The Tyranny of Cheap Eats

 “The Tyranny of Cheap Eats” essay from Chef Alex Stupak, Founding and Executive Chef of Empellón & Micha in NY, in his book Tacos: Recipes and Provocations.
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“In the corporate world, there's a term for the intangible impasse that keeps minorities and women out of upper management positions. They call it a 'glass ceiling'. In the food world, we have similar issues: racial and gender disparity… a real problem with the way we think about and value 'ethnic' cooking… Mostly I’m asking you to ditch the idea that Mexican Cuisine, that any cuisine actually, has to abide by some bluebook valuation that cuts it off at the knees… To brand a cuisine with such bottomless complexity ‘cheap’ is to support an ethnocentric appraisal system… It’s wrong. It’s ugly. It’s a missed opportunity”.