Portland Burrito Spot Shutters After Cultural Appropriation Outcry

[lonely zergling]

If someone dumps kimchi in a tortilla, I'll pass.

NOOOO you reminded me that kimchi exists. I want to vomit right now buurgh . Worst decision ever to try it. Still regret it.

[Deleted]

They were doing fine until in a cheap bid for authenticity, they claimed that they peeked into the windows of Mexican restaurants to figure out what they were doing after those restaurants refused to share their recipes/techniques/secrets, and then tried to claim the supposedly stolen knowledge as their own. The whole focus on cultural appropriation is nothing more than an attempt to stir people into a frenzy, when the reality is that they marketed themselves as slimy business people and got bit on the ass when people decided that was something they didn't like.

For reference:

"I picked the brains of every tortilla lady there in the worst broken Spanish ever, and they showed me a little of what they did," Connelly says. "They told us the basic ingredients, and we saw them moving and stretching the dough similar to how pizza makers do before rolling it out with rolling pins. They wouldn't tell us too much about technique, but we were peeking into the windows of every kitchen, totally fascinated by how easy they made it look. We learned quickly it isn't quite that easy."

"On the drive back up to Oregon, we were still completely drooling over how good [the tortillas] were, and we decided we had to have something similar in Portland," Connelly says. "The day after we returned, I hit the Mexican market and bought ingredients and started testing it out. Every day I started making tortillas before and after work, trying to figure out the process, timing, refrigeration and how all of that works."

There was a bid for authenticity.
But there's a far more lenient interpretation of the article:
They're not claiming to stealing knowledge or making it their own. They peaked into the windows in fascination, and what learned was that it's not easy. Then went through trial-and-error to spread dough.

The piece itself is shallow, uninteresting, unoriginal and worth an eye roll.
But there also a less lenient interpretation of what you are reading as "people decided that was something they didn't like". Out of laziness I'll "steal" your template:
The focus that some people put on "supposedly stolen knowledge" is a cheap attempt to stir some other drones into bickering about cultural appropriation.

Moral of the story, I guess, is that people are still unsurprisingly stupid and easily caught up in irrelevancy.

Damn! I'm caught in it now too!

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I've got the feeling that there's more to the story. Burrito places have been popping up all over the places and doing fine without anyone screaming cultural appropriation. It's a thriving industry at the moment.

Maybe they agree and took a time to check their privilege.

[Anastacy]

I wonder what they'd say about the local (to me) Mexican restaurant, owned and operated (from the beginning) by 90% Chinese-Americans.

[Deleted]

What a time to be alive. If this is actually an issue for people, they must have a really nice life.

[Noogai131]

I've got the feeling that there's more to the story. Burrito places have been popping up all over the places and doing fine without anyone screaming cultural appropriation. It's a thriving industry at the moment.

Don't forget that location is very relevant. You may not notice it, being in Canada and all, but in certain states of America, more often than not states that vote majority democrat but it DOES happen in red states too, things like this happen. Maybe not often in a lot of states, but this state, and this university in particular, have had multiple occurrences like this.

I'd be willing to cede my points/opinion if it comes out that they committed fraud or shoddy business tactics and that's why they had to close down, but in towns like Portland, and especially that specific university, it would honestly be a big surprise if they actually did something wrong.

[Gaidax]

This is literally face-palm worthy.

Next thing they'll be shuttering eateries over serving mashed potatoes or something.

[Cosmic Janitor]

All hope for our species lost..

[callipygoustp]

All hope for our species lost..

Luckily its mainly an issue in America(USA that is).

[Cosmic Janitor]

Luckily its mainly an issue in America(USA that is).

The infection is spreading, I see the same artifical outrage movements already creeping up here in my university in Germany. It's just a matter of time until the rest of the world goes down the shitter as well.

[draynay]

Civilization isn't collapsing, sheesh, haven't you folks heard of Portland before?

[shrunken]

The Kooks Burrito pop-up cart in Portland, Oregon, has closed after being accused of stealing techniques from Mexican cooks

Man I laughed so hard at this damned line.

