Patterico's Pontifications

9/25/2015

The Ubiquitous “Indian Restaurant Writes ‘White PPL’ on Order After White Guy Orders Mild Curry” Story

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:22 am



If you have Facebook or an Internet connection you may have seen this story. Listen: it’s something to talk about if you don’t want to spend the day talking about John Boehner.

Our culture of taking offense continues apace:

An Indian restaurant in west London has apologised to a customer for marking his receipt with the words “white ppl” after he requested a mild curry.

Valentine Restaurant in Southall said the mix-up was a misunderstanding rather than a comment on the race of the customer, because “ppl” was its shorthand for “milk”.

The note, added underneath the order of a venison curry, read ***VERY MILD, WHITE PPL***. Restaurant owner Ruby Kandasamy said that it was a reminder for the kitchen to use “a white sauce made from milk, single cream, coconut milk and spices we add to our dishes when a curry is requested mild”.

If this happened to me, I might wonder whether “PPL” stood for something else. But even if I didn’t, it would merit a chuckle, and a good story to tell friends and family — not a full-on whine that becomes an internationally circulated story.

Here’s an interesting question for discussion. Let’s take the restaurant owner at her word, that they really meant “milk” when they said “PPL.” It had occurred to them previously that this might be misinterpreted, but now they know. While it’s ridiculous for this guy to make a federal case out of it, it’s not crazy for him to interpret the message on the order slip as referring to “white people”; I think most of us would probably take it that way, and laugh. Due to the acknowledged potential for misinterpretation, and their newfound realization that they may be inadvertently sending the wrong message, the restaurant says they are going to change how they denote “milk” on their orders, to avoid misunderstandings:

Ms Kandasamy told the newspaper she was sorry “for any inconvenience and misunderstanding” and that the restaurant would be changing the way it marked mild orders.

Should they? READER POLL!

Should the restauarant change what it calls “milk”?

Yes, it’s an easy way to avoid misunderstandings.
No, they should keep the same terminology.

Poll Maker

UPDATE: There is such a thing as “white PPL curry!” Thanks to Amy.

73 Responses to “The Ubiquitous “Indian Restaurant Writes ‘White PPL’ on Order After White Guy Orders Mild Curry” Story”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (fecd9b)

  2. #FirstWorldProblems

    redc1c4 (75622b)

  3. No, they should write: “Mild!!! For white people.”

    nk (dbc370)

  4. Hey, go into a restaurant that specializes in very spicy latino or asian food and see who orders the food less spicy and who orders the food very spicy. The ones that order it very spicy are more likely to be the latinos or asians, while the ones that order it less spicy are more likely to be white white. It is what it is. And yes, I would point at my daughter and laugh. They just called her white for ordering the food a lot less spicy than it normally comes! And she’d laugh right back.

    The perpetually offended always find something to wet themselves over.

    John Hitchcock (26066a)

  5. “Die, Bart, die!”

    -Sideshow Bob.

    Sideshow Bob explained that his tatto that said “Die, Bart, die!” was misunderstood since it was only German for “the, Bart, the.”

    felipe (b5e0f4)

  6. They should serve the whiner the extra spicy curry the next time.

    Dan S (94f399)

  7. Greetings:

    Wait, what ??? You people are upset over “White PPL” when these raging Hindus offed Bambi for their stinking curry ???

    11B40 (0f96be)

  8. There’s a missing option on that poll: “It’s none of our business.”

    Seriously, let them run their restaurant the way they choose. We shouldn’t tell them what to do any more than the whiny customer should. It’s really, truly, NONE OF OUR BUSINESS.

    Robin Munn (b9f9fb)

  9. Mild curry?? Like de-caf coffee: why bother?

    My greatest disappointments in this venue are ordering dishes claiming to be curry and find them weak-kneed in that regard. Avoid spices– go to Marie Callander’s or Denny’s.

