Sunday, May 15, 2011

Dinner Time Outrage

So, I was watching Real Housewives of Orange County during dinner because it is Sunday and there wasn't anything else on. It was the episode when one of the thin blonde women who isn't Vicki (I know this isn't that helpful but I really can't tell any of the others apart yet) got celebrity chef Susan Feniger to cook for her upcoming dinner party.

Her husband felt that Latin food wasn't good enough for his pool party. He had planned to serve steakhouse type food. If you're going to, presumably, spend a ton of money on a chef it's probably a good idea to actually know what kind of food she specializes in and then to not ask her to cook something completely different. Like maybe Google her or something. This is the actual first line of her Wikipedia page (emphasis, other than her name, mine): Susan Feniger is an award-winning American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and radio and TV personality considered to be a leading authority on Latin cuisine in the United States."

But no, they obviously just wanted someone with a 'name' and figured that if they paid her enough money she'd cook whatever food they wanted. Then, with no sense of irony, the husband asked her to make deep fried Oreos for dessert. Latin food for the main course, no way! Carnival food for dessert, awesome! There's obviously some implied, or even outright, racism there. Also I wonder if he would have had the same crappy, condescending reaction if Rick Bayless, a man, proposed to serve Mexican food at his pool party. If I had to guess I'd probably say no.

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