{"id":11710,"date":"2021-07-16T11:54:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/?p=11710"},"modified":"2021-07-16T11:58:20","modified_gmt":"2021-07-16T14:58:20","slug":"ms-sophie-durocher-stop-talking-about-exotic-cuisine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/2021\/07\/16\/ms-sophie-durocher-stop-talking-about-exotic-cuisine\/","title":{"rendered":"Ms. Sophie Durocher: “Stop talking about exotic cuisine”!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Ms. Sophie Durocher made Bambi laugh this morning. Below is her article published in the Journal de Montr\u00e9al<\/em>, followed by a quick English translation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was somehow ironic for Bambi to read this article immediately after hearing dramatic news from her birth country, which is traditionally known for its delicious food. Sadly, because of hyperinflation, an increasing number of Lebanese people cannot afford to purchase food anymore (half of them are under the poverty line). What a contrast between this harsh reality and the article of some American food columnists. From the comfort of their offices, the latter are seriously promoting banning words related to food… in the name of anti-racism, as you can see below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, before sharing Ms. Durocher’s article, which is a satire of the above, Bambi feels like making a silly suggestion: If we ban the word “exotic<\/em>“, can we replace it with “erotic<\/em>” :)? Yes, she is very serious and here is why: When Bambi’s Dearest cousin was a child\/pre-teen, she mixed these two words once. How is that possible, you may wonder? Well, she is English-educated (French is her third language; unlike Bambi whose second language is French). She went to meet her mom at the hairdresser. A senior client asked her what she was planning to do for Halloween (or a similar Middle-Eastern celebration where kids wear costumes…). The lady asked her question in French, not in Arabic. Very seriously, Bambi’s cousin replied using a well-structured sentence that she was going to have fun at an “erotic<\/span> party” (instead of “exotic”<\/span>!). Needless to say that the face\/eyes of the old lady (and the other Beauty salon’s clients) showed some signs of shock :). The entire family spent years laughing at this CUTE incident (hi Joumana, Bambi misses you :))!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyhow, here is Ms. Durocher’s article (https:\/\/www.journaldemontreal.com\/2021\/07\/16\/arretez-de-parler-de-cuisine-exotique<\/a>):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStop\ntalking about exotic cuisine!<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh my God!\nThey dared! The anti-racists who see racism everywhere, who forbid words, who\ncensor works and who boycott individuals have been bold enough to declare that\ntalking about “exotic cuisine” is racist and xenophobic.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The great thing about woke activists, who constantly see racism where there is none, is that they make us laugh: you never know where or when they are going to strike.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we\u2019re\nsure they\u2019ll entertain us!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

IN HOT WATER<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She’s a\nWashington Post food columnist who wrote a crazy piece called Stop Talking\nAbout Exotic Food.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She says\nwhen readers criticized her for using “exotic” ingredients in her\nrecipes, it “hit her like a slap in the face.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then she wrote\nthe following enormous nonsense [\u201cstupidity\u201d is an alternative translation of b<\/em>\u00eatise\u201d<\/em>]: “The\nmost crucial problem with the use of the word ‘exotic’ is that one indirectly\nlengthens the metaphysical distance between one group of humans and another\nand, this doing so reinforces xenophobia and racism \u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes Madam,\nyes Sir. If you call the Thai restaurant around the corner an\n“exotic” restaurant, you are a xenophobic villain. If you find durian,\nthis Southeast Asian fruit that stinks of carrion and old socks\n“exotic”, you are a dirty racist.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that’s\nnot all: Mrs. G. Daniela Galarza also quotes a university professor who affirms\nmost seriously in the world that the fact of qualifying a food as \u201cexotic\u201d, it\nis linked to the \u201chistory of colonialism and slavery.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are\nexotic, you are necessarily an Other, you are not one of Us “, says this\nexpert!<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes Madam, yes Sir. If you call the Thai restaurant around the corner an\n“exotic” restaurant, you are a xenophobic villain. If you find\ndurion, this Southeast Asian fruit that stinks of carrion and old socks\n“exotic”, you are a dirty racist.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that’s\nnot all: Mrs. G. Daniela Galarza also quotes a university professor who affirms\nmost seriously in the world that the fact of qualifying a food as \u201cexotic\u201d, it\nis linked to the \u201chistory of colonialism and slavery.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are\nexotic, you are necessarily an Other, you are not one of Us “, says this\nexpert!<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want proof\nthat the word exotic is racist? \u201cI’ve never heard the word ‘exotic’ used to\ndescribe something white. No one calls the McDonald’s Big Mac exotic, \u201dsays a\nsociology teacher quoted in the article. The word “exotic” is used to\n“ostracize the Other by giving oneself all the power”, a word coined\nby people who “think they are the center of the world”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excuse me,\nbut the first time you ate a kiwi, that hairy fruit that looks like a gorilla’s\ntesticle, you may have found it “exotic” without being a xenophobic\nvillain who is scared of New Zealanders. I’m sure that when a resident of East\nPapua eats a poutine for the first time, he will find it quite “exotic”.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before being\ntold not to use the word “exotic” anymore, do you want to know what\nother word is causing trouble for little fragile anti-racist beings? The word\n“orientation”.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why ?\nBecause, according to the Washington Post, the word refers to an individual’s\nposition in relation to the East. So it\u2019s a Western-centric word.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think\nit’ll take a good sense of direction to find my way back to the nearest ethnic\nrestaurant to eat exotic food and make the little Washington Post lesson-givers\nscream.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What? Did I\njust put my foot in my mouth?\u201d<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ms. Sophie Durocher made Bambi laugh this morning. Below is her article published in the Journal de Montr\u00e9al, followed by a quick English translation. It was somehow ironic for Bambi to read this article immediately […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11710"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11719,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11710\/revisions\/11719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bambisafkar.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}