Note to Coles Jamo, India is in Asia

They should just call it the SBS aisle.

johnboy said :

well there’s *nothing* asian about can tong.

Ah but kantong is another matter altogether..

How cosmopolitan society has become. I remember a time when all you could get was sweet and sour chicken simmer sauce.

Kind of agree with IP – in Aus, ‘Asian’ cuisine is SE Asian – Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, etc. ‘Indian’ cuisine s subcontinent cuisine (generally curry) – Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangla etc. Our dIfference from UK probably stems from the historic waves of migration to Aus and UK.

I think this signage is fine.

I can’t find any frybread, bison, beans or corn so it must be east-Indian food, not native American Indian. Can they please make it more specific and include some other categories please. I also think we should have the beers divided into foreign and local products so in my drunken stupor I don’t accidentally buy Carlsberg instead of VB?

I beg to differ. The Indian tectonic plate is really doing its own thing but if you were forced to group plates whose movement is linked it usually goes Eurasian and Indo-Australian.

India is geographically isolated by the Himalayas, which it is causing by smashing into Asia. That’s why its food is different. Buddhism got past the mountains because of some committed teachers and receptive audiences, (later on Islam and Christianity also benefitted from ships and the same luck) but daal did not because of the obvious problems.

There have also been some nasty earthquakes where the Indian and Australian plates appear to be separating. 🙁

So is Mexico, according just about every Colesworth I’ve been to in CBR/QBN.

The vast majority of what we call the middle east is in Asia too, but you don’t hear middle eastern food being called Asian. Now whilst of course India is in Asia, the use of the term Indian Foods is referring to the cuisine type not geography.

If anything Asian Foods is what is wrong, because Asian food, could be Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, Malay, Indonesian, Vietnamese and the list goes on. All very different of course.

I’d be more concerned if they have Gnocchi in the Pasta section.

FioBla said :

One had Club Obi Wan. The other had Pankot Palace (chilled monkey brain).

The one in between had catacombs.

OMG. THIS!!! 🙂

I must be thick – where is the prejudice?

“Asian food” is a meaningful label for kinds of food including soy sauce, stir-fries and noodles.
“Indian food” is another meaningful label for pappadums and strong sauces designed to cover the taste of off meat.

I have the feeling virtually everybody can understand that Coles sign.

Perhaps they should just have an aisle that says ‘Foreign Foods’,oh wait is there actually anything Australian made anymore??

IrishPete said :

Depends where you are – Australians call people from East Asia “Asian” and people from the Indian subcontinent “South Asian” “Curries”…
IP

FTFY

Solidarity said :

If you are a normal person, and you’re looking for food originating from India, you will go looking for the sign that says “Indian Food”.

Coles is just making things easier for the vast majority of people who shop there.

This. They are common terms. Go tell Asian Cafe or Asian Noodle House they’re also racist for not serving tandoori, korma, dahl etc.

IrishPete said :

Manus Isle? (Are there two Ns?)

no; just no ‘m’ if you’re a refugee…

Perhaps India is in Asia from a purely geographic point of view, but the food differs greatly from that of much of the rest of Asia. “Asia” is a pretty broad category considering the variety of styles and types available from the (geographical area of) Asia (not counting India), but not necessarily unreasonable – I assume that your issue it that the sign represents three categories which not comparable from each other – A country, a continent, and a specific type of food.

One had Club Obi Wan. The other had Pankot Palace (chilled monkey brain).

The one in between had catacombs.

IrishPete said :

whereas in the UK people from the subcontinent are referred to as Asian and I can’t remember what people from East Asia are referred to as.
IP

When it comes to food:
Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Balti and Indian are Indian.
Thai is Thai.
Japanese is confusing.
Everything else is a Chinky.

Oh, it’s your fault is it! I can’t find any of the Asian foods in Woolies now since they changed the sign and removed the words “Asian foods”.

I don’t even see how it can be racist, unless food has recently become a race?

Perhaps you’ll also want to have a go at those little stores run by, er, people from Asia, who call their stores “Asian Grocer” or “Asian Provisions” or similar?

How come Pasta isn’t described as Italian Food?