Chef who cooked tofu blasted for ‘cultural appropriation’ by angry vegan

A chef was accused of “cultural appropriation” for cooking with tofu as a non-vegan.

The ridiculous exchange was posted in r/gatekeeping, a subreddit dedicated to sharing examples of “when someone takes it upon themselves to decide who does or does not have access or rights to a community or identity.” This entitled critic’s accusation certainly fits the bill.

The text screenshots, which have since garnered 1,897 replies, begin with what seems to be an innocent compliment. “Hey! I loved your tofurkey dinner recipe you shared, how long have you been vegan?”

The chef then replies with a thank you, and clarifies that they’re not vegan. “Oh vegetarian?”

“No, I just don’t like the taste and texture of most meats,” the chef explains.

A chef was accused of “cultural appropriation” for cooking with tofu as a non-vegan.Photo Credit: bitchyswiftie/Reddit.

“So you’re like pretending to be a vegan cause its cool and in? I’ve been vegan for 3 years now and it was the best decision I’ve made in my life. It’s not hip or cool. It’s important.”

“Tofu is strictly for vegans vegetarians,” they continue. “You are basically admitting to appropriating us and stealing what we need for your own selfish use.”

“With all due respect, I’m not appropriating anything,” the clearly frustrated chef asserts. “I’m eating food I like you absolute f***.”

Reddit users are understandably baffled by the exchange.

“Is there a tofu shortage that I don’t know about?” one user queried.

“A vegan telling people to substitute tofu with meat? S*** and I thought I have seen everything,” another wrote.

One Redditor points out the obvious — that most vegans would actually be pleased that non-vegans are opting to consume less meat at all.

“Getting meat-eaters to eat more plant-based food is literally one of the biggest tenets of veganism,” they said. “What a jerk.”

Meanwhile others addressed the hypocrisy in the accuser’s “appropriation” argument: Tofu is a traditional staple in Asian cuisine, something the vegan clearly hadn’t considered prior to their demanding that the soy-based product is strictly for vegans and vegetarians.

“My sister in law tried to pull that shit on me once. She accused me of eating tofu because it was cool, in front of her friends,” one user wrote. “I reminded her I was Asian and have been eating tofu since I was eating solids.”

“This person would lose their mind if they found out tofu is a pretty much daily eaten food in Asia,” another concurred.

Indeed, per BBC Good Food, tofu originated in China over 2,000 year ago when a Chinese cook accidentally curled soy milk. Originally called “okabe,” tofu was introduced to Japan in the eighth century, adopting its modern name of “tofu” in 1400.

But sure, it’s only for modern-day vegans.