Portland Burrito Spot Shutters After Cultural Appropriation Outcry

[Tijuana]

https://www.thedailymeal.com/news/ea...riation-outcry

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

Cultural appropriation is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in in the modern food world. When globalism meets long lines of hungry Instagrammers, authenticity becomes harder to grasp and grey areas are further blurred. For instance, is a college campus that serves General Tso’s chicken with the wrong sauce to mostly-white students an example of cultural insensitivity?

Most recently, Kooks Burritos, a pop-up burrito cart in Portland, Oregon, was shuttered — just months after it opened — over public outrage regarding “cultural appropriation of intellectual property."

Kooks Burritos was born out of co-owners Kali Wilgus and Liz “LC” Connelly’s road trip to Mexico, where they “picked the brains” of every tortilla lady they could find, and brought those recipes back to the States.

“They told us the basic ingredients,” Connelly told Williamette Week in an interview featured in the magazine on May 16. “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.”

The feature angered a lot of people who claimed that the women had stolen what was not rightfully theirs, from tortilla technique down to the recipes, just to make it big in hipster-ville:

1. White women sees som'n cool.
2. Steals it.
3. Claims altruistic desire to spread said som'n to wider audience. https://t.co/wMZP5wrYRO

— issa husband (@tdouble_u) May 20, 2017

It's only cute, exotic and trendy when white girls do it https://t.co/8g8SLmJIN5

— Hella Bella (@SelaSmella) May 19, 2017

These white cooks bragged about stealing recipes from Mexico to start a business
Kooks Burritos is a hot spot in... https://t.co/Q5la76vJYQ

— Krantzstone (@Krantzstone) May 19, 2017

Exactly one week after the article was published, Kooks had closed in the wake of the sociopolitical firestorm. The once-uber-popular burrito spot has deleted its website and all social media accounts.

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?

The mindset of the left is so laughably shallow, it's hard to even fathom sometimes.

So, you can only cook food from your own culture? What defines a person's culture? What if they come from more than one culture? What if they don't know what their culture is/who their ancestors were? What if they are from a mixed culture family? What about when first world culture is stolen from by third world cultures? Is it only bad for white people to enjoy other cultures, or does this rule apply to all races? Can an Asian open a taco stand, or is that only banned for white people? Can a Mexican open a Chinese restaurant?

Again, the mind of a hard leftist is just a bizarre train wreck of shallow ideas that are in conflict with each other, because they were so poorly thought out to begin with.

[Molis]

Typical SJWs at it again.

Thanks for making me go back to the center after starting to lean left with all the issues in our current White House.

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Who the fuck cares. /Thread

This too...

[Doctor Funkenstein]

I demand that all nations stop copying the oktoberfest and our german christmas markets. This is bavarian and german culture stop the cultural appropriation! Thanks

You're white, so you don't have any culture to appropriate. FFS, lrn2beanonracist(cuzifaimedatwhitesitsokay!)

[Molis]

Yeah, you were definitely committed to left wing principles if your support for things like universal healthcare was predicated on liking other people who support it as well.

I think I am missing something.

Anyway I have an issue with people that take up a cause just to make themselves appear socially aware.
People like this that flood to a Facebook post in outrage when they do not know the whole story annoy me. Sorry.

[brimdog]

small fucking potatoes are still potatoes that you can tell your friends all about how you dug them up...
low hanging fruit is still pretty fucking sweet...
the average person is fucking smarter than half of humanity...

[draynay]

My point is that whatever your professed set of political beliefs is, you can't feel all that strongly about them if not liking a few people who may share similar beliefs is enough to get you to abandon them.

Furthermore, the poster in question was acting like all that exists are two extremes and a middle.

[herptehderp]

Who the fuck cares. /Thread

Going to take a wild guess here... But probably people who think it's unjust for a store to be closed for these reasons.

[Endus]

Going to take a wild guess here... But probably people who think it's unjust for a store to be closed for these reasons.

We don't really know WHY the store was closed. If it was because of this, then it's solely because the owners decided to close or they weren't making money; they weren't forced to close a successful business in any way whatsoever.

[draynay]

Its not like the food police shut them down for food crime

We don't really know WHY the store was closed. If it was because of this, then it's solely because the owners decided to close or they weren't making money; they weren't forced to close a successful business in any way whatsoever.

Its probably similar to what you said before, people didn't really go for their white lady "I talked to a mexican once" authenticity pitch.

[bladeXcrasher]

burritos are an American invention...they started in L.A.

[Jingoism]

I really wish sub-humans wouldn't appropriate western culture. Like the english language, internet, modern medicine, etc. One day, perhaps...


[Infracted]

[Katchii]

Cultural Appropriation is probably the most First World SJW issue on the damn planet.
There is real racial discrimination going on, people are losing their lives, and these little shits are worried about a bunch of white women selling burritos?

Jesus fucking Christ.

100% Agreed.

Heaven forbid people who want to cook good food, actually learn how to make that food authentically. Are people seriously going to try and argue that cooking techniques can only be used by people of the specific ethnicity the food originates from? Seriously? That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard.

[Faroth]

Gordan Ramsay sells Ravioli at his restaurants and I'm pretty sure he's not Italian. I wish one of these people would go after him and see what kind of response he offers.

[urasim]

Cultural appropriation is why western civilization is so great. Why does SJWs try and make it a negative? Why do they support segregation of cultures? And people wonder why we call them regressive...

[Kupsy]

"Sharing ideas and learning things from other cultures is bad and you shouldn't do it."
- Cultural appropriation, in a nutshell.

Funny how these people on twitter don't complain when Mexican people appropriate things from American film and music.

Is an American grill or steakhouse in Mexico City committing 'cultural appropriation'? How about an Italian eatery in Cancún? Should that close down too? What about a Greek restaurant in Acapulco? Is that wrong?

Meanwhile, two women who just started a business have been bullied and harassed out of business by the so-called "progressives" on social media. 2017, folks.

[Molis]

My point is that whatever your professed set of political beliefs is, you can't feel all that strongly about them if not liking a few people who may share similar beliefs is enough to get you to abandon them.

When your set of political beliefs is pretty much center it is difficult to identify with either party. Maybe I feel strongly about being pro choice or pro gay marriage, but I also feel strongly that taxation for social programs that enable a culture of hand outs is not what I want either.

So it causes waffling because moderates do not have representation. I said I was "leaning left" not going to the next Nancy Pelosi rally.

[Sky High]

reasons I'll never move to Portland. respect the Burrito no matter who makes it, fuckies! but seriously Portland people seem like the most insufferable bunch of fart sniffing liberals ever. who gives a shit if it's a marketing gimmick it's food, it's just fucking food!

[noidentity]

I'm just Happy Chinese food was invented in America.

[Rooflesstoofless]

Clearly you did not read the article.

Let me make it simple for you "they wouldn't tell us too much about technique, but we were peeking into the windows of every kitchen"

You keep repeating that but I don't think it really means anything more than standing in their kitchens with them while they cooked. I don't know too many white people dumb enough to play peeping Tom in someplace like Mexico.

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reasons I'll never move to Portland. respect the Burrito no matter who makes it, fuckies! but seriously Portland people seem like the most insufferable bunch of fart sniffing liberals ever. who gives a shit if it's a marketing gimmick it's food, it's just fucking food!

For real. Today I learned that Portlandia is a reality show.

[TheCount]

So people are being shamed because they went to another country, learned about that cultures cooking techniques and brought them over to their own country in order to spread the joy that all people get from eating good food??