why i pick and choose my food conversations

Via angry asian man: Francis Lam & Eddie Huang: Is it Fair for Chefs to Cook Other Cultures' Foods?

It doesn't quite get into the areas/nuances that I'd like- I'm more interested in, frex, the chefs and cuisines that mix outside of the US/Europe- but diasporado foodies talking about food? YES PLEASE. This was, predictably, the part I liked best:

Eddie: Well, the crux of the issue for me is this... Immigrants, my parents and myself included, are exposed to years of ridicule. I was made fun of for my stinky lunch upwards of 10 years. Immigrants of our parents' generation have largely given up any hope that Americans will like their food.

Francis: Word.

Eddie: Then, to have these CIA grads come through, repackage the food, and sell it back to me at a premium is just ludicrous. You made fun of us until we were embarrassed about our food and changed our menus to appease your HORRIBLE taste in shrimp with lobster sauce, now your kid grows up and wants to tell ME what Chinese food is because Bear Stearns sent him to Shanghai for six months? Cue Jim Mora: “We talkin’ bout expats?!?!” F*** OUTTA HERE!

“The Man” may not outright turn countries into colonies anymore, but it’s only because it’s easier to commodify the goods. It relegates foreign people and countries to the role of factories whose sole purpose is to create culture that gets bought and amplified by someone else and they get left hanging. For people like me who have watched Americans cycle through Kung-Fu, The Art of War, Feng Shui, and Kung Pao Chicken (which done right is still a classic) like culture fit for a scenester’s email blasts… you’ll have to excuse my paranoia when an American chef tries to express sincerity about understanding our culture and cuisine. These cultural artifacts may be the butt of ironic jokes today, but they meant something to us.