British baker outrages Mexicans with attack on their ‘ugly’ bread | Mexico

A well-known British baker has sparked outrage in Mexico by saying in a podcast that Mexico “doesn’t really have much of a bread culture”.

Richard Hart, who opened Green Rhino bakery in Mexico City in June, also said the country’s wheat was “not good, it’s all highly processed, full of additives” and his sandwiches – tortas – was made “on these ugly white rolls that were quite cheap and industrially made.”

The comments were made on the PopFoodie Radio podcast in April, but went viral this month when they were spotted by food bloggers and reviewers who expressed outrage at the idea of ​​a stranger criticizing their cuisine.

“He wants to be the Christopher Columbus of bread,” said pastry chef Tania Medina on TikTok. “It is not fair for you to trample on the ground you are going to open, if this is not your country and that country welcomes you with such great compassion and such love, this is not fair at all.”

Hart, who works with Gordon Ramsay and René Redzepi from Copenhagen’s Noma restaurant, issued an apology on the Green Rhino Instagram page on Monday. “Since moving to Mexico, I have fallen in love with its people and this city. However, my words did not reflect this respect. I am a guest in this country and I forgot to act as such.”

HE newest British chef Getting into hot water for insulting or meddling with national cuisines, including Jamie Oliver adding chorizo ​​to Spanish paella, Mary Berry adding white wine to her spaghetti bolognese, and Nigella Lawson putting cream in her carbonara.

In Mexico, where the food is considered a national treasure, the comments have been particularly sensitive.

“Mexicans are very defensive of their culture and traditions,” said Rodrigo Sierra, whose Instagram video reacting to Hart’s comments went viral. “I am confident that Richard Hart did not say this with malice or out of complete disrespect. What he did was make an extremely ignorant comment without considering the consequences.”

The remarks come at a tense time in Mexico City, where many accuse foreign arrivals of driving up rents for locals; This led to angry and at times violent protests in the capital.

Commentators particularly noted Hart’s criticism. bolillo, A white roll that’s a staple of everyday Mexican meals, whether you’re making it to make tortas or wiping away remnants of traditional dishes.

“ bolillo “It’s a popular bread, it’s a bread that serves most Mexicans, the lower class, the middle class, the upper class, but it’s a cheap bread because it has to be cheap, it’s a practical bread, it’s an everyday bread,” Sierra said and continued: “To classify it as an ‘ugly’ bread just because it serves the needs of a population that can’t spend 100 pesos on the bread that this baker sells in his own bakery seems to me to be a very poor perspective.”

Sierra noted that there are more than 600 types of bread in Mexico. pan de muerto It is made for Day of the Dead celebrations and placed on altars in memory of the deceased.

“Bread is part of our culture… It’s an important part of the rituals of Mexicans,” he added. “Just because you’re talking about the type of bread you have, you can’t say that bread doesn’t have a culture, or that Mexicans don’t have a bread culture. To say that if we don’t have European bread, we don’t have a bread culture is a very Eurocentric perspective.”