Packet in, Jamie! Chef ’s ‘jerk rice’ is cultural appropriation, says MP
A ROW was heating up last night after Jamie Oliver was accused of cultural appropriation over his ‘Punchy Jerk Rice’ dish.
Labour frontbencher Dawn Butler, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, said that the packet product was ‘not OK’.
In a furious Twitter outburst directed at Mr Oliver, she added: ‘I’m just wondering do you know what Jamaican jerk actually is?
‘It’s not just a word you put before stuff to sell products. This appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop.’
Cultural appropriation is using or adopting elements of minority cultures in a damaging way.
Miss Butler also suggested the chef was using the word ‘jerk’ to increase the sales of his rice and his product was not faithful to the original Caribbean recipe – which is usually a marinade for meat.
The MP for Brent in north-west London also said father of five Mr Oliver should speak to Levi Roots, the creator of jerk barbecue condiment Reggae Reggae sauce, to learn about it.
But the comments sparked an online backlash and Miss Butler was ridiculed after one user posted a snap of her wearing an Indian sari at a Hindu temple in Kingsbury, north-west London in 2016. While some defended her attire at such an event, others suggested it could be the same ‘ cultural appropriation’ she was accusing the TV star of.
Tory MP Neil O’Brien wrote: ‘If Jamie Oliver isn’t allowed to make jerk chicken because it’s cultural “appropriation”, she’s going to go mad when she finds out about “Jamie’s Italy”.’
Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, wrote: ‘You think Jews should object when Matzoh Balls are mixed with the wrong food? Or beigels? Or chopped liver? The whole concept of “appropriation” is revealing of a mindset that is profoundly ridiculous.’
But other commentators backed the MP, saying her criticism of the recipe was accurate. Jerk cooking, which is native to Jamaica, usually involves chicken or pork in a mixture of jerk spices including allspice and Scotch bonnet peppers. But neither of those ingredients are listed in Mr Oliver’s product.
Sold for around £2.30 by Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and other supermarkets, it is billed as ‘brown rice and red kidney beans with aubergine and bell peppers in coconut Jerk- Style sauce’. The product description says: ‘Seriously good with chicken wings. Source of fibre. Ready to eat in just one minute. Suitable for vegetarians.
‘We’ve mixed garlic, ginger and jalapenos to create a jerk marinade with attitude, and added this awesome spice mix to coconutinfused wholegrain rice, aubergine and kidney beans for a knockout combo!’ On Twitter, one commentator said: ‘ On what planet can “garlic, ginger and jalapenos” be described as “jerk”? It’s like stamping a Union Jack on “traditional fish and chips” except the fish is a salmon en croute and the chips are crisps.’
Another wrote: ‘She’s not saying [anyone who isn’t] from Jamaica shouldn’t eat Jamaican food, she’s pointing out the bastardisation of our national dish. There’s no such thing as jerk rice apart from what Jamie Oliver has concocted. That’s her point.
‘Anybody from any nationality can eat anything they want, there are just some dishes that are best left alone and enjoyed how they’re supposed to be made.’ Neither Miss Butler nor Mr Oliver responded to requests for comment.
Miss Butler was Labour MP for Brent Central from 2005 until 2010, but lost her seat after she was exposed in the expenses scandal for claiming for a whirlpool bath in a bathroom suite that cost £2,308 in her second home.