Loved this. I used to work with a lot of British Gujaratis, and they gave me a recipe for "Indian pasta" which is so tasty. I'm white but I love spicy food. The world is big enough for every take on cuisine, all of the dishes in the article sound delicious. Who cares if they're not authentic? Italians? Where do you think I learnt to add Marmite to bolognaise sauce from? At least it's not France, which I found the most committed to never changing anything.
I love everything about this post. As a food anthropologist who watched people cook mokoroni (as they called them) in West Africa until they turn into mush, I love the appropriation of the food of others to make it one's own.
In Lisbon when I currently live, the best Italian restaurant is owned and run by a Nepali chef trained in Italy. All the cooks are Nepali, but they cook 'classic Italian'. I wonder however what the staff meals are.
"an Indo-Chinese macaroni dish to students at Delhi University; here, pasta and noodles are tossed together with oil, spices, ketchup and soy sauce?"
- this feels very close to mee goreng (stir-fried egg noodles from the Indian-Muslim community in Malaysia), built on that same sweet–savoury mix of ketchup and soy, cooked into something fast and satisfying.
Loved this. I used to work with a lot of British Gujaratis, and they gave me a recipe for "Indian pasta" which is so tasty. I'm white but I love spicy food. The world is big enough for every take on cuisine, all of the dishes in the article sound delicious. Who cares if they're not authentic? Italians? Where do you think I learnt to add Marmite to bolognaise sauce from? At least it's not France, which I found the most committed to never changing anything.
Brilliant article- I would say quickly though that Italian's are this snobby about their food with other White people too- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-RfHC91Ewc
I love everything about this post. As a food anthropologist who watched people cook mokoroni (as they called them) in West Africa until they turn into mush, I love the appropriation of the food of others to make it one's own.
In Lisbon when I currently live, the best Italian restaurant is owned and run by a Nepali chef trained in Italy. All the cooks are Nepali, but they cook 'classic Italian'. I wonder however what the staff meals are.
Thank you for this great post.
Humans do love to localise other cultures’ foods, clothing, and music and have been doing it forever. I hope we can stop pathologising it.
"an Indo-Chinese macaroni dish to students at Delhi University; here, pasta and noodles are tossed together with oil, spices, ketchup and soy sauce?"
- this feels very close to mee goreng (stir-fried egg noodles from the Indian-Muslim community in Malaysia), built on that same sweet–savoury mix of ketchup and soy, cooked into something fast and satisfying.
really lovely read!
Tadka penne for dinner now