And here's why. Surprisingly, this post has nothing to do with Marcel.

This really has nothing to do with Top Chef either. It's actually really important. If you had actually read the damn thing, MAT, you would know that.

Recently I've been listening to the Top Chef podcasts on chow.com, and yesterday I got to Betty's interview, during which her restaurant, Grub, was mentioned. Specifically, Joyce Slaton, her interviewer, noted a specific item on the menu called "Love You Long Time Rolls."

At this point, I stopped and rewound. Yeah, that's really what she said. "Love You Long Time Rolls." In the context of "cute names of dishes on the menu." And what are they? Spring rolls, of course.

Love You Long Time Rolls 6.25
Fresh! Crisp Vietnamese Vegetables and herbs rolled in delicate Rice Paper
(see it with your own eyes)

Boggles the mind how "clever" this Betty Fraser and this Denise DeCarlo are.

I decided, then, to peruse the rest of the menu to see if they had any other "cute" marginalizing and commodifying dish names to represent any other racial groups. Hmm... "Our Friggin' Amazin' French Toast"... not attached to any one group... "Wild Mushroom Soup with Fresh Spinach & Ginger"... pretty standard... "Mamacita's Breakfast Burrito," "'Joe-Mama'~cita," "Ay Caramba! [sic] Salad" (all "Mexican" influenced, can you tell?)... definitely sketchy-

But, oh. OHHHH. Oh you did not. Betty Fraser, you did NOT.

Except she did:

The Geisha Chickie 11.25
Panko-Cashew crusted Chicken Breast with a Tamarind Apricot glaze served warm over Mixed Greens with toasted Coconut, Mandarin Oranges, Crispy Noodles and Red Onions with our Tangerine-Kaffir Lime Vinaigrette...It'll bring out the concubine in you
(no kidding, there it is)

Now, disregarding the completely Unwarranted Capitalization of random Items in Her descriptions, not only does she reference one of the prime examples of ignorant stereotyping of Asian women in American pop culture, Full Metal Jacket, she also then perpetuates the association between Asian culture, Geishas, and concubines (fancy word for sexually subservient and usually morally substandard women) in a dish that has very little to do with actual Asian cuisine. (Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs, tamarind is often used in Indian and Southeast Asian, but also Latin American cooking, kaffir lime in Southeast Asian... good efforts in fusion cuisine, Betty, but then you have to throw in mandarin oranges and crispy noodles? Have you ever seen either of those ingredients in authentic Asian cooking?)

Finally, may I ask what a Panko-cashew encrusted chicken breast with Southeast Asian/Indian spices over mixed greens has to do with Asian women and their sexual activities?

The answer is: NOTHING.

And that is why I hate Betty from Top Chef. Because while yes, her overuse of stock Spanish phrases to indicate some sort of Mexican or Latin American influence is tired and unimaginative, the words "Mamacita" and "Ay Carumba" do not immediately conjur sexually deviant images of an entire gender and racial category. I probably would have taken less issue with names like "Happy Golden Dragon Rolls" or "Lucky Jade Chickie."

I also would like to add that no, I don't think I'm being too sensitive. For every instance of ignorance that I overlook, there is an action of prejudice that happens because it was dismissed when it started as mere ignorance. To forgive these seemingly harmless menu items only continues to ingrain a very socialized idea of Asian women in people's minds, and gives them ammunition to claim that the sexual and social commodification of Asian women is okay.

And it's not. This is an issue that has been on the forefront of my mind for several months now - seeing something like this only further disheartens me.

Shame on you, Betty Fraser. And shame on Joyce Slaton for quoting her menu item as "clever" and "kitschy," and shame on the Asian Americans in L.A. who may have eaten at her restaurant and allowed her to continue to print these names on her menu.

I'm off to draft an email to Grub. Feel free to do the same: info@grub-la.com.

comments

I spoke to you tonight, and remember what I forgot to say: I'M BLOODY TIRED READING ABOUT TOP MO'FUCKIN CHEF. C'mon! Gimme somethin' juicy, somethin' with pizzazz and...and JUICE!

And rehearsal went so well today, I got compliments from nearly everyone. I are teh best.

You know who | February 7, 2007 10:45 PM

you know what's strange? when i read that the restaurant was called 'grub' I immediately thought of some maggot like thing in the garden...is that because I'm British? or just the way my mind works?
also she should do market research on a name like that to avoid these unfortunate confusions

alice fiona | February 7, 2007 10:52 PM

actually it's because of the lion king.

"what's that?"

