Tim Carman, The Washington Post; My column’s name does a disservice to the immigrants whose food I celebrate. So I’m dropping it.
"By writing about immigrant cuisines under a cheap-eats rubric, I have
perpetuated the narrative that they should always be thought of as
budget-priced...
Given this theory, I’ve had to ask myself uncomfortable questions, such
as: Isn’t lumping certain cuisines under a cheap-eats banner only
contributing to their low-class status? Am I not kneecapping, say,
Central American cooks who toil in almost every kitchen in the District?
Am I not telling these cooks that we, as Washingtonians, will never pay
the same price for a Salvadoran, Guatemalan or Puerto Rican meal as we
do for that plate of charred brassicas with mint chimichurri at the
fancy New American restaurant where these immigrants are currently
employed?...
By stripping this column of its previous name, I hope to remove at least
one possible stigma about the restaurants that I decide to cover: that
they are somehow “lesser” than the ones that might charge higher prices,
have table service, offer a full bar or whatever confers prestige among
diners. They are simply different in their approach. Many take just as
much pride in their food as the chefs at the white-tablecloth
restaurants do. I want to contribute to a society where it’s possible to
esteem the high and low equally, each worthy of respect for what it
does well."
