Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver is famous for incorporating global flavors into his “healthy” cuisine, but this time he might have taken things one step too far.
Oliver is being accused of “culturally appropriating” Jamaican “jerk” spices for his “punchy jerk rice” microwavable meal. But the weird thing is, there’s no such thing as “jerk rice,” and Jamaicans — and those familiar with Jamaican cuisine — are concerned Oliver doesn’t actually know what “jerk” spice really is (which means he probably can’t knowingly appropriate it).
Fox News reports that there was little time between when Oliver’s “jerk rice” hit store shelves, and when the accusations began to fly.
“Jamie Oliver I’m just wondering do you know what Jamaican jerk actually is? It’s not a word you put before stuff to sell your products,” British MP, Dawn Butler, wrote on Twitter. “This appropriation from Jamaica needs to stop.”
It’s only cultural appropriation, however, if you’re stealing a specific cultural element and making it your own (though plenty of commentators would contend that’s just global adaptation and that true “cultural appropriation” is actually rare). Jamie Oliver’s “jerk rice” bears absolutely no resemblance to Jamaican “jerk”-spiced food, and “jerk rice” isn’t a dish typically served in the island nation.
For starters, “jerk” usually consists of some mixture of “allspice, scotch bonnet chillies, thyme, soy sauce, ginger, lime, garlic, onions and sugar,” reports the BBC, combining sweet, savory, spicy, and earthy flavors into a rub used on grilled meat, like chicken (or, rarely, pork). Jamie’s “jerk rice” is a blend of eggplant, ginger, garlic, and jalapeno peppers.
Also, it seems, jerk marinade doesn’t usually get served over rice.
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.
— Regina Holland (@ReginaHolland_) August 18, 2018
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.
— David Llewellyn (@TheDaiLlew) August 18, 2018
All of this begs the question: if “jerk rice” doesn’t exist, and Oliver’s rice bears no resemblance to other “jerk”-spiced foods, is he really guilty of appropriating?
MPs ran to Oliver’s defense, but it’s still not clear they really needed to defend anything, other than Jamie Oliver’s woeful lack of understanding when it comes to Caribbean food.