    Gramps, the original (bc022b)

  10. There’s no good way to communicate desired piquancy, though this approach made me laugh. This restaurateur is better than many I patronize, whose reflex is simply to provide “white ppl” levels of heat, without bothering to inquire about desired heat. I love dining out, but I’d never want to work in a restaurant.

    And what a nice Friday post – with a silly poll tagged on, no less! Thank you.

    ThOR (a52560)

  11. nk @3 and John H. @ 4
    That was the first thought to spring to my mind.

    kishnevi (9cb6b5)

  12. While it’s ridiculous for this guy to make a federal case out of it. . .

    Begging your pardon, but this happened in London, so isn’t he actually making a royal case of it?

    JVW (ba78f9)

  13. Point, JVW!

    felipe (b5e0f4)

  14. About 25 years ago I patronized a very good Mexican restaurant who had three levels of spiciness to their green chile: the mildest was called “gringo,” the medium was called “mestizo,” and the hot was called “cholo.” This restaurant is no longer in business, but I wouldn’t imagine they would get away with this” blatant racism” in these hyper-sensitive days.

    JVW (ba78f9)

  15. I voted yes because they should change the sign for white milk to “white”. That’ll learn’em.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27)

  16. If “racist” was written down, instead, we would have been given a completely different story.

    felipe (b5e0f4)

  17. What about black folks who don’t like spicy? Racists!

    gbear (fad6d1)

  18. What about black folks who don’t like spicy? Racists!
    gbear (fad6d1) — 9/25/2015 @ 9:29 am

    They’re the lucky ones. They get to be white for a meal.

    John Hitchcock (26066a)

  19. Do you want spicy in a plain brown wrapper? I got that covered.

    4th Power

    Click the link. You won’t be disappointed.

    John Hitchcock (26066a)

  20. I used to routinely go to a nearby Thai restaurant with coworkers where the food could be ordered Mild, “White People Spicy”, “Hot” and “Thai Hot.”

    This amused my black coworkers to no end, and they happily ordered “White People Spicy” but didn’t bother any of us white folks.

    Because the food was awesome.

    Pious Agnostic (7eb3b0)

  21. My god…
    mild curry is made of white ppl!

    CayleyGraph (dfcefe)

  22. If they would automatically assign someone to mild curry based on who they seemed to be, that wold be one thing. At worst, what you have hear is a reminder to be extra sure to make the curry mild, because of the type of customer this is.

    I would actually be inclined to believe that PPL didn’t stand for “People” but this article does not explain how a sauce made from “milk, single cream, coconut milk and spices” became PPL.

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2689655/Social-media-speak-The-30-new-abbreviations-dominating-way-young-people-communicate-one-another.html

    PPL: People

    PPL maybe could stand for PayPal.

    Sammy Finkelman (2972ba)

  23. I must disagree with Robin’s comment.

    The actual missing option in the poll is “The whiner who filed the complaint needs to be publicly humiliated. You know, pour encourager les autres.”

    PCachu (5376c0)

  24. Yeah, we need the names of the people who cried. We wouldn’t explode their twitter feeds and facebook pages or nothin’… wink wink, nudge nudge

    John Hitchcock (0098d2)

  25. I once went to lunch with some co-workers. We each got separate checks, and the waiter took our credit cards all up at once, and then came back to the table. “Which one of you is Paul?” he asked, reading the name off the credit card, and then handing it to each person as he went. “Who’s Phil? Here’s your card.” “Which one is Mike? Here’s your card.” But when he got to the card with “Samir” on it, he just handed the card to the one darker skinned fellow in our group and said, “Here you go, Samir.” We all had a big laugh about it.

    V the K (50ecbc)

  26. I don’t find it offensive. But I’m not a member of the perpetually offended SJW crowd.

    The SJWs are not offended by this because they are racists.

    egd (1ad898)

  27. That’s cause you have sense, egd. I keep telling people the SJW crowd are the worst kind of racists, self hating racists. They also preach the white guilt mantra which isn’t white guilt but rather liberal guilt because it’s not “whites” who feel guilty for anything it’s white liberals who feel guilty for everything.

