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.
> I think Belgium is just a Mecca country, period.
Agreed, they seem to be suffering a mecca-nical difficulty.
When we were totally sick of hamburger helper, tuna and ramen, and actually had a few extra bucks, we would go to a chain place nearby called First Mate-they served battered and fried something they claimed was shrimp oysters and fish, with sides of hushpuppies ff’s and coleslaw-it was seafood in name only, but it had generous helpings, cost $2.99, included a soda or tea, they had a bar that served beer-and it was a change from the dorm food-taste was in the eye of the beholder in those times...
That’s why America is the “melting pot” you idiots. We appropriate everything. We came from all over the world. We are like a pot luck dinner. You bring you dish and if we like it we ask for the recipe. Then we tweak it to our taste. If you want authentic then make it yourself.
Someone should do a video of General Tso standing behind someone in line to get into a Chinese restaurant, like the McLuhan scene in the Wood Allen movie.
When I was in college (and grad school), I had very little disposable time and much more important things to worry about; namely classes and grades.
The Gamecocks are feeling like General Tso’s chicken after this season.
Give the little bastards gruel and nutri-loaf for a week, then tell ‘em they can have some “cultural appropriation” if they shut up and say only “thank you”.
They can pry my crab rangoon from my cold dead hands.
There is a great little Chinese place not far from me that makes the best crab rangoon.
Take all international menu items off the menu and feed the little whiners gruel at every meal.
At least hoops is doing well. (For now)
Many of these self-centered, degenerate students should be thrown out of college...and out of this country. Go back top your “culturally-correct” crappy country, you ingrates.
Odd... I’m usually the 6th or 7th person in line at any given Taco Bell... and the only Caucasian.. and probably the only native Texan at that.
#Houston
Will jump on this as soon as the Miss Universe fiasco is settled. So busy, so little time to right the wrongs. And there is still no bonus money coming this way.
WE STUMP FOR TRUMP
AND CANNOT LOSE WITH CRUZ.
THE TWO ON A TICKET WILL SHOW WHERE TO STICK IT
AMERICA WANTS JUSTICE FOR HER COUNTRY AND PEOPLES.
DESTROY ALL WHO WISH HER DAMAGE...ALL OF THEM!! NO PUNISHMENT IS TOO SEVERE!
MAKE AMERICA GREAT FOR GREAT AMERICANS
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER!
Personally I like Kimchi Wings don’t you?
“Vietnamese student Diep Nguyen”
Vietnamese???
On a student education visa, or 3rd generation USA citizen?
The next time you are out in the West Texas badlands and you see a sign made of plywood with the word TACOs spray painted on it, stop there and enjoy some real food.
Oh, it’s rare, but it happens.
I like Tia Maria, any number of taco / tamale trucks, and some homemade.
But cheap fille has its place too.
The whiners, if of non-European ancestry, should eschew electricity, air travel and indoor plumbing as Cultural Appropriation.
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