Washington Post Columnist Gene Weingarten Sumptuously Trolled on Twitter for Dissing Indian Food

- The humorist issues apology for an Aug. 19 article he wrote saying Indian food is âthe only ethnic cuisine in the world insanely based entirely on one spice,â and tastes like âsomething that could knock a vulture off a meat wagon.â

The Washington Post humor columnist Gene Weingarten has apologized for dissing Indian cuisine and facing the ire of Indians on Twitter. In an Aug.19 article â âYou canât make me eat these foodsâ â Weingarten wrote Indian food is âthe only ethnic cuisine in the world insanely based entirely on one spice.â In the column, he listed several foods he dislikes â Old Bay seasoning, hazelnuts and anchovies, among others.
The illustration at the top of the column depicts a mustached man in a bib turning his nose up at a spoonful of food being offered to him.
âIf you think Indian curries taste like something that could knock a vulture off a meat wagon, you do not like Indian food,â he wrote. âI donât get it, as a culinary principle,â he added. âIt is as though the French passed a law requiring every dish to be slathered in smashed, pureed snails. (Iâd personally have no problem with that, but you might, and I would sympathize).â
In his apology, Weingarten tweeted: âFrom 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.)â
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
The Washington Post also amended the column with a correction to the top and removed the inaccuracies. âA 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,â reads the correction. âIn fact, Indiaâs vastly diverse cuisines use many spice blends and include many other types of dishes. The article has been corrected.â
The apology comes on the heels of a backlash Weingarten faced on Twitter, including from Padma Lakshmi, Mindy Kaling, Meena Harris, Anand Giridhardas, Neal Katyal, Preet Bharara and others. There was no dearth of memes either. Many shared the famous Indian spice box that holds several spices, reiterating that Indian food is made up of a zillion spice combinations. She shared their favorite spice; others shared their favorite food. Some even went to eat at their favorite Indian restaurant, irked by Weingartenâs tweet.
In a series of tweets, Lakshmi slammed Weingartenâs article. âOn behalf of 1.3 billion people, kindly f**k off,â she wrote.
On behalf of 1.3 billion people, kindly f**k off https://t.co/sXfHG1LeoC
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) August 23, 2021
In a follow-up tweet, she wrote: âIs this really the type of colonizer âhot takeâ the @washingtonpost wants to publish in 2021- sardonically characterizing curry as âone spiceâ and that all of India’s cuisine is based on it?â
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
And she followed it up with: âWhat in the white nonsense is this?â
What in the white nonsenseâąïž is this? pic.twitter.com/ciPed2v5EK
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) August 23, 2021
Lakshmi also offered her book âThe Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbs,â to Weingarten as he âclearlyâ needs âan education on spices, flavor, and taste.â
You *clearly* need an education on spices, flavor, and tasteâŠ.
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) August 23, 2021
I suggest starting with my book âThe Encyclopedia of Spices & Herbsâ:https://t.co/DARIJ1olqf
âEven Columbus knew it was more than one spice,â tweeted Meena Harris.
In another tweet, she asked: âApropos of absolutely nothing name your ONE favorite Indian spice. Iâll go first: asafoetida.â
To which Mindy Kaling replied: âI love fenugreek! There are so many spices in this wonderful cuisine!â
In a separate tweet, Kaling wrote: âYou donât like a cuisine? Fine. But itâs so weird to feel defiantly proud of not liking a cuisine. You can quietly not like something too.â
Neal Katyal, the former Acting Solicitor General of the United States, jumped in on the Twitter bandwagon as well. âMaybe some @washingtonpost columnists have the equivalent of tenure and can just write whatever stupid drivel they wake up thinking about (with no editors or fact checks). One spice? What an embarrassment.â
Maybe some @washingtonpost columnists have the equivalent of tenure and can just write whatever stupid drivel they wake up thinking about (with no editors or fact checks). One spice? What an embarrassment.
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) August 23, 2021
Replying to Katyal, Preet Bharara, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York wrote: âOne spice to rule them all, Neal!â
One spice to rule them all, Neal!
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) August 23, 2021
In another tweet, Bharara wrote: âSorry, I am not having dinner with this guy,â alluding to his dinner with international affairs professor Tom Nichols, who had earlier written that Indian food âis terrible and we pretend it isnât.â This June, Bharara took Nichols to dinner at Priyaka Coopraâs New York City restaurant Sona. Not only did he manage to convert Nichols, but the two raised $128,538 for COVID-19 relief efforts in India.
