Obama The Urdu Poetry Buff
A few weeks back, President Obama reminded everyone why he won the dishonor of elitist of the year in 2008 by bragging that he can cook Pakistani food and reads Urdu poetry.
That politically expedient boast to Dawn, an English-language newspaper in Pakistan, backfired on Obama last week. Jon Stewart of ‘The Daily Show’ used it as a punchline in a skit titled ‘That’s Great, Now Fix The Economy.’
The fact that Obama likes Pakistani food isn’t necessarily elitist. Enlightened rednecks are open to trying new foods simply because we like to eat.
One of my favorites is empire curry (pictured at left), a recipe my wife introduced me to years ago. It sounds like something a redneck would have invented but is actually a creation of the British, who were looking for ways to dilute the spiciness of Indian food when they expanded their empire into India.
The solution: Pile an array of fruits, vegetables and assorted snacks onto a pile of rice and curried meat, and top it all with a spread of sweet chutney. We love to make a party of it by having friends who have never heard of empire curry bring one topping each to a group dinner.
So like I said, it’s always fun to sample new foods.
But Urdu poetry? That’s about as elitist as you can get.
“
(Via The Enlightened Redneck.)