Baked in racism

[Gob]

The Great British Bake Off has been accused of 'borderline racism' by viewers.



During Tuesday night's episode, contestants decided to cook Chinese treats for 'Japanese week', with one amateur baker styling her first creations to look like Pandas - leaving fans of the Channel 4 show offended.

For their first challenge, contestants were tasked with creating Japanese steamed buns, but rather than opting for traditional Hirata buns, the bakers chose to go for Chinese, Indian and American-style fillings.

Japanese Hirata buns, otherwise known as 'bao' in China, usually contain pork chashu, tempura, karaage, or other fillings.

Viewers were bemused when some contestants opted for Chinese style fillings, while others went for Indian and American takes on the classic Japanese dish.

Hermine even styled her 'chicken nikuman' buns into Pandas, which originate from central China.

Nikuman is the Japanese name for the Chinese baozi. It is a kind of chūka man, also known in English as pork buns.

Taking to Twitter, those who tuned into the show voiced their fury, with one enraged viewer tweeting: 'I am SO offended by tonight's #GBBO So ignorant and racist. You'd think in the age - and climate - they'd do better.

'It not only insulted us Japanese, they've insulted the Chinese - and everyone's intelligence.'

Another fan tweeted: 'I had hopes for Japanese week but generalising all Asian food with Japan feeds the racist narrative that all Asians are the same, which is not cool in any time but especially now as East Asians are being racially abused due to Coronavirus.'

'Why is everyone cooking Chinese on Japanese week? This is so rude/racist #gbbo.' added another.

'It’s JAPANESE week, people. Not CHINESE Week. #GBBO,' pointed out another fan of the show.

[Big RR]

Now I'm ashamed, I had German mustard, Italian ham, and Swiss (even worse, domestic Swiss) Cheese on French bread over the weekend. I regret the offense of my sandwich gave, or might have given, to so many; I'll stick to the ingredients of one country alone in the future.

As for the show, I haven't seen it, so I don't know what the contestants are supposed to do, and perhaps combining cuisines is not within the rules, but that is the business of the show. Most cooking shows I have seen encourage contestants to be creative, which is what these people appear to havebeen. To see it as an act of racism is just silly IMHO; kind of like Chinese people saying the Italians stole their culture by turning their noodles into Italian pasta.

[Gob]

Nailed it mate. The task was to make 8 identical steamed buns, the filling was up to the competitors. There was no stipulation for it to be a traditional or classic Japanese filling.

The previous week someone had made a pasty, but filled it with samosa style filling. How fucking racist is that?

[Gob]

[Crackpot]

Cultural appropriation does exist but is often misused by well meaning dipshits looking to feel superior to someone else. Cultural Appropriation is when something from another culture is used but no reference or creator is given to the culture that created it. Such as renaming a dish or a fashion from their traditional name to something more “marketable”. Sort of like selling a pastie as “Miguel’s tasty meat pies”.

[wesw]

no more baseball caps, unless you are american

[Crackpot]

See haldi doodh

[Sue U]

I've said it before: I'm a big fan of cultural appropriation. It is how civilization advances, and how we have culture at all.

That said, there are some things that are better left untouched by others. Right off the bat, I would think religious ritual is a whole category best left alone if you're not an actual practitioner.

But having your buns stuffed with someone else's filling is okay.
\
\
\
\
\
\
Wait, that didn't come out right ...

[Burning Petard]

I must say IMNSHO, cultural appropriation is alot like pornography--very difficult to legally define, but I know it when I see.

Baseball caps and blue jeans on ordinary youth in Korea are not Cultural Appropriation.

Most of the songs in the Disney cartoon movie "The Lion King" are Cultural Appropriation

snailgate

[Big RR]

While I am certain that there would be things I would consider cultural appropriation, the sing-songy lion king songs are no more cultural appropriation of African culture than Tea for Two Cha Cha is an appropriation of Spanish or Latin American Culture. And even if the songs weren't Disneyfied drek, I still wouldn't see them as cultural appropriation; music is inherently something that builds on what came before, with many operas, ballets, and orchestral/choral works incorporating themes from many other cultures, and it runs both ways.

[ex-khobar Andy]

A UK channel was promoting a woodworking competition in the style of Bake Off - at the end of the series of challenges the top carpenter/carver/joiner would be crowned "Best in Britain." They had to cancel it after filming a few episodes because the guy who apparently emerged as the best was covered in tattoos including some that were clearly Nazi inspired. 88 for example. He told them that it was the date his father died; but after it was found that his dad was far from dead, that excuse was whittled away.

https://deadline.com/2020/10/sky-histor ... /#comments

[Gob]

That's Sky TV , it's not British.

[BoSoxGal]

That's Sky TV , it's not British.

Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is the UK's largest pay-TV broadcaster with 12.5 million customers as of 2018[2] and its digital satellite TV platform was the UK's most popular digital TV service until it was overtaken by Freeview in April 2007.[citation needed] Sky's flagship product is Sky Q and its flagship channels are Sky One and Sky Atlantic.

[Gob]

I meant British as in one of our publicly owned services.

[BoSoxGal]

It’s a UK channel as Andy asserted. Same as HBO is a USA channel. Sorry about the assumptions you made.

[Sue U]

While I am certain that there would be things I would consider cultural appropriation, the sing-songy lion king songs are no more cultural appropriation of African culture than Tea for Two Cha Cha is an appropriation of Spanish or Latin American Culture. And even if the songs weren't Disneyfied drek, I still wouldn't see them as cultural appropriation; music is inherently something that builds on what came before, with many operas, ballets, and orchestral/choral works incorporating themes from many other cultures, and it runs both ways.

This is true of virtually all the arts.

[Big RR]

I'm sure you're right Sue. Knowledge in all areas as well.