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Padma Lakshmi Destroys 'Racist' Column That Says Indian Food Is 'Based Entirely On One Spice'

Padma Lakshmi Destroys 'Racist' Column That Says Indian Food Is 'Based Entirely On One Spice'
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Sam Spadafore
By Sam SpadaforeAug 25, 2021
Sam Spadafore
Sam Spadafore (he/they) is a writer, poet, theatre artist, sex educator and activist. Beyond The Social Edge, his writing centers around mental health, trans and queer issues, sex and sexuality. When Sam isn't dismantling gender norms and the patriarchy, you can find them roaming the beaches of Maine with their dog or cooking a delicious meal.
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Padma Lakshmi, actress, model, Top Chef host and author, came down on Gene Weingarten for disrespecting Indian culture and cuisine saying it's "based entirely on one spice."

Weingarten's opinion column is generally humorous.

This week, The Washington Post column titled "You Can't Make Me Eat These Foods" focused on Weingarten's distaste for certain foods and ingredients, like sweet pickles and balsamic vinegar.

However, he also wrote Indian foods are "the only ethnic cuisine in the world insanely based entirely on one spice."

He continued:

"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."

When Padma Lakshmi read the article, she aired her problems with it on Instagram and Twitter.

The Instagram caption read:

"There is truly no need for something like this to be published in 2021 (or ever)."
"It's racist and lazy at best."
"My issue is not this person's performative contrarianism (although it is tedious) or that he didn't enjoy the Indian cuisines he's tasted."
"My problem is in this attempt at a comedic piece he's actually just regurgitating old colonizer tropes, gleefully reducing the culture and country of 1.3 billion people to a (frankly) weak punchline- and that the @washingtonpost published it."


Lakshmi called out The Washington Post for even approving this to be published.


Her tweet garnered the attention of thousands.








@bessbell/Twitter




Lawyer Meena Harris, niece of Vice President Kamala Harris, and writer/actor Mindy Kaling chimed in on Weingarten's piece as well.



Since the immense backlash, The Washington Post has made a correction to the article.

At the top of the column it reads:

"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."

Someone in Lakshmi's comments pointed out Weingarten's since deleted tweet.


He attempted an apology tweet as well.


It's hard to say if this latest attempt was genuine or not.

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