Jamie Oliver's 'jerk rice'

[PPPMA]

Jamie Oliver has been accused of cultural appropriation for calling a new product "punchy jerk rice".
The decision to label the microwavable rice "jerk" has been criticised, because the product doesn't contain many of the ingredients traditionally used in a Jamaican jerk marinade.

What we think of this?! As someone of Caribbean descent, who loves jerk, and raised an eyebrow when I looked at the ingredients, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow... not offended, just baffled!

AIBU to think that if you create something new, you call it something new...?

We all know know Jamie Oliver is an opportunist little twat who’ll put his name to anything (and I mean anything) if it’ll make him a fast buck. After all, between finding time to set up a chain of Italian restaurants, shout at everyone about unhealthy school meals, and siring 11,000 children with increasingly unlikely names, he’s also managed to get sufficiently adept at metallurgy and ceramics to produce almost heroic quantities of pots and dinner plates. Authentic he is not - he’s never tried to be, but what he’s done here is that he’s cheapened and misappropriated food that’s culturally important. He didn’t have to do that. If he’d done Jerk Chicken we’d have rolled our eyes and said ‘there’s Jamie jumping on the bandwagon again’, but he’s put a name to something that doesn’t exist in Caribbean culture, though given the impression that it does, and that it’s an authentic Caribbean dish. Now here’s the important thing - he’s selling it off the back that it’s an authentic dish and to be fair, many of us don’t know any different because we don’t have extensive experience of Carribean food. If he’d called it ‘spicy Carribean style rice’ then we may not even have raised an eyebrow.

I've got to the point where I genuinely don't believe that Jamie Oliver can cook. Obviously he's done a lot of good things but have you ever been to a Jamie's Italian? The whole chain is dreadful

In the last week, we've cooked an English roast (presumably on safe ground there) a risotto (cultural appropriation?) a spag bol (more cultural appropriation?) sausage and mash (presumably on safe grounds with that) an Ethiopian veggie meal (I'm not guilty of cultural appropriation here) and a paella (more cultural appropriation)

Aren't we confusing two things? The first thing is whether or not cultural appropriation even exists in cookery - don't we all cook lots of things from other cultures? Don't we all enjoy doing that?

The second thing which I would most strenuously object to is taking something that has association and meaning for people and making a half arsed effort at it and not even trying to replicate the original.

I don't think copying in cooking is a crime. It's when you alter the original beyond all recognition and then claim the original label. It's dishonest really.

Grimbles

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-27330134

... Because only black people would get defensive over food.

.... "I wonder whether the oatcake does need protection because I've tried to sell them outside North Staffordshire and failed," he said.

Hahahaha!

... But don't get it twisted, I bloody love these oatcakes!

Grimbles 🤣

I thought perhaps it was jollof but the clueless marketing team thought the term jerk would appeal more to the masses... Then I saw what it was and thought it's just a pouch of Jamie wank.

I think Levi Roots Caribbean Food Made Easy is still on the BBC - mouthwatering!

almost as bad as this

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Cultural Appropriation? What has happened to this country? Imagine what will happen if these Lefty nut jobs see power.

Seriously, WTAF did I just watch! Marco earned three Michelin Stars!

What a twat!

Three stockpots my arse. Cockwomble did that on purpose to ensure we buy more!

Proper lolling at pouch of Jamie wank cheesmongery

“I will leave it there and agree to disagree.

I see no difference in what Jamie has done with Jerk rice than food companies have done with food from every other country in the world.

FYI I have no desire to taste his rice.”

To an extent I agree, if it was a faceless nameless brand I don’t think there would be this much uproar. However, youre examples of comparatives are really ignorant. Cultural Appropriation isn’t as simple as saying ‘white people cant do this so black people cant do that’ (Although imo I think the term is overused.) You have to look at how things got to the way they are. For instance (& I use this example as it’s quite a common argument) white people wearing dreads could be considered to be appropriation, but a black woman dyeing her hair or straightening it wouldn’t be. This is because the white person has never suffered for not being ‘white enough’ he wasn’t bullied for it, harassed, turned down for jobs or discriminated because of it (In the Uk) however, for decades black women have been forced by white people to make their hair look more European & they have been discriminated against for their natural hair. Do you see why context is always critical? & in order to gain it a few minutes on google isn’t sufficient.

I'm waiting for the Italians to get offended by some of the awful monstrosities created by chefs culturally appropriating them. Spaghetti and meatballs in red sauce anyone?

Well, meatballs in a can are a travesty.

I'm waiting for the Italians to get offended

There's a thought. With Britain leaving the EU, Italy may be free to ban British chocolate again.

Not appropriation- as otherwise no company could ever sell a product of clothing and food unless made by the specific people people whose culture it belonged to- which is ridiculous. But if you're going to have jerk rice, it has to have all the flavours and seasoning of jerk spices. As someone rightly said. Could have korma rice, but if it tastes more Asian then it's not Indian flavouring. Could have said carribean inspired rice and called it something else (if it tastes at all Carribean) but cultural appropriation is a petal clutch too far.

Jerk is a style of cooking as well as the marinade...

Cooked over pimento wood (usually) long... low and slow. If you get the chance to visit Jamaica go to Boston in Portland... home of jerk! ( nothing like a good jerk sausage 😬)

Jamaican don't use aubergines.

Jamaicans don't make "jerk rice"... many rice dishes one being rice and peas... but we don't fucking eat jerk rice!

Jerk sauce/gravy over some rice perhaps... but we don't fucking eat jerk rice... imagine having to cook rice all fucking day in a spicy marinade 😐. soggy goop

Anyway eternal 🙄!

I think we all know the palate this appeals to.

Fekko Boak

Here, have some lemon drizzle cake.

But that's a bisc - oh.

Was it just me who thought it was meant as jerk rice, a rice to go with a jerk style meal ie jerk chicken?!?

Bloody Americans have appropriated our chocolate by buying UK chocolate companies and changing the recipes so the chocolate is full of palm oil and totally ruined.

MissDollyMix talks sense.

Was it just me who thought it was meant as jerk rice, a rice to go with a jerk style meal ie jerk chicken?!?

That would be called 'rice and pea'!

NoTea what is that????? I'm not Jamaican, but I'm assuming that is NOT a Jamaican dish nor representative of anywhere else in the Caribbean. I'm happy to be corrected though.

Surely it's just an ad for the stock cubes.

And would a chef really just boil rice and chicken in stock cubes for dinner. Maybe he should read Jerk's 5 minute meals.

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It gave me a good laugh though 😹

I'm remembering 'curries' from the 1970s that had all sorts of weirdness added and very few spices.