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.
A competent college would ask the complaining kids to volunteer in the kitchen and train the staff on how to do it better.
change the menu names then
Spicy chicken vegetables
Fresh raw seafood
Chefs sammich with tasty slaw
The last place I would go to for general tso’s chicken or a banh mi would be a school cafeteria. They can’t even get a basic meatloaf right. Those are some mighty high expectations or they just really love to complain ;)
If they don’t like the food in the dining hall, you can always prepare/cook it yourself or go out to eat.
Dining hall food sucks anyway. They expect gourmet meals?
I can hardly blame them. I couldn’t find authentic Tex-Mex in Michigan to save my life, just horrible imitations.
They do have a point about bad food. Its why you never see a Mexican eating at a Taco Bell. I bet the Mexican students avoid the taco bar at the cafeteria like it infected with plague.
Comrade Tso’s Chicken?
"How could they just throw out something completely different and label it as another country's traditional food?" he asks.I hope he never eats at Taco Bell.
If they don’t like the food-fire the food service provider and close the cafeteria-let the bitchy students provide for their delicate little appetites all by themselves.
I’ll bet many of us have memories of hamburger helper, tuna salad sandwiches, ramen noodles, etc as foods du jour cooked in our rooms in our college years rather than eat whatever incarnation of frito pie, hot dogs and beans, mystery meat pattie on a rocklike bun, etc was being sold in the cafeteria-most of us would have killed for a cafeteria serving sushi, general Tso’s chicken, or anything else recognizable as “real” food...
General Grant’s chicken or just pick a General
Growing up, I had friends that lived in Oberlin Township and they WOULD NOT go into town because of the college students. The only time my friend would go into Oberlin was with an “assault” squirt gun. He’d lean out of the passenger window and shoot students with water while yelling “You freak!” Good times.
Whites don’t own anything, only PoC’s do, you waycisss!
I think Belgium is just a Mecca country, period.
If they want real food, go to a real restaurant and pay real money.
Don’t expect your school cafeteria to be international experts.
Oh, the horror
It’s Oberlin. It’s what they do instead of studying.
Waxahachie cultural food super collider!
Is college a place to better yourself so that you can get a gainful career, or is it a place for fine dining?! College campus food sucks … get over it!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.