    Rev. Barack Hussein Hoagie (f4eb27)

  28. I voted “Yes” because that’s what I’d do. But by no means do I feel the restaurant is under any obligation or is bad for NOT changing.

    Mitch (341ca0)

  29. Hoo boy. I’ve been accused of mangling the English language for the last 55 years, and I have never, in my life seen “ppl” substitute for “milk”. I mean really, who is so deficient in their native or second tongue that you can’t spell out the word for “milk”, and need to substitute with a short form of “people”?

    OTOH, I wouldn’t be asking for the mildest of curry.

    Like so many of these we’ve seen in the past, it’s just a “meh”. If you really feel insulted, simply don’t go back.

    Bill H (2a858c)

  30. दूध is hindi for milk. If you hold your head just right, you can see a “ppl” there.

    John Hitchcock (9708e8)

  31. I find it amusing, like when a co-worker said that “they do the chicken dance at all white peoples’ weddings.”

    tek (540217)

  32. I find it amusing, like when a co-worker said that “they do the chicken dance at all white peoples’ weddings.”

    Wait, we don’t?

    Pious Agnostic (4e1a81)

  33. The poll needs a third button for “who cares?”

    C. S. P. Schofield (ab2cdc)

  34. I completely approve of the note. I’m tired of getting my tonsils blistered with way too spicy food!

    However, as president of the National Coalition of Euro Americans, I am totally offended, if my outrage will score me a grant or two and a segment on MSNBC.

    Patricia (5fc097)

  35. No,They should keep running their business just as they always have been running just as they have always been running their business. If people come back they must be doing a darn good job.

    I am a white person, I do not mind if an Indian restaurant marks my order White MAN. As a white man I most likely(absolutely) do not have the depth of palate to appreciate the full depth of range of seasoning offered in many of the spicy dishes. Often for my orders I ask them to spice it up. I adamantly tell them that I really do enjoy very very spicy orders. Still when they do it I know it is not what they would consider really spicy.

    There was only one time, out of an Indian Restaurant in Springfield Massachusetts that the owner relented and said he would give me spicy. Wow, I got spicy food… Boy was it spicy but still as the owner said to me, it is still not what he would consider spicy. Here in Sweden I go to a restaurant where they spice things up which is a good compromise between my White ppl wife and myself.

    As a white man it is a safe bet for the proprietor of an Indian Restaurant to make a judgment call based on my ethnicity. Why should I have a problem with that?

    Paul in Sweden (aeed29)

  36. When did I install hindi script?

    पापेर्टिगेर (c2d6da)

  37. white people love spicy they’re called texans duh hello

    happyfeet (831175)

  38. When Soylent Green is the only thing served at restaurants anymore, you won’t be able to specify which kind of PPL.

    Dave (in MA) (b4894f)

  39. Re: #34 –

    Having the depth of palate to appreciate spicy foods has far more to do with which culture you grew up in than your genetics — for example, I know a British guy (white) who grew up in Jamaica who simply CANNOT find a restaurant that serves food hot enough for him. However, as you point out, skin color is often a useful marker for food culture, so restaurants routinely use it. The customer at that Indian restaurant who whined about it is just a crybaby and needs to grow up.

    Robin Munn (0dd1b2)

  40. PPL was just wrong. The waiter incorrectly identified a white jerkoff. Or perhaps she should have written “white Ahole”

    Comanche Voter (1d5c8b)

  41. I don’t claim to be a gourmet but after 40 years owning different styles of restaurants I have a little insight. There are two types of spicy foods: hot and umami. Umami is a Japanese word meaning a nice savory flavor. Unlike sweet, sour, salty and bitter umami is where depth of palate really comes in handy. And umami is the real depth of flavor found in many Asian foods, not heat. Blistering heat has no discernible flavor itself therefore it is paired with sweet or umami mostly. BTW, when the heat of the dish over powers the flavor of the dish the heat’s too hot. So when Indians or Koreans or Thais or anyone else insists on eating foods that cause 3rd degree burns I submit they don’t like what they’re eating and cover it up by using overpowering heat. Face it, if something is so hot you break into a sweat eating it all you’re tasting is hot not food. BTW, I’m married to a Korean and eat hot food all the time from kim-chee on up, Thai peppers, ghost peppers et al. But hot does not enhance the flavor of food, salt does, hot just covers it up.

