There’s plenty of discourse online and offline regarding the topic of if the UK has a food culture to call its own. We laugh at those who when asked their favourite British foods, they reply with carbonara or a tikka masala.

But, maybe it’s an issue of how we ignore classic British foods due to the ‘uninteresting’ flavour profiles and lack of seasonings.

Take Yorkshire puddings for example, it’s considerably basic but that doesn’t mean we should disregard it and I, for one, am a massive Yorkshire pudding stan.

Something doesn’t have to have complex flavours and a long cooking process, in order to be classified as cultural or tasty. Just because haggis is arguably less flavoursome than jerk chicken doesn’t mean we should label all British food as ‘boring’.

We tend to fall into the trap of ‘relative deprivation’ when comparing our food inventions to our neighbours.

Pasta is universally loved; but that doesn’t mean that just because British food isn’t as loved as others, then it should be disregarded. The reception to haggis isn’t great but we can’t deny the originality of it.

However, as I’ll discuss soon; some Western foods that people regard as ‘gross’ don’t receive nearly the same amount of hate-filled reaction as Eastern foods.  

In the West, we tend to fall into the trap of a culture of ‘food racism’. As someone who has a Cantonese heritage but grew up in the UK, I experienced racist remarks as a child.

Although it came from a place of ignorance; it didn’t make it hurt any less, as I was also a child and no one deserves to be made fun of for who they are.

I recall being ‘the butt of the joke’, I was asked if I ate cats, dogs and worms. Although eating cats and dogs is far from cultural, many are unaware that it was a sign of political instability that fuelled a famine crisis.

People, specifically in the West, still stereotype anyone with a Han Chinese background and even South Koreans or the Japanese are targeted, with the same false stereotype.

I can’t deny that some still eat this way in China, but it isn’t very common. Whereas the consumption of rabbits, snails and frogs; are still common yet the response is less harsh.

Despite the fact that jokes are made about the French and their love of frog legs or escargot (snails).

They are arguably treated in a way that is fuelled by disgust yet it’s viewed as a ‘quirk’, but non-Western food stereotypes are regarded as not only disgusting but the people are viewed as ‘dirty and uncivilised animals’.  

The same can be said about rabbits; rabbits are a common source of protein, used in many Spanish dishes. Yet I haven’t heard a single joke about it throughout my (almost) 20 years of living.

The racism I experienced since I was young led me to pushing away my roots in order to fit in with my white peers due to fear of being outcasted, and I’m certain that my experience was far from unique.

Image Credit: Unsplash