Padma Lakshmi tears up “racist” column claiming Indian food is “based on one spice”

Padma Lakshmi was among those who left a bitter taste in their mouths after reading a Washington Post opinion column that mistakenly dismissed Indian cuisine as “based entirely on one spice.”

Written by humorous columnist Gene Weingarten and published last week, “You Can’t Make Me Eat These Foods” focuses on the author’s distaste for sweet pickles, balsamic vinegar, hot dogs with more than two toppings and other menu items and ingredients.

Weingarten asserted that Indian cuisine, in particular, is “the only ethnic cuisine in the world completely based on one spice”.

“If you think Indian curries taste like something that could knock a vulture off a meat wagon, you don’t like Indian food,” he wrote. “I don’t understand, as a culinary principle.”

Lakshmi, who hosts “Top Chef” and the Hulu series “Taste the Nation,” responded to Weingarten’s article with a series of scathing social media posts.

“There really is no need for something like this to be released in 2021 (or ever),” the 50-year-old, India-born man wrote on Instagram. “It’s racist and lazy at best.”

Although Lakshmi admitted Weingarten was entitled to his culinary preferences and intended to be ironic, she nonetheless lambasted his column for “regurgitating old colonizing tropes” in an attempt at humor.

In a separate tweet, she urged Weingarten to check out her 2016 book, “The Encyclopedia of Spices and Herbs: An Essential Guide to World Flavors.”

“You * clearly * need an education on spices, flavor and taste,” she wrote.

Weingarten’s article also angered attorney Meena Harris, who is the niece of Vice President Kamala Harris, and writer / actor Mindy Kaling.

Weingarten, two-time Pulitzer winner, apologized on Twitter Monday afternoon.

“I should have named just one Indian dish, not the whole cuisine,” he wrote. “I see how insulting that brush was.”

The Post column has since been updated. A correction at the top now reads: “A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Indian cuisine is based on one spice, curry, and that Indian food is made up only of curries, a type of stew. In fact, the very diverse cuisines of India use many blends of spices and include many other types of dishes.

Weingarten’s claim that Indian food is “based entirely on one spice” has been removed and the line “you don’t like Indian food” now reads “you don’t like much Indian food”.

Still, Weingarten seems unlikely to reconsider his take on Indian cuisine anytime soon.

On Saturday, he acknowledged the reviews his column had already received, telling readers he had visited Rasika, an acclaimed Indian restaurant in Washington, DC.

“The food was beautifully prepared but always swam with the herbs and spices that I despise the most,” he wrote on Twitter. “I don’t take anything away. “