    Imam Mohammad Hoagie (f4eb27)

  42. @39- That might not work here as the PPL involved did not reveal his true nature until after the fact.

    This could have been avoided by the restaurant having a policy of making editorial comments in the native language rather than a language understood by the customer.

    Gramps, the original (bc022b)

  43. Hoagie, trust me, I love eating food that makes me sweat. And I love the flavors within the heat. And I do taste the flavors.

    John Hitchcock (c752c0)

  44. skin color is often a useful marker for food culture,

    True dat! I had an upscale Italian restaurant in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia in the late 90’s and when a black guest would come in to dine instead of a basket of fresh baked Italian bread we’d leave a basket of buttermilk biscuits. Also instead of broccoli rabe and risotto black patrons would be served collard greens and grits.

    Food culture has to do with where you were born or live not skin color. My wife eats mostly Korean food. The kids and grand kids eat pizza with me. They are all yellow as a skin color.

    Imam Mohammad Hoagie (f4eb27)

  45. I know you’re no liar John Hitchcock so I do trust what you say. If you can taste the flavor past the heat good for you, many people can’t. That’s what I’m saying. “Hot” is not a taste or flavor, it’s a temperature. And just as some foods are better a tad spicy, too spicy can ruin a delicious meal. I’ve known guys like you who would eat blistering hot food and taste it. You’re few and far between.

    Imam Mohammad Hoagie (f4eb27)

  46. I hope you realize #43 was sarcasm.

    Imam Mohammad Hoagie (f4eb27)

  47. Earl and Maynard were down at the VFW, drunk, as usual, sitting on their stools at the bar. And the next thing you know, Maynard pukes on himself..

    So Maynard says to Earl, “My wife just bought me this shirt. She’ll kill me.”

    Earl says, “Don’t worry, just tell ‘er I did it”. Earl reaches in his wallet, takes out a twenty and puts it in Maynard’s chest pocket. “Tell her”, he says, “that I gave you twenty dollars for a new shirt.”

    So, Maynard goes home and his wife gives him Hell. “But, honey, Earl did it!… and he gave me twenty dollars for a new shirt”. Maynard reaches in his pocket, pulls out the money, and hands it to his wife. Wife says, “there’s forty dollars here”.

    ‘Right, says Maynard, ‘that’s because Earl pooped in my pants, too’.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  48. No, they should write: “Mild!!! For white people.”
    nk (dbc370) — 9/25/2015 @ 7:41 am

    Correct. They should also write: “Hot!!! For white people.”

    The first time I sat down for a home cooked meal with my Chinese fiancee and future mother-in-law, my f-m-i-l was doing the cooking and she made it with the hot sauce on the side because my fiancee likes it mild and f-m-i-l likes it hot. I like it really hot. At dinner my sauce was great, really spicey, like what is called volcanic here. Then I tried my fiancee’s sauce and turned red as a beet, coughed and sweated profusely for about 10 minutes. I never tried my f-m-i-l’s sauce.

    Dusty (5b41dc)

  49. Dusty, I would love the opportunity to be laughed at in such a situation. I don’t think I’ll get that opportunity, though.

    John Hitchcock (c752c0)

  50. My wife is Mexican and eats serrano chiles like carrot sticks. Bite of pepper and bite of food (tortilla used as utensil). She can pile on the slaw with the habanero, but asian spices can smoke her out.
    She hates indian spices, says they are too hot

    steveg (fed1c9)

  51. ???
    Imam Mohammad Hoagie (f4eb27)

    You have a spiritual experience overnight????

    kishnevi (28fa9f)

  52. Dusty, I would love the opportunity to be laughed at in such a situation. I don’t think I’ll get that opportunity, though.

