Last week food magazine Bon Appetit released a video to their Facebook and YouTube page titled “PSA: This Is How You Eat Pho.” The title is pretty typical of the current media landscape — a little clickbait-y, a little vague, nothing I would have usually paused to watch. The video only captured my attention once I noticed how many of my Vietnamese friends were sharing it. This was strange as they, like myself, have grown up eating pho and are the last people who would have needed a tutorial telling them how to consume it. But they weren’t sharing it because they felt the video was a wealth of information, it was the opposite. They were outraged.
Bon Appetit’s video highlights chef Tyler Akin, owner of the Philadelphia restaurant stock., a self-proclaimed Southeast Asian BYO Cafe. The problem? Chef Tyler Akin is a Caucasian man, telling the audience how to eat an Asian dish. But it’s also not only that; Akin’s recommendations are counter to how the Vietnamese have been eating their dish for generations. For example, Akin’s dismissed the use of sriracha and hoisin sauce in the dish, both staples at any pho restaurant. Andrea Nguyen, author of "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" and the forthcoming "The Pho Cookbook," best summarizes all the flaws of the video on her blog here.
The huge backlash Bon Appetit has received is justifiable. Phil Yu, of the blog Angry Asian Man, described it as “Columbusing at its finest.” And while I’m inclined to agree, I can’t hate on Tyler Akin just yet.
It happens a lot — chefs cooking cuisines that are not part of their personal heritage. You don’t walk into a French restaurant and expect everyone in the kitchen to be French. It’s unfair then to assume that the only worthwhile Vietnamese dishes come from Vietnamese cooks. Authenticity does not come from the ethnicity of the cook. Authenticity also is not synonymous with quality. Look at any fusion restaurant ever. The blend of two cuisines is innovative, creative, often good, and definitely not authentic.
So while I’m not mad about the content of the video. And I don’t care that a white man is explaining to me how to eat pho. I care that it was presented as the only correct way of eating pho.
While I’m also a proponent of condiment-less broth, it would simply be incorrect to state that siracha and hoison don’t belong there. People should be allowed to enjoy their food however they please. So while I don’t think Tyler Akin had any intentions of cultural appropriation, he was sloppy in this delivery. When you’re presenting information as truth, it is necessary to first understand the history and context first.
Bon Appetit has since issued an apology, and well as removed the video from both their YouTube and Facebook page (but since the people of the internet are very crafty, you can still watch it here). If I’m ever in Philadelphia, I would love to stop by stock. to see Akin’s take on an old classic. Would you?
