Cultural misappropriation: Ghee butter, Chai tea,

We saw ghee first in the upscale predominantly white farmer’s market on Hope street. The vendor selling ghee waxed elloquent about health benefits of ghee and offered it for tasting on a piece of bread. Unusual choice.  I wasn’t quite sure what to think about it. Then I saw a shelf full of flavoured glee bottles in Whole Foods and WTF is the only exclamation I could conjure.

The double name as usual – Naan bread, samosa potstickers, ghee butter ….
No