Cultural appropriation has been mainstream for decades – from the racist use of blackface in old Hollywood films to the strikingly inaccurate and tacky portrayals of Chinese traditional clothing sold on Shein and other fast fashion websites. However, few would have expected the “Great British Bake Off” (GBBO), known for being a cheerful little series, to be the latest case of gross misrepresentation of Mexican culture and cuisine.
The way Mexican culture and food was represented in GBBO’s cultural “Mexican Week” reflects how Western and European mainstream culture perceives non-western culture as merely an aesthetic, costume and novelty. In this vein, while minorities are encouraged to display their cultural traditions through food, these cuisines are only allowed to appear in alignment with eurocentric standards.
GBBO hosts Noel Fielding and Matt Lucas introduced “Mexican Week” dressed in serapes and sombreros, joking to one another that “people [would] get upset” if they “[made] Mexican jokes.” Nonetheless, they proceeded to slip such jokes throughout the episode, demonstrating complete disrespect towards Mexican culture.
The episode only worsens as the hosts repeatedly butchered the pronunciation of foods and contestants confusedly toss ingredients together, hoping that their cooking would share a fraction of a resemblance to an actual traditional Mexican dish. When GBBO could have taken this opportunity to celebrate Mexican cuisine, they instead reduced an entire country and culture to its most novel foods, such as tacos.
GBBO and a host of other mainstream entertainment repeatedly appropriate cultures because they cannot distinguish their acts from cultural appreciation. For many non-minorities, cultural appropriation and appreciation share a fine line. Yet, recognizing the difference is not as puzzling as one may assume. According to the National Institute of Health, cultural appropriation is the “select[ion] of certain aspects of a culture [while] ignoring their original significance.” Definite signs of cultural appropriation include treating “countries as themes, cuisines as costumes [and] identities as performances.”
Western intolerance of cultural authenticity through food has been a trend in Western and European culture long before GBBO’s “Mexican Week.” For those who come from non-European backgrounds, this restriction from free cultural expression is a lived everyday experience.
Meridien Mach, a contributing writer for The Cornell Daily Sun, says these experiences began in her childhood. She recalls memories of her dad packing her bánh mì, a Vietnamese baguette sandwich, for her school lunch. As she ate, she received disgusted glances and was even told her sandwich wasn’t “normal.” The ridiculing that Mach experienced was likely a product of cultural misrepresentation of ethnic food in the media. When the media fails to showcase a multicultural world, children’s minds are imprinted with an inaccurate picture of ethnic food and diverse cultures. Thus, they believe it is okay to ridicule minorities for expressing their authentic selves through cuisine.
This selective tolerance of cultural expression extends to even pressure minorities to modify their recipes for a Western palette. Many ethnic restaurant owners and chefs share that they are forced to limit the authenticity of their food due to cultural appropriation in the media. Food writer Luke Tsai reports that “many Chinese restaurants deliberately adapted their menus to serve more fried foods or thickened sauces because those were items ‘mainstream white audiences’ [were] more familiar with.” Tsai further explains that these restaurant owners are not choosing to cook inauthentic meals, but rather that their business would not “survive” if they didn’t make these adjustments.
Cultural appropriation and intolerance through food have disrespected and restricted the free expression of minorities for too long. If Western and European audiences seek to enjoy another culture’s cuisine, they need to take the time to truly understand the significance behind the dish and learn about it from members of that culture.
As for GBBO, if they ever host another cultural baking week, they need to acknowledge their past mistakes and take that opportunity to embrace cultural appreciation, not appropriation.
Chaya Sandhu is an Opinion Intern for the Fall 2022 quarter. She can be reached at clsandhu@uci.edu.