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...?

Oh, I cross-posted with you Pineapple.

@WhatsInAnotherNameChange Because the blacks are just getting uppity again? I can't see any other reason and you know that's exactly where the rest of your post wanted to go but you stopped short of saying it. Everyone else is perfectly fine with their culture being appropriated but the blacks are the ones causing all the drama again

It's still bread. It's still essentially a bread with sausage.

Toad in the hole has no bread. It’s made with a batter. So, a toad in the hole made withbread would be the same as JO’s jerk rice :)

to create something and then take the name of a traditional Caribbean dish, and name it after that, when it's not that at all?

Jamie is terrible for this! Half-arsed versions of traditional dishes appear throughout his repertoire.

I'm fine with "bung it all in if it tastes nice" but if it ain't jerk it ain't jerk.

@ImAldoot

Why are people reading to much into this and assigning reasoning that doesn't exist? Carribean people aren't complaining about people eating carribean food. They aren't complaining about Jamie Oliver producing a range of carribean food. They are complaining he is marketing a food stuff using the wrong term which doesn't even contain the right ingredients.

A kebab and chips isn't roast beef and roast potatoes even though both contain meat and potatoes. It's not pc liberal lefty snowflake Nazism (and the other disdainful terms used on this thread) for me to point that out.

Similarly Jamie's Jerk Rice isn't any kind of Jerk product. So why are people so upset about black people pointing that out?

@Grimbles - possible cross post because I felt guilty about rant re "cultural appropriation" (a term which annoys me because it is actual Nick Griffin's position on cultural integration, rolled up in woke fuckery) and posted something more to the point - sorry

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

But no one is asking you to eat it. And why can there not be jerk rice? Food is always evolving, who knows, jerk rice might become the next big thing. Just because it doesn't exist now doesn't mean it can't in the future

Because Jerk refers to the action of rubbing specific spices into meat ffs. How many more times?

Because Jerk refers to the action of rubbing specific spices into meat ffs

Maybe someone jerked his hand while he was seasoning his rice

Selling a packet of dried pasta called basted pasta would be nonsensical as basting refers to a process for cooking meat.

It would be even more nonsensical if the basted pasta was pasta and peas because you wouldn't even use peas as a baste.

The same principal applies to jerk rice. It's really not hard to understand

I've just created a mushy peas recipe. You just add cooked potatoes to cooked beetroot and mash together with some butter.

*WhatsInAnotherNameChange

I don't see many Indian people screaming about cultural appropriation when faced with supermarket shelves filled with curry sauce jars.

Italians aren't too distressed about jars of italian cooking sauces.

Mexicans aren't up in arms about Old El Paso.

Why is this such a special case?*

I'm sure you're missing the point on purpose.

THE JERK RICE CONTAINS NEITHER OF THE TWO KEY INGREDIENTS that's the point. Nothing to do with Jamie Oliver being black/white, Jamaican/British. Why is it so hard for you to understand???????

There are plenty of jerk spices, marinades etc on the shelves which nobody has said a word about. Whatsin are you following so far? The rice that Jamie is calling jerk lacks the two key ingredients. That's what people are questioning.

Quite frankly it has been given a lot more air time than it deserves!

Why do people keep pretending we don't understand the issue?

JO made a product that he a called "jerk" when it doesn't contain the right ingredients and isn't anything like jerk. Easy, we get it. What we don't get is how that is any different to any of the thousands of products you can by that also are not what they say they are and do not contain or consist of the right ingredients, from other countries around the world?

This happens all the time. It has always happened. It's only a thin this week because w're all so fucking woke about everything.

With you OP. I personally get quite offended when I see people adding chorizo or passata to a 'paella' and I'm not even Spanish myself. There are so many words to describe food.. let's just use accurate ones!

I think see a lot of food/recipes 'with a twist' but this particular one seems to have spectacularly missed the main elements of the original recipes - so it may well be inspired by the flavour of Jerk but won't be recognisable by anyone who eats it or cooks it.

I can't say I got over upset in the last bake off show where the 'full English breakfast' produced by one contestant was actually an Indian plate of food that bore little resemblance to the brief (which everyone understood as a classic fry up).

I was pissed off when m&s started to put dill in their tadziki/most o khiar. And telling a Persian that this (or dolmades) are Greek.

@oigetoffmycheese You didn't make paella though, you made a rice dish. If you are desperate to use Spanish words then go for "arroz con pollo/chorizo/etc".

It's not the end of the world but it's not accurate either.

I know that it's not the same as the jerk debate as the Spanish don't face the same marginalisation as Carribean people do, but I'm all for keeping it accurate. Especially when a white man is profiting off a bastardised version of an important part Carribean culture.

personally get quite offended when I see people adding chorizo or passata to a 'paella' and I'm not even Spanish myself

Have you considered getting over yourself? Of all the things to get offended about, chorizo in paella is one of the stupidest.

Especially when spanish people making spanish food in Spain actually sometimes put chorizo in paella.

Why do people keep pretending we don't understand the issue?

Its the term Cultural appropriation that is the issue I think.

A large problem a lot have with cultural appropriation is that when people complain about it, that's all they do. They never put forward what they want to be done, what would be a good solution or even what they think cultural appropriation entails.

I would love for Dawn Butler, or anyone else to give us a definition of this cultural appropriation that they think "needs to stop".

Of course that will never happen though as the only function of the accusation of cultural appropraition is to attack and harass people.

If they actually put forward a set of guidelines as to exactly what they think cultural appropriation is and what should be done then they would presumably have to follow those same guidelines themselves and their hypocrisy would be exposed pretty quickly.

Especially concerning food.

I agree that a bigger deal has been made of it than needs to be and I don't buy any ready made stuff because it tastes nowhere near authentic. I think this is different though because something like Dolmio contains tomatoes which are a key ingredient. The curries contain spices etc if he had called it Caribbean rice then it wouldn't have been given so much attention.

Plus, a huge fuss was made when he put chorizo in paella.

He's had loads of free publicity though, so I'm sure he's not complaining.

@justanotherlurker Of course that will never happen though as the only function of the accusation of cultural appropraition is to attack and harass people

Oh dear please think before posting.

It's to ensure that we respect other cultures that are continually marginalised and to stop white people from turning everything into a gimick or bastardising it.

Here's an example you might understand: white people wearing braids - you may think this is harmless, but this is white people taking a part of black culture (that is constantly discriminated against) whilst living with their privilege. You could even say profiting off it in the case of someone like Miley Cyrus/Iggy Azalea, whilst black people continue to be marginalised against for wearing the same thing.

What we don't get is how that is any different to any of the thousands of products you can by that also are not what they say they are and do not contain or consist of the right ingredients, from other countries around the world?

Do you see the problem with buying a cinnamon muffin that is actually ginger and not cinnamon?

@spanishwife

I'm not white, and I was specifically talking about CA wrt food which you conveniently ignored..

Easy, we get it. What we don't get is how that is any different to any of the thousands of products you can by that also are not what they say they are and do not contain or consist of the right ingredients, from other countries around the world?

Because it's not just about the ingredients, jerk relates to a specific manner of preparing MEAT by adding certain spices so it's a nonsense to apply the term to rice that a)isn't meat b) can't be prepared in that way and c) doesn't contain the right spices.

Its like having basted pasta or pulled rice it's just nonsense.

@Justanotherlurker Your post is very valid and I too appreciate that the term 'cultural appropriation' seems to have grown legs and run off to cause all manner of misunderstanding and chaos.

I don't begrudge anyone braiding their hair or anyone eating food from another culture.

The problem is not necessarily with the real-life tangible end-goal of someone's desire to e.g. eat chips with curry or call a scrambled egg a Spanish omelette or whatever. It is the marginalisation of the minority group that is the problem.

When Kylie Jenner (and it didn't start with her) wears her hair in braids it's praised as fashionable. When Marc Jacobs got his white models to wear their hair in knots and dreads it was a new moment in 'fashion' it was 'wonderful' - when black women going to their regular jobs in their regular lives do this they are considered inappropriate and unprofessional and untidy.

That is fundamentally the problem - white privilege.

I'm all for cultural appropriation and mixing - otherwise I wouldn't even exist. But there are structural problems that prevent minorities from capitalising on their own culture which congratulates white men and white people in general for embracing. Black people expend a lot of mental energy trying to not be 'too black' incase they appear too different and a lot of mental and physical energy changing themselves to fit the 'British' or 'European' ideal. This means in practice means destroying their hair and using bleach to whiten their skin and having plastic surgery to alter their features.

Jamie Oliver has stolen a very well known term in relation to Caribbean food which does not even contain or respect it's critical ingredients and has capitalised on it whilst the black man is still languishing. That's not right. It is patently wrong. It is indefensible. And no comparisons of "well what about 'Old El Paso' not being truly Mexican" will work to change that fact.

The problem is when terms like 'cultural appropriation' take the stage and are granted more time in the spotlight than they deserve - much like the term 'snowflake'. It ignores the base issues. The fact that white people have managed to quite literally dominate the world and push their ideals on us and then sell it back to us as a new-fangled entity and we know it's wrong but we are still unable to speak up about it because we'll be called 'uppity' or 'angry' or other such terms which seek to destroy and negate our lived experience.

It will take generations and generations to change this. I hate that I see little girls with dark skin and afro hair hating themselves because essentially they don't look like how the world would rather they look. When I was a child more than one aunt used to say it's great that I'm so light and could "pass".

This furore over Jamie Oliver is just another case in point. And I frankly, am sick of it.