Monday, April 15, 2019

ON SANCOCHOS: THE DISH AND THE SOCIAL DYNAMICS

“..the chef and restaurateur George Chen tweeted ‘Every chef has a right to interpret another cuisine but the integrity and culture (read authenticity –albeit I hate that term) needs to be studied in depth and not whitewashed for marketing purposes’.”* The story on this Asian restaurant in London reminds me of a “sancocho” prepared by the white husband of a PR colleague at CCNY. He expected me to answer his comment: “I am sure you never had a 'sancocho' this good.” It was truly a “sancocho": in Puerto Rico the word is also used to describe messy social dynamics, "aquello fue un "sancocho". People who think they are “above” the others find it hard to accept how “below”, “down-low”, they can be. “Down-low” is also another form of social, sexual “sancochos”: in certain minority gay communities, pretending to be who you are when, in reality you are not.  

*https://www.theguardian.com/food/2019/apr/14/gordon-ramsay-defends-lucky-cat

No comments: