro om in the fridge and never really needed mayonnaise for anything.

            • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
              ·
              3 years ago

              You can make like, a bowl at a time. It also tastes way better if it's home made.

                • GalaxyBrain [they/them]
                  ·
                  3 years ago

                  For vegan mayo you substitute the egg for the water from a can of chickpeas, that stuff is a crazy good whipping agents. Then just some olive oil, lemon and spiced

      • sooper_dooper_roofer [none/use name]
        ·
        edit-2
        3 years ago

        It’s just a very very deep disconnect of what even is food, what’s in it, what goes into making it and how it came to be.

        You see this theme all the time. It's like they don't understand the fundamentals of what makes something.

        They unironically think we can "go to and terraform mars" when the fucking sahara desert still exists

        • Poison_Ivy [comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          when the fucking sahara desert still exists

          Ehhh the Sahara is pretty important for the fertilization of the Amazon Rainforest, don't wanna get rid of that

      • Ithorian [comrade/them, null/void]
        ·
        3 years ago

        And American vegetarian food barely exist outside of substitute animal products. Even the vegetable sides are basically flavorless.

    • Quaxamilliom [comrade/them]
      ·
      3 years ago

      The whitest place I've been to my whole life was Portland, Oregon. The food there was so fucking bland you'd think the people all had a deadly allergy to anything more than a pinch of salt and pepper.

      • JoesFrackinJack [he/him]
        hexagon
        ·
        3 years ago

        Portland was one of the original west coast white flight/KKK towns too :soviet-hmm:

    • YouKnowIt [he/him]
      ·
      3 years ago

      The only spice a god-fearing American needs or wants is salt on a fried breadcrumb shell