[primalmatter]

So we see the serpent eat its own tail...

Do any of us still honestly bother feigning surprise?

[Flarelaine]

I used to work for a sushi place that was run by two white women. Should I do penance for it or only they need to do that? Does it matter that they actually licensed their recipes from a Japanese chef? Does it help that they took care to be authentic?

Oh, and I went to work for a Mexican restaurant after that. With not a single Mexican in sight. And damn, I love them burritos ever since, although I prefer quesadillas.

[mvaliz]

Can somebody explain to me why this burrito cart (such a small thing to cry about over 11 pages) got "shut down"... I mean, what happened SPECIFICALLY that forced them to shut their stand? Even if you're accused of this Cultural Appropriation nonsense, you can keep running unless you're given a court-order to cease and desist.

...and only after ONE online article was published, they instantly shut down?

...I dunno man, this smells to me more like there's a publicity stunt going on with these two women, or there's more to this story than we know about. They never said people stopped comming to their cart or their sales plummeted as a result... You don't just instantly shut off a business because somebody wrote a bad story about you... especially if you're supposedly "very popular".

[Rudkobing]

/sigh

Fuck SJW's.

[Toppy]

Can somebody explain to me why this burrito cart (such a small thing to cry about over 11 pages) got "shut down"... I mean, what happened SPECIFICALLY that forced them to shut their stand? Even if you're accused of this Cultural Appropriation nonsense, you can keep running unless you're given a court-order to cease and desist.

...and only after ONE online article was published, they instantly shut down?

...I dunno man, this smells to me more like there's a publicity stunt going on with these two women, or there's more to this story than we know about. They never said people stopped comming to their cart or their sales plummeted as a result... You don't just instantly shut off a business because somebody wrote a bad story about you... especially if you're supposedly "very popular".

Doesnt like, 90% of new food establishments close down before their first year?

This does kinda reek of blaming something else for a failing to me.

The article claims it closed down a week after the tweets. That's a big red flag to me that the place was already well on its way down.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Shit like this is one of the reasons we got Donald the Dumpster fire as President. Not saying peeking in windows and steeling people's shit is right but is how to make bread a certain way worth protests and chaos. I wonder how many other Mexican food restaurants bought and researched their own tortillas or figured it out from someone else in some fashion. I mean it would be one thing if the people that allegedly had their recipe stolen were mad or filing a complaint but I doubt that never entered anyone's minds at all. It's just people looking for an excuse to pointlessly scream and shout.

Pathetic.

[Video Games]

I make ramen noodles at a ramen shop in Portland​. Eat shit esjaydubs.

[Kathandira]

Did these two white ladies just steal recipes from Mexican women in a crass attempt to turn a profit, or is "cultural appropriation" of food silly to begin with?

Whether they did, or did not, it doesn't matter.

That's the thing with Chef's. A world class Chef will have traveled to the country of origin of dishes they are looking to perfect. They will look for those who are making the dish the best, and learn from them. They will then return home, and make that dish, and sell it.

Unless they have copyright protected their recipe, it is free game, and not cultural appropriation.

Ever go to an Italian restaurant and see the kitchen full of Hispanic chefs? Do you think they are getting out cry from the Italian community that they are culturally appropriating their cooking style?

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What you just described is intellectual property. Many top chefs and restaurants actually keep their recipes secret. For example, the head chef will mix the sauce in advance in secret before handing it to peons to cook.

Kind of like how every Chipotle cook knows the steps to cook their food, but cannot replicate the flavor which comes pre-made in pouches.

The key word intellectual property, is property. You have to have a claim to ownership. Copyright it or get it protected in some way. Otherwise, it is free game.

[Zoibert the Bear]

We need a war that actively affects first world countries and bring death and desperation to their citizens.

It seems these people have nothing to worry about and they need to fabricate issues out of absolute nothingness to bring some meaning to their sad existence. I firmly believe that real issues would make them reconsider.

If a woman chooses to get a dick and a beard, is that sexual appropriation? Or does this bullshit rethoric only work for a very specific agenda (e.g.: Anti-male > anti-white).