Journalist, podcaster, and sports activist Shireen Ahmad tweeted: âI pride myself on my Pakistani cooking. I also love South Indian, and fusion dishes. That you got paid to write this tripe, and boldly spew your racism is deplorable. May your rice be clumpy, roti dry, your chilies unforgivable, your chai cold, and your papadams soft.
I pride myself on my Pakistani cooking. I also love South Indian, and fusion dishes. That you got paid to write this tripe, and boldly spew your racism is deplorable.
— Shireen Ahmed- CanWNT Stan (@_shireenahmed_) August 23, 2021
May your rice be clumpy, roti dry, your chilies unforgivable, your chai cold, and your papadams soft.
âThis is amazing except that I like clumpy rice,â replied Neil Makhija, executive director of IMPACT, to Ahmadâs tweet.
This is amazing except that I like clumpy rice
— Neil Makhija (@NeilMakhija) August 23, 2021
Vikas Navratna, a scientist at UMich, who describes himself on his Twitter handle as âone of those annoying food & drink enthusiasts,â tweeted: âHey @geneweingarten I threw together some spices & powders from my pantry with their Hindi names for your quick referral. I regret to inform you that this is just a partial repertoire. This is a good start. But hey! It is never too late to start learning about #indianspices.
Hey @geneweingarten I threw together some spices & powders from my pantry with their Hindi names for your quick referral. I regret to inform you that this is just a partial repertoire. This is a good start. But hey! It is never too late to start learning about #indianspices. pic.twitter.com/NnEhXtXx77
— Vikas Navratna (@vikasnavaratna) August 24, 2021
Journalist and author Sadanand Dhume also chimed in: â@geneweingarten: Indian food is âthe only ethnic cuisine in the world insanely based entirely on one spice.â Me: I wish!â
.@geneweingarten: Indian food is âthe only ethnic cuisine in the world insanely based entirely on one spice.â
— Sadanand Dhume (@dhume) August 23, 2021
Me: I wish! pic.twitter.com/QKjttwjbIJ
Author Anand Giridhardas, in his tweet, wrote: â@geneweingarten thinks Indian food is terrible because it is entirely based on one spice. Which is basically the opposite of the truth.â
Former FBI agent and now a senior lecturer at Yale, Asha Rangappa tweeted: âThis is even dumber than people saying they donât like Indian food because they donât like âcurry.â A curry is a masala, which is a *combination* of spices. There are tons of masalas. Which one?â
Ramesh Ponnuru, a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote: âIndian food is great. If Gene Weingarten doesn’t like it, that’s his loss. It is sufficiently popular not to need an indigent defense.â
Indian food is great. If Gene Weingarten doesn't like it, that's his loss. It is sufficiently popular not to need an indignant defense.
— Ramesh Ponnuru (@RameshPonnuru) August 24, 2021
Vipin Narang, Frank Stanton Professor of Nuclear Security and Political Science at MIT and a nonresident scholar at Carnegie Endowment Nuclear Policy Program also weighed in. âAnd on @geneweingarten trolling, it’s not his total idiocy that’s the problem, it’s the casual âeww your food smellsâ racism that every Indian American kid of my generation had to endure,â he tweeted. âWe used to nervously laugh it off, embarrassed of our roots. But no longer. I’m not laughing.â
Celebrated author Salman Rushdie shared his two cents as well. âI just heard about @geneweingarten for the first time in my life,â he tweeted. âWhat he doesnât know about Indian food would fill an encyclopedia. I plan never to hear about him again.â
I just heard about @geneweingarten for the first time in my life. What he doesnât know about indian food would fill an encyclopedia. I plan never to hear about him again.
— Salman Rushdie (@SalmanRushdie) August 24, 2021
However, journalist Amit Varma had a different perspective. âPoor @geneweingarten wrote a humour piece, and not only did touchy Indian readers take it seriously, so did his publication, issuing this correction. A whole genre of humour writing is just going to die like this!
Poor @geneweingarten wrote a humour piece, and not only did touchy Indian readers take it seriously, so did his publication, issuing this correction.
— Amit Varma (@amitvarma) August 24, 2021
A whole genre of humour writing is just going to die like this!
Here's the piece itself btw: https://t.co/zgm2TSfV4V pic.twitter.com/LotPWbRxBB