Professor Tom Pepinsky from Cornell University ranked Southeast Asian Cuisine in a tweet and placed Filipino cuisine at the bottom of this list. The professor, who teaches comparative politics, political economy and Southeast Asian politics, sparked a bit of outrage after the tweet, though some people supported his opinion.
Southeast Asian national cuisines, ranked***
1. Vietnamese
2. Lao
3. Singaporean/Malaysian
4. Thai
5. Burmese
6. Indonesian
7. Cambodian
8. Timorese
9. Philippine— Tom Pepinsky (@TomPepinsky) May 4, 2019
He tweeted ‘*** list is objectively correct, but ignores regional and ethnic sub-cuisines’ following his ranking.
*** list is objectively correct, but ignores regional and ethnic sub-cuisines
— Tom Pepinsky (@TomPepinsky) May 4, 2019
Immediately, netizens replied to his tweet and asked him who he is to rank cuisine ‘objectively’.
Wow. Remember how the white people literally traveled across the fcking globe to invade countries and get spices? And now they think they have the audacoty to rank our food BY TASTE, which they clearly lack lol
— ??????? ???? (@booneboonepowww) May 5, 2019
I also want to add that Maranao food is out of this world, so don’t give up on the sub-regional Philippine food. Lao food is awesome.
— Julie Chernov Hwang (@Julie_C_Hwang) May 4, 2019
The fact that you spell it as “Philippine” is very telling of how much you bothered to research. It’s “Filipino”, by the way. Filipino food. ?
— エリカ? (@erikaaaachu) May 6, 2019
The last thing any SEAsian is gonna do is let a white man pit our culture against each other. With all due respect Mr. Pepinsky, please stay in your lane. pic.twitter.com/ucnlEJJopB
— Flowers ?️? (@SwordsnFlowers) May 6, 2019
He was then supported by Jakarta-based activist Kate Walton who said that Filipino cuisine is ‘def the worst in the region’.
Filipino food is def the worst in the region.
— Kate Walton (@waltonkate) May 5, 2019
Apparently, Filipino food is bland and she prefers spicy food.
What about you? Are you a fan of Filipino food or do you prefer food from other SEA countries?