Bigotry Is Just One Form Of Bad Taste

I’m dating a guy who grew up in a rural area with pretty much exclusively western cuisines. There is a good Indian restaurant in town; we go and he likes it. A few months later, his parents come to visit, and he wants to take them to the lunch buffet at the restaurant. He and I explain what the dishes at the buffet are and he recommends ones he thinks they’ll like. He’s very excited to introduce his parents to this cuisine that he finds delicious.

Throughout the whole meal, he and I are happily eating, recommending different dishes, and commenting on how good everything is. His parents first try some naan bread and basmati rice; they don’t like the bread and declare that the cooks don’t know what they’re doing because there are whole spices left in the rice, and we could choke on them.

Then, we get to chicken tikka masala. His mom scrapes all the sauce off after tasting it and declaring “something isn’t right about the tomato sauce.” Then, she sees the pieces of chicken.

Mom:
“What kind of meat is this?”

Me:
“I think it’s thighs.”

Mom:
“No, chicken thighs don’t look like that. What is this?”

Boyfriend:
“Mom, it’s thighs. They just cut them into smaller pieces.”

Mom:
*Shouting* “UGH! No. These are butts! They’re feeding us chicken butts! This is disgusting!”

My boyfriend and I are extremely embarrassed and decide to just finish what we’re eating, pay, and leave.

Boyfriend:
“Mom, try some of this; it’s rice pudding. It’s really good.”

His mom puts a spoonful in her mouth and then leans over to let it dribble all over her plate.

Mom:“Ugh! This is disgusting! And there is mold on this! How could you take us here?”

There were crushed pistachios on the rice pudding.

Throughout this whole ordeal, his father was sitting silently, taking a bite of this or that and quietly taking it out of his mouth. He obviously didn’t like anything but wasn’t making a scene.

We apologized profusely and got out, and as far as I know, he never tried to take his parents to a non-American food restaurant again.