(holds up maggot-like thing) "a grub."

karel | February 7, 2007 11:16 PM

I also thought of maggoty creatures when I heard 'grub', so maybe it's not a British thing.

She should have some cracker crackers and cheese for an appetizer. How ignorant.

ellen | February 7, 2007 11:16 PM

sigh. you would think that being in LA where the asian american population is substantially high, that folks would have some sort of critical consciousness of race and would know better than to call their dishes such ridiculous names. the fact that they dont makes their actions more repulsive than those of the person living in middle america who simply doesn't know any better, since they have little to no contact with asian americans.

(btw, this commentary also applies to those who think this type of stuff is funny/amusing/clever and we need to "get over it" and "lighten up"." equally inexcusable, in my opinion.)

jason | February 8, 2007 12:09 AM

mamacita is DEF sexual. DEFINATLY! it literally translates to little mama and specifcally means hot little mama. my knowledge of it is mostly from cat calls and sexual songs. to say that mamacita isn't sexual is to say that chick or hottie isn't sexual.

and i think you would have taken offense to both 'happy dragon' and 'lucky jade'. like those tshirts you hated while we were in school.

not to say that you aren't jusified in your anger now. just note that a) you didn't notice the sexual connotations in another language/culture and b) you are forgetting your previous problems to fight these easier to fight and get more people behind issue.

tatiana | February 8, 2007 12:16 AM

tatiana-
i apologize for my ignorance of the term "mamacita" and its implications - my experience with the term has been pretty innocuous but i don't assume that my experience is either accurate or encompassing. i do want you to know that i did research on both spanish phrases before writing this because i wanted to make sure that i was covering all bases and i didn't find evidence of its sexual connotations - i didn't post blind. but i should have, in my post, accounted for the fact that i didn't know for sure how offensive the phrases might be, and opened it for discussion - i'm sorry that i made you feel like i was not attuned to your culture. if anything, the fact that "mamacita" does illicit sexual imagery, strengthens my argument against the tactics behind naming these dishes.

it's not that i wouldn't be offended by "happy dragon" or "lucky jade" - the fact is that neither option is very appealing. but it is far less appropriate to perpetuate sexually demoralizing stereotypes than to use token images of cultural traditions. note that i said i probably would have taken "less" issue with them - not "no" issue. in this instance i think the sexualization of women is a more important issue than inanimate symbols.

i'm upset that you think i would "forget" my previous issues to fight an easier fight. if i wanted the easy way out i wouldn't bother at all - none of this is easy, as we can plainly see. by even saying something i'm risking alienating people just by virtue of my anger - none of this was a tactic to get more people to back me up. i know there will be controversy no matter what i say and i take responsibility for that.

i'm sorry that i caused a misunderstanding - i really do feel awful that i overlooked the place that the word "mamacita" has in popular culture. i hope you can accept my apologies for that. i don't hold any one minority group's plight over the other and i would hate to think that i made you feel that way.

this is extremely long. but i felt that there was definitely miscommunication, and i wanted to apologize to you publicly. i hope this clears things up a bit.

ps. "For every instance of ignorance that I overlook, there is an action of prejudice that happens because it was dismissed when it started as mere ignorance." thank you for not dismissing my ignorance - this is precisely why everyone should speak up.

karel | February 8, 2007 1:01 AM

i'm sorry! i guess i didn't mean it come across so stongly... a problem with posting over in person conversation. i didn't mean to imply that you were slighting hispanic culture or latinas or being underhanded to get people behind you- just that mamacita is sexual and that you do have a history of speaking out against asian stereotyping. which is not a negative thing! contemporary culture def has sexual stereotypes about other cultures, the shy geisha and hot mamacita among them. it is just sad that it seems that calling something stereotypically sexual (without it being ACTUALLY sexual) is ok and actually encouraged.

all of this means that betty is HORRIBLY ignorant in what she thinks are 'witty' namings of her dishes.

we are the smarty immigrant babies :)

tatiana | February 8, 2007 2:40 AM

Okay, I read it, and I owe you an apology as well. Sorry. It wasn't about Top Chef, but about a topic you feel very strongly about. Here's my Irish-American perspective on it. WARNING: The Irish are notorious for being racist:

-The name for the rolls is just dumb
-The Geisha Chickie? wtf. Am I eating a small, cooked subservient woman? Ick.

So there's my two cents. I hope her restaurant fails and her hair falls out.

Now gimme something juicy

MAT THE DESTROYER OF SOULS | February 9, 2007 12:43 PM

is betty asian? white? i don't watch top chef.

lisa | February 10, 2007 4:23 PM