    [John Hitchcock (c752c0) — 9/26/2015 @ 9:53 am]

    What, seeing that qualification on an order? Same here.

    Dusty (5b41dc)

  53. here’s a super easy recipe it was how i introduced myself to harissa which comes to us from the north african peoples

    if you can handle serrano then you’re in the zone for this pls to enjoy

    happyfeet (831175)

  54. An Indian restaurant in west London has apologised to a customer for marking his receipt with the words “white ppl”

    This story is different from the usual ones since the political correctness is accommodating a so-called non-minority person instead of a so-called person of color, or whatever. Whether the aggrieved is one or the other, or the defendant is one or the other, the nonsense of delicate sensibilities being hurt during this era of liberalism run amok is foolish and idiotic.

    Such cases are why a loud-mouth, big-mouth along the lines of Donald Trump, who aims his ire at political correctness gone berserk, circa 2015 and beyond, is striking a chord with a variety of Americans.

    Mark (f713e4)

  55. The topic of restaurants and minorities brings up the subject of tipping. I was talking to my sister about this.

    When we were in Brussels last week, my friends who were driving, parked the car while I checked both of us into the hotel and got the porter to take our bags to our rooms. We had two rooms side by side. There were seven bags and I tipped him 15 Euros. I later commented to my friend about the tip and he told me that I had tipped way too much. I though 15 Euros was a little bit much but he did have all those bags and two rooms to deal with so I did not consider it out of line.

    For the next four days that we were there, that porter was my best friend. He could not do enough. When we checked out and had to wait for them to get the car out of the garage, he stayed with us even in the rain until the car came and he loaded them into the car for us.

    Larry Elder used to do a radio show on why blacks do not get good service in restaurants. They don’t tip.

    My youngest daughter worked in college as a waitress and is a fanatic on tipping. If she is with me she insists on tipping 25% of the bill.

    My sister told me of an incident at a restaurant we used to go to in Chicago where the owner once went to a black couple who were just coming in and told them they were not welcome because they did not tip his waitresses and no one wanted to wait on them, She said she expected an outburst but they just turned and left.

    Mike K (90dfdc)

  56. I agree, Mike K. Also, I think your tip was appropriate since 15 Euros is just under $17. I tip a minimum of $1 a bag and would probably tip $2 a bag in a situation like that. As for American restaurants, I won’t short-change the waiter any more than I would bargain over the price of a meal. If I can’t afford to pay everyone, I don’t go.

    DRJ (521990)

  57. I very much doubt Obama has ever left a tip, even with someone else’s money. He’s not the type to consider it.

    Kevin M (25bbee)

  58. Larry Elder used to do a radio show on why blacks do not get good service in restaurants. They don’t tip.

    I’ve read about that phenomenon and how even black waiters or waitresses will try to palm off black customers onto other servers in a restaurant. I’ve also read that such patrons tend to be the most demanding or having a mindset of self-entitlement to the hilt. (BTW, I’ve seen examples of this personally over the past few years.) But is such behavior all that surprising when black America is by far the most mindlessly, monolithically liberal or leftist of any in this society? Or for having ideological biases that are notorious for fostering an attitude of self-entitlement, irresponsibility, dishonesty and a two-faced veneer of compassion and egalitarianism.

    I believe even liberal presidents like Bill Clinton or the current mess in the White House, or left-leaning politicians overall, are known to be lousy tippers, but also to have a reputation for showing up late to meetings or appointments—eg, the current leftwing mayor of New York City and also the current and previous Democrat occupants of the Oval Office—which is another form of being inconsiderate to the people surrounding oneself.

    Mark (f713e4)

  59. Nearly 30 years ago, my wife and I traveled to a business conference in NYC from NorCal. We had a hellaciously long and tiring trip. When we finally got to the hotel (Marriot Marquis, I think), a fellow, came out and took our bags from the trunk of the taxi and put them on the hotel cart. Not thinking that was his sole job, I thanked him and started walking twoward the lobby. He called out to me and said, “I won’t be seeing you again, sir” I turned back and looked at him and said, “promise?” and laughed, whereupon my wife elbowed me and I reached into my wallet for a fiver and handed it to him.

