Help! I Can’t Believe My Son’s Friend Fed Him Indian Food Without Calling Me First.

[watersword]

Q. Inappropriate food: My son, “Chris,” is 9. A few weeks ago, we decided to open our bubble to include the family of “Neil,” Chris’s best friend. Both of Neil’s parents are doctors, so this seemed like a safe decision. Both parents were born and raised in India. We let Chris have dinner at their place the other night since both boys were having a great time together. When we came to pick up Chris, Neil’s mom recounted to me how much chicken curry and lentils and vegetables Chris ate. I couldn’t believe that they served my son spicy curries without even calling to ask us if that would be OK! I was taken aback and gently mentioned that spicy foods can be hard on small tummies, but it didn’t seem to register. Thankfully Chris didn’t get sick. My wife says to drop it because any conversation will look racial in nature and to only let the boys play at our place. Please help.

A: At the risk of taking the bait, you must realize that millions of people (presumably both of Neil’s parents, not to mention Neil himself) regularly eat lentils and vegetables as children in perfect safety. There’s something so grotesque about the infantilizing language of “gently informing someone”—especially when that someone is “two doctors”—about “small tummies,” coupled with the racist horror that your 9-year-old ate and enjoyed a few servings of chicken curry, one of the world’s most popular and adaptable dishes. Not all curries are spicy, and not all spices pack heat; your son ate a meal he enjoyed (one you didn’t have to prepare or clean up after ) and continued to enjoy good health for the rest of the evening. Neil’s parents didn’t take him to a ghost pepper festival and turn him loose. Your kid was not endangered by chicken curry, and your problem is not one that Neil’s parents can fix for you. Take your wife’s advice and let this go.

Comments

[lilysea]

If LW won't let their kid visit friends whose families eat spicy food...

...that's going to rule out many friends from a Latinix background

...many friends from a Chinese background

...many foods from a Singaporean background

...many friends from a Thai background

...many friends from a Malaysian background

...many friends from Africa

[ekaterinn]

And friends from Louisiana and the Deep South with traditions of spicy food!

[malkingrey]

Not to mention the Southwest. Or just about any place short of northern New England, which (much as I love it for other reasons) is still a place where they think that black pepper is an exotic spice.

[sporky_rat]

ABSOLUTELY will it knock friends from Louisiana and the Deep South out.

[watersword]

Cuisines, I note, influenced by Black foodways.