French restaurant Dépôt Légal sparked heavy criticism online for selling an “Asian-inspired” salad named after a racial slur.
Priced at €19 ($21), the salad comes with spring rolls, prawns, a sauce of ginger and coconut milk, and a generous serving of racism.
The controversial dish, listed on the Parisian restaurant’s menu as “Tching Tchong Salade,” generated backlash after a netizen tweeted about it on Monday.
En 2019, t’es oklm dans un resto et tu tombes sur ce genre de « blague »… Pour info c’est chez Dépôt Légal Paris 2ème pic.twitter.com/TmmULtQRn8
The establishment’s resident chef Christophe Adam addressed the accusations of racism with an apology during an interview with Asian magazine Koï, calling it “an enormous inexcusable stupidity.”
Je ne digère pas les insultes envers les Asiatiques en salade ou pas @chefpatissier en 2019 afficher « Tching Tchong » sur un menu en ignorant que c’est une injure pour tout un continent, vous voulez envoyer quel message à votre clientèle ? https://t.co/SIxDZCMTpm
Un restaurant Christophe Adam, aka le pâtissier derrière @Leclairdegenie. Ça “révolutionne les éclairs” mais pas l’humour apparemment https://t.co/67yOgh8ZOA
Adam also took to social media to explain that while the name was chosen “clumsily,” the restaurant had no racist intent.
“Last night, we were challenged by the title of our Asian-flavored salad that struck many people from the Asian community but not only,” he wrote in French. “We would like to clarify that this name was chosen very clumsily for its Asian resonance and not to display a racist side that absolutely does not exist within the Legal Deposit and more generally at the heart of the society L’Eclair de Génie (.. .) We, of course, condemn with the utmost firmness the messages of hatred and racism against any community. “
The chef also said the phrase “Tching Tchong” was already removed from the restaurant’s menu, noting that they “did not realize the harsh, hurtful and pejorative connotation of this expression.”
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