    In restaurants, I tip 15% if reasonably acceptable service and 20% if exceptional.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  60. The topic of restaurants and minorities brings up the subject of tipping. I was talking to my sister about this.

    I don’t know, I may be considered a poor tipper anymore. I usually figure on 2.00/person when I go to my local greasy spoon, 3.00/person if the place is a bit more upscale or the service is really good. You don’t mind just so long as the food was good and the service was decent. I’ve worked with a lot of people who depend on tips to make their jobs pay well, and I can sympathize with the waitress or the slot rep who knocks themselves out for you, and you sit there so parsimonious that the Jefferson on that nickel you’re squeezing is crying in pain.

    Bill H (2a858c)

  61. I have found that the most effective way to have my Indian food that I order be the spicy-level that I enjoy is to ask that it be as spicy as it can such that I can still fully taste the protein ingredient(s)’ flavours … way back last millennium, in Glasgow, I had a Prawn Vindaloo where I could enjoy the full flavours of the prawns, and it had me sweating by the 4th or 5th mouthful – it was truly delicious …

    And I still have warm memories of about 12 hours later, too – not unpleasant, just unexpected … now, *that* was an interesting additional feature …

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  62. I do have to ask, however …

    WTF is a “restauarant” ?

    “Should the restauarant change what it calls “milk”?”

    (discriminating grin)

    Alastor (2e7f9f)

  63. if you live in or around Lost Angels #Failifornia, keep an eye out for Salsa Sinaloa products.

    the green habanero sauce is pretty “white PPL”, but the other products, other than the chilies in vinegar, are awesome… even the chipotle sauce. lots of flavor, lots of heat. you’ll likely have to check your local mercado or carneceria for them, but, IMNSHO, it’s worth the effort.

    (the web page is not up to date, btw)

    redc1c4 (71fd5d)

  64. PS: there’s nothing wrong with the chilies in vinegar, other than being a tad salty, but they aren’t very spicy either.

    redc1c4 (71fd5d)

  65. my wife associates the type of heat and layers of flavors in Indian food as a cover up for spoiled food.
    She can handle Thai heat

    steveg (fed1c9)

  66. Sorry for being redundant. From Amy’s post It’s a recipe. The “white” is from the color of the sauce. The PPL is the airport code for the location it’s from, namely Phaplu, a town in the Solukhumbu district of Nepal.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  67. UPDATE: There is such a thing as “white PPL curry!” Thanks to Amy.

    Patterico (fecd9b)

  68. Alastor,

    Yes, you’re right, there is a misspelling in the poll. Sigh. I can edit posts but I can’t edit a poll. Mistakes like this usually occur as I am rushing out the door in the morning…

    Patterico (fecd9b)

  69. Black Nepalese
    It gets you weak in teh knees

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  70. Reminds me of Sambo’s restaurant chain, being driven out of business because of mistaken identity, coupled with the gargantuan chip perpetually riding on the shoulder of black Americans (and their liberal enablers).

    Sam Battistone, Sr. and Newell Bohnett went into business together in 1957. Though the name was taken from portions of the names of its founders, the chain soon found itself associated with The Story of Little Black Sambo.
    Which is about an Indian boy out smarting some tigers seeking to eat him.

    Battistone and Bohnett were looking for a theme anyhow, so they ran with it in over 1,000 outlets in 47 states.

    Enter the perpetually offended to sue their company out of existence. Talk about thin skinned.

    Don’t ever tell me about Trump having a thin skin, because I know what that looks like. He ain’t it.

    papertiger (c2d6da)

  71. Trump is more thin-skinned than Baraka, and that’s hard to do.

    John Hitchcock (36559e)

  72. I’ll rebut John’s off the cuff bs with a video.

    President Obama Roasts Donald Trump At White House Correspondents’ Dinner!

    papertiger (c2d6da)


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