Washington Post columnist disses Indian food as ‘based entirely on one spice’

Team Udayavani, Aug 26, 2021, 1:12 PM IST

The column, published by Washington Post described Indian food as “based entirely on one spice”, and can knock off “a vulture off a meat wagon.” It was criticized by celebrity chefs, top diplomats, and people of Indian descent on Twitter.

The column was titled, “You can’t make me eat these foods,” written by Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten. He focuses on various foods he refuses to eat and why.

“If you think Indian curries taste like something that could knock a vulture off a meat wagon, you do not like Indian food. I don’t get it, as a culinary principle,” he added. “It is as though the French passed a law requiring every dish to be slathered in smashed, pureed snails. (I’d personally have no problem with that, but you might, and I would sympathize),” the column read.

Model-television host and Top Chef judge Padma Lakshmi took to Twitter and wrote, “On behalf of 1.3 billion people kindly f**k off.” Saying that he clearly needed “an education on spices, flavor, and taste,”

Is this really the type of colonizer 'hot take' the @washingtonpost wants to publish in 2021- sardonically characterizing curry as "one spice" and that all of India's cuisine is based on it? pic.twitter.com/suneMRD8vs

— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) August 23, 2021

The tweet garnered a lot of reactions, and many joined in.

https://twitter.com/arvienfeu/status/1430686833063702529

People are defending this article with “it’s humour, relax”. That doesn’t make it less racist or at all funny. No matter how self-deprecating you are, it’s bad/not humour if you’re punching down. https://t.co/q7UJhijz6F

— Amanda (@mooglebear) August 25, 2021

My mom's carefully arranged box of atleast 12 different spices would like to have a word! 😂 Sit down Gene. We don't need that 'colonizer pov'. https://t.co/mUtiP1tquK

— Priyankar/Joy 🌈🧬 (@PriyankarDe_GC) August 25, 2021

Yeah. One spice that they made and called it 'Curry powder' while it doesn't exist in the OG Indian cuisine. https://t.co/eEowKnotem

— Ish✨ (@ouitresbien) August 25, 2021

Man really be putting just salt in his food and calling Indian cuisine based on one spice.@geneweingarten you might as well mention the name of the spice no. https://t.co/eEowKnotem

— Ish✨ (@ouitresbien) August 25, 2021

Shame on the @washingtonpost for publishing this colonizer mess. Also, Indian food literally has 500 spices. Go home Mayo sandwich. https://t.co/WlPtmoxD0h

— ☠️ (@amskeez47) August 25, 2021

https://twitter.com/NRaishwarya/status/1430301868081782791

is @washingtonpost 's opinion insanely based on 1 ill-researched writer? 1 Spice? Seriously? Have u even eaten indian food to say something that dumb? U think ancient Romans & Greeks came again &again for 1 spice? Columbus, Vasco DaGama sailed oceans seeking 1 spice? Seriously? https://t.co/y1XPASx7sh

— Gautam Kaviraj (@kaviraj_gautam) August 24, 2021

Wait!what? ONE SPICE?
Which one? cumin? clove? coriander? cinnamon? turmeric? fenugreek? cardamom? etc… https://t.co/SAtvpuXCNS

— Nikita Arora (@aroranikkii) August 24, 2021

Interested in Indian cooking? One thing to note is that to us, curry is not just anything. It’s a plant, leaves. Secondly, if there is one unifying ingredient, I’d probably say ghee, also called thoupe or clarified butter. Third, everyone’s spice dhabas look very different! pic.twitter.com/obKNgX5zZp

— Angilee Shah (@angshah) August 23, 2021

Later Washington Post updated the column. “A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Indian cuisine is based on one spice, curry and that Indian food is made up only of curries, types of stew. In fact, India’s vastly diverse cuisines use many spice blends and include many other types of dishes. The article has been corrected.”

Even Weingarten  tweeted an apology, saying he did not mean to be “insulting.” However, people were less than impressed by his defensive approach.

From start to finish plus the illo, the column was about what a whining infantile ignorant d—head I am. I should have named a single Indian dish, not the whole cuisine, & I do see how that broad-brush was insulting. Apologies.(Also, yes, curries are spice blends, not spices.)

— Gene Weingarten (@geneweingarten) August 23, 2021