Why Is South Asian Food Writing So One-Dimensional?
While there’s visibility, there is a lack of narratives from Muslim Indians, those of lower castes, and those across the South Asian diaspora
During the past two years, it has been hard to ignore the rise of South Asian food media in the United States. While Indian food has always enjoyed a secure place on the American culinary map, we are seeing a growing number of food writers of South Asian descent—Priya Krishna, Tejal Rao, and Khushbu Shah, for example—and chefs such as Meherwan Irani and Preeti Mistry present and talk about their food with impressive sophistication. Thanks to them, we may finally be free from the tyranny of chicken tikka masala as Western mainstream audiences learn about the breadth and depth of South Asian cuisine.
While greater representation in media and the restaurant industry has generated excitement among many South Asians, it has also exposed the fault lines within the community, specifically around the gap between what is presented to Western audiences and the lived experience of most South Asians.
This tension was especially evident on social media following the passage of the new citizenship law in India that fast-tracked citizenship for persecuted minorities from Muslim-majority…
