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Students Say College's General Tso's Chicken Recipe Is 'Cultural Appropriation'
Eater ^ | Dec 20, 2015 | Brenna Houck

Posted on 12/21/2015 12:50:19 PM PST by Gamecock

Sure, General Tso's chicken is a product of American-Chinese restaurants, but it deserves authentic treatment, according to student at Ohio's Oberlin College. Students at the liberal arts college are dyspeptic over the school's "culturally appropriative" cafeteria menus. In statements to the Oberlin Review, international students bemoan the "gross manipulation" of such "traditional recipes" as General Tso's chicken, sushi, and banh mi.

In one incident, Vietnamese student Diep Nguyen recalls being "disappointed" after encountering a "cheap imitation" banh mi recipe that featured ciabatta bread, pulled pork, and coleslaw in place of a baguette and pickled vegetables. Disappointing indeed. "How could they just throw out something completely different and label it as another country's traditional food?" he asks.

In another gastronomic error, one student found the General Tso's chicken was made with steamed chicken rather than fried and covered in a sauce that was "so weird that I didn't even try." The sushi, too, fell flat with a student who said "the undercooked rice and lack of fresh fish is disrespectful." College junior Tomoyo Joshi tells the paper, "When you're cooking a country's dish for other people, including ones who have never tried the original dish before, you're also representing the meaning of the dish as well as its culture." Adding, "So if people not from that heritage take food, modify it and serve it as 'authentic,' it is appropriative."

Not all students on the campus are convinced that the poorly executed food qualifies as cultural appropriation. Malaysian international student Arala Tian Yoon Teh says the food is more about a "cultural collision." The service operator Bon Appetit also responded to the accusations stating that the company didn't intend to be disrespectful. "Maybe what we should do is describe the dish for what it is as opposed to characterizing it with a specific name," director of business operation and dining services Michile Gross says, adding that she plans to host a meeting with students to discuss their grievances.

The quest for authenticity - whether it exists or not - isn't new. In 2014, a Thai diplomat who was fed up with poor imitation Thai dishes pushed forward a plan to build a robot that would evaluate the validity of Thai food at the chemical level. However, in the case of some menus, it doesn't take a computer to determine whether the food is racist. Last February, Wright State University had some explaining to do after its cafeteria served fried chicken, collard greens, and cornbread on a Black History Month menu.


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KEYWORDS: generaltso
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1 posted on 12/21/2015 12:50:19 PM PST by Gamecock
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#FirstWorldProblem


2 posted on 12/21/2015 12:50:37 PM PST by Gamecock ( Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...Matthew 10:28)
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Comment #3 Removed by Moderator

To: Gamecock
Hey,it's America-we will cook and eat whatever we want.
Exchange students from communist countries need to understand this and STFU.
4 posted on 12/21/2015 12:53:23 PM PST by Farmer Dean (stop worrying about what they want to do to you,start thinking about what you want to do to them)
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To: Gamecock
Here are the ironies:

"place of a baguette".

The Vietnamese "appropriated" the baguette from their French colonial overlords

General Tso's chicken

General Tso's chicken was invented in America.

So looks like Oberlin even attracts whining SJWs types from all over the world. What a reputation you have there Oberlin.

5 posted on 12/21/2015 12:54:03 PM PST by C19fan
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To: Larry Lucido; SaveFerris; FredZarguna; PROCON

6 posted on 12/21/2015 12:54:14 PM PST by Gamecock ( Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...Matthew 10:28)
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To: Gamecock

#ShutUpAndEat


7 posted on 12/21/2015 12:54:46 PM PST by ilgipper
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To: Gamecock
I ve always said that there s nothing as American as Chinese food.

And yeah, someone should put these brats out on the street.

8 posted on 12/21/2015 12:55:18 PM PST by St_Thomas_Aquinas ( Isaiah 22:22, Matthew 16:19, Revelation 3:7)
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To: Gamecock

All these Oriental students walking about in blue jeans, with their brown tinted hair are engaging in cultural appropriation, don’t ya think?


9 posted on 12/21/2015 12:55:52 PM PST by euram
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To: Gamecock

“Students Say College’s General Tso’s Chicken Recipe Is ‘Cultural Appropriation’”

I say it’s delicious.


10 posted on 12/21/2015 12:56:29 PM PST by Politicalkiddo ("How many observe Christ's birthday! How few, his precepts!"- Benjamin Franklin)
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To: Gamecock

“I am General Tso. This is my aide, Colonel Sanders.”

L


11 posted on 12/21/2015 12:56:59 PM PST by Lurker (Violence is rarely the answer. But when it is it is the only answer.)
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To: C19fan
General Tso's chicken was invented in America.

The Search for General Tso (Catch it on Netflix. Fairly entertaining.)

12 posted on 12/21/2015 12:56:59 PM PST by Gamecock ( Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...Matthew 10:28)
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To: Gamecock

However, in the case of some menus, it doesn’t take a computer to determine whether the food is racist.


Food is both sentient and discriminative. Amazing.


13 posted on 12/21/2015 12:56:59 PM PST by Flick Lives (One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast. -- Heinlein)
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To: Gamecock

Wanted

Giant signs put up outside all College Campuses

“SHUT UP YOU SPOILED PETULANT LITTLE BRATS”


14 posted on 12/21/2015 12:57:25 PM PST by MNJohnnie ( Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered)
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To: Gamecock

If they say it in Engrish, they are appropriating, culturally.


15 posted on 12/21/2015 12:57:40 PM PST by Blueflag (Res ipsa loquitur: non vehere est inermus)
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To: Gamecock

They left out the part where the blacks were complaining about the amount of cream used in “black cuisine” and that they are demanding more fried chicken.

Not kidding.


16 posted on 12/21/2015 12:58:13 PM PST by digger48
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To: C19fan

General Tso Chicken was invented in Taiwan and the idea was stolen by a Chinese American Chef.


17 posted on 12/21/2015 12:58:22 PM PST by Rebelbase
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To: Gamecock

if its gonna be this way, everyone of these little shitters better lay off the pineapple and ham pizza or spaghetti with meat sauce, ragu jar sauce and “sketti” nite (ketchup & butter on spaghetti)


18 posted on 12/21/2015 12:58:31 PM PST by Revelation 911
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To: Gamecock

I betcha if you hand one of these snowflakes an ‘authentic’ meal they would say thank you.... then slab a bunch of ketchup all over it.


19 posted on 12/21/2015 12:58:54 PM PST by envisio (I ain't here long... I'm out of napalm and .22 bullets.)
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To: Gamecock

I wish I had known that I was allowed to complain about the mystery meat they were serving in my high school cafeteria. Truth be told, it tasted better than anything my mother ever cooked.


20 posted on 12/21/2015 12:59:56 PM PST by TruthShallSetYouFree (If Hillary's last name were anything but Clinton, she'd already be behind bars.)
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