Panang may come in all shapes and sizes, but an online food site committed vile defamation of the curry – and all of Thailand, apparently.
Travel and food guide Taste Atlas has challenged Thais to post photos of authentic panang curry after its misrepresentation of the dish threatened to undo the global order.
“Our photo resulted in a lot of anger from Thai people. Non-standard tofu, even less standard lime and peanut decorations were too much for Thai culinary puritans,” Taste Atlas wrote. “‘Don’t f*ck with our cuisine’ – they said, and we respect that anger!”
It was a miserable looking red curry with slices of lime, big chunks of tofu, and peanut garnish attached to a Dec. 30 Taste Atlas story naming “phanaeng” the world’s sixth best dish that sent Thai foodies into a spicy froth. The misrepresentation drew fury from thousands of aggrieved Thais who brigaded the post to unleash digital Spartan hell.
“The hell is that, phanaeng from the multiverse? earth-2 phanaeng? I’m Thai and never seen one like that,” Supalerk Prarukkamanon said of the dastardly dish.
The curry caused Nonglak Visittanon to ask whether his entire life was a lie: “Living in Thailand my whole life … never seen a Phanaeng like this picture. Did I get kidnapped without me knowing?????”
Compounding its sins, was the reverse shade Taste Atlas included in its follow-up post, saying the offending version was “too much for Thai culinary puritans.”
It might have also been a savvy way to (coconut) milk even more out of the curryfuffle, as the original post was shared more than 5,000 times, compared to the dozen or so on most of the site’s stories. Or maybe outrage is the real currency of Food Atlas: a Sunday post about Colombian corn cakes condemned as inaccurate was shared 2,000 times.
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