I can see how this probably did irritate people whose grandmothers and great-grandmothers had been making the stuff. Karen's statements do sound like 'I've discovered and improved upon this trashy little dish, and now it's good food that you'll like.'
The Asian-American experts don't agree on what she should have done instead. They do want to have their culture treated with more respect, which is universal among human beings.
Learning from other cultures is intensely valuable, and we all benefit from it. 'Appropriation' is not a valid complaint in my view; but being treated with disrespect by those who are taking things up from you is.
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Agree. Claiming to have 'improved' a dish by making it more palatable to another culture's tastes sounds questionable. Claiming inspiration from it seems more reasonable.
Her critics provide further evidence for my longstanding contention that "cultural appropriation" only means "I am showing off that I, a Yale sophomore, know more about Vietnamese cooking than you, a NASCAR watching mouth-breather, do. Even if you were in Viet Nam for four years."
When people put out a variety of dishes and call it a Smorgasbord I don't get my knickers in a twist. (Hey, I like that line. I think I'll post it. I almost wish I had a Twitter account for that.)
No culture is more appropriated for other purposes in the US than the Christian Church - maybe especially Catholics.
Yes, true. A rich field produces a wealthy crop, but also many weeds.
No culture is more appropriated for other purposes in the US than the Christian Church - maybe especially Catholics.
An astute observation.
Japanese anime is full of Christian / Catholic symbols that have no serious connection to their Christian / Catholic meaning, and sometimes seem to mean radically different things.
Wow . . . I so completely do not care what anyone thinks of how she approached this recipe. Don't like the product? Don't buy it.
I reserve the right to make fun of people who do something ridiculous to an ethnic dish (pineapple pizza comes to mind), but it's not up to me to control who makes it or who eats it, beyond myself.
On the other hand, I stay away from anyone who advertises "healing" foods, not because I have a particular opinion about whether the food is safe, but because the whole topic is beyond tiresome, superstitious twaddle.
Yes, the Karen in question says she has certifications in acupuncture and something called “herbology.”
"Claiming to have 'improved' a dish by making it more palatable to another culture's tastes sounds questionable."
Why? Different cultures do in fact have differences in palate. She's doing a version of congee that's more suitable *to her market*- Western palates. There's nothing inherently wrong with that.
Most Chinese restaurants in America (almost all of which are run by actual ethnic Chinese) sell 'Americanized' Chinese food, both because of ingredient limitations, and because of the market. My Uncle would never order off the menu, because he knew they would make more authentic food if he spoke to them about what they could make that was good and authentic.
There's a ton of Chinese dishes that most Westerners would find disgusting, This isn't surprising, not is it a one way street.
Having lived in China, I can attest that is true. I usually enjoyed any food that I didn’t have any notion of what it was. The more I thought I knew, the less it was what I wanted it to be.
She should have called it "fusion cuisine".
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