Washington Post & food columnist slammed for insulting Indian cuisine, forced to apologise

Indians love their food and are proud of the traditional culinary heritage they are propagating to the world, which for the most part is similarly enamoured. However, the same thought wasn't shared by an American columnist who published an abhorrent piece in the Washington Post attacking Indian cuisine and proceeded to garner massive backlash from the Indian community across the globe. Following this, in a rare move acknowledging mainstream Indian opinion, the publication amended the piece whereas the writer issued an apology.

Washington Post slammed for Insulting Indian cuisine, updates article after severe backlash  

Rubbishing the great Indian culinary heritage, American columnist Gene Weingarten in his article titled, “You can’t make me eat these foods,” gave a perspective on what foods he despises, including hazelnuts, and went on to describe Indian cuisine as “based entirely on one spice” that can knock “a vulture off a meat wagon.” Incensed by the article, Indian celebrity chefs, Indian diplomats and lovers of the Desi Indian food stormed social media, demanding an explanation by the Washington Post, a publication that has come to fashion itself as bastion of India-baiting. However, this time, hours after the social media uproar on the article, the Washington Post edited the article and clarified the error. 

In the Washington Post column, Gene had written, “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 ignoramus wrote.

Criticizing Warner on his views, top celebrity chef Padma Lakshmi came down heavily on the Washinton Post on Twitter, where she also inferred a racist or xenophobe connotation. 

In another tweet, she added, “On behalf of 1.3 billion people, kindly f**k off.” She said the writer needed “an education on spices, flavour, and taste,” and offered up her book The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs in another tweet. 

Following Padma Lakshmi, the Indian-origin celebs abroad reacted strongly against it and some even called Gene’s views racial banter. 

Washington Post updates article, now calls Indian cuisine 'vastly diverse'; author apologizes 

After facing huge criticism, the Washington Post on Monday retracted the original post and 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.”

Washington Post columnist Gene Weingarten also apologised on Twitter, claiming that he did not want to be "insulting." People, on the other hand, were not impressed by his defence.

Image: Twitter/ @PadmaLakshmi