To think that Len Goodman was stating a fact about his Nan, not insulting anything or anyone?

[Notjustanymum]

Just that, really. He (at the age of 78) was saying that his Nan had a bigoted view (commonly held in the 1950’s), that any food vaguely “foreign” - including pasta, in the 1970’s, according to my own DF - was muck, which had, in truth, put him off trying it.
He also said that the Coronation Chicken his wife had made was delicious. Why would people complain about that? He was actually disproving his Nan’s statement and saying she was wrong.
I think that too many people try to cancel the views of the past, but it’s totally true that many people of that generation held views that are not acceptable today, and we shouldn’t forget that, as we learn from mistakes.
I really object to the BBC apologising for his statement, as it makes it seem as if he was in the wrong.
So - what do you think?
YABU - we shouldn’t mention past intolerances for fear of offending someone now
YANBU - we should accept that there were intolerances and be happy that people find ways of overcoming these

Absolutely! My parents wouldn't quite have put it like that but refused to eat anything the least bit spicy - or herby for that matter! This was the fifties and sixties and attitudes towards food have completely changed. LG was simply reminiscing about the old days!

It was an example to demonstrate that I don't draw that line, provided context and intention are OK. If Goodman had said "I won't eat any foreign food, filthy foreign muck" he would have been being racist against, well many races.

Quoting something his Nan had said to him is fine in my book.
So - to give an even more direct example - I'd be fine if during a TV interview someone said "It's hard to believe it, but my Nan used to call our Indian neighbours p's"*

I think, here, we differ on thinking the context of this remark was suitable. I would be fine with Len's remark or even your alternative example if the programme had been a documentary about attitudes of the 1950s, or similar, for domestic broadcast. But this was a celebration of the Pageant, being broadcast throughout the Commonwealth - which includes many countries where spicy cuisines have been indigenous norms for centuries. If you are settling down to enjoy a Jubilee Pageant, you don't want reminders of historic xenophobia towards your culture. The Pageant Programming was simply neither the time or the place to use that particular phrase.

there are loads of people in the UK who have heard their cuisines vilified their entire lives

Like who?

I wonder if his nan considered the tango, rumba, foxtrot, cha cha cha, etc to be mucky foreign dances.

My grannies really couldn't cook either raw or burnt or mush. One granny would eat anything the other lived on salads. Both born turn of the century. My mum born 1935 made a mean bobotie used spices and garlic. She would cut anything interesting out of a magazine recipe wise or copy it down from radio TV and cook.

This thread reminds me of the Catherine Tate sketch😆

I agree with you op and I agree that there is no harm in reminding ourselves how far we have come and reinforcing how positive it is that most people no longer think like that. It would be wrong to deny that was once the norm.

The vast majority of families like that, like my own were exactly like that about different food and it didnt make them xenophobes. Yours were the exception to the rule

And liking or not liking particular foods doesnt make someone open minded or not open minded, its that type of reductivism that is making people lazy thinkers and knee jerk reactors to things like this.

I'm 51 and grew up hearing the expression 'foreign muck' to describe anything new or strange food wise. It was never about one type of food in particular. I remember my father saying it about mayonnaise the first time my mother brought a jar home. Fast forward 35 years and my father's the first to try any new culinary dish.

That was then this us now.

We have Spanish family and believe me, its the same for them, foreign muck is English food!

There’s currently a thread running on a Dundee history forum and people have reminisced about eating pasta in various forms and dishes prior to the 60’s. Interestingly it was one of those things (apart from macaroni and cheese or a milk pudding) that you’d either eaten, or you hadn’t, and those who hadn’t were convinced that those who had were being ridiculous.

I had eaten it from a young age, I think I was about 4, so around 1962 because we lived above Soaves chip shop in Lochee and my granny was taught by one of the family how to make a few Italian dishes.

What you get on twitter is an exaggerated or extremely excitable reaction to things so in this case it will become 'Len Goodman called curry foreign muck.' He didn't. The BBC spends far too much time on twitter and paying too much attention to the animated but dim element on twitter.

It was probably an unnecessary comment as it was a bit off in the context of the show. Though probably the type of comment many elderly people would make.

I don’t think it was offensive as such though, and complaints/apologies over the comment are taking it out of perspective.

Its probably the type of comment Prince Phil made in so many words and people would be calling him a 'character'.

Out of context? It was a reply to a direct question about what was being eaten...

“Everyone is serving up different dishes at their street parties, are you a cook, Len?” presenter Kirsty Young asked Goodman.

He responded, saying: “No, I’m hopeless, honestly. My wife did Coronation Chicken yesterday for our tea and I’ve never had it before.”

Pulling a face, he added: “I’ve never had curry and curry powder, you know, my nan used to call it all ‘foreign muck’. I was always worried about it. But I must say, it was ridiculous. It was really tasty. It was so tasty. I had my first sampling of Coronation Chicken yesterday.”

But then, as you say, he is an elderly person, so probably lost his marbles down the back of his seat! Pshaw!

@SamphirethePogoingStickerist I said Off in the context, but not out of context.
obviously it made sense logically in the conversation they were having. I meant it was a bit ‘off’ (as in not great) to make a comment about “foreign muck” when celebrating the jubilee. I don’t think it was highly offensive though, just a bit of a clumsy comment.

@bellac11 I’m sure Prince Phillip would have said worse. This was Len saying what how his Nan used to think of curried food though, not him saying it was foreign muck.

In a way I think it shows how Britain has become more multicultural and aspects of other cultures that used to be seen as foreign are now part of our every day.

I meant it was a bit ‘off’ (as in not great) to make a comment about “foreign muck” when celebrating the jubilee. I don’t think it was highly offensive though, just a bit of a clumsy comment.

Except it was about Coronation Chicken, Invented for the Queens coronation; that he had never tasted before because of something his nan had said and after all of these years he tasted it and It was really tasty. It was so tasty

His comment was actually that his Nana was being daft, or ridiculous to quote him again. And that he had been wrong. Nothing clumsy or offensive about it. Just a real life observation from someone whose life spans the whole of the Queen's reign.

As an elderly person though, I guess he was supposed to shut the fuck up and not reminisce!

What are you going on about. I’m not suggesting he shouldn’t reminisce or should shut up because he’s old.

i though he expressed himself clumsily, but didn’t think it was a big deal really.

lot of drama llamas dancing about this whole topic.

I wouldn't thank anyone for a plate of tripe and onions or jellied eels, regardless of provenance. Is that permissible?

Vesta meals were wonderful!

Having read this now, not seen the broadcast because they cut it out of the iplayer version, its clear that he was making the case for how nice the food was.

Then later in the broadcast there is some random apology that makes no sense, and in fact because Gyles Brandreth was sort of talking over Claire Balding because he was talking about something that was actually taking place at the time, she had to repeat it twice and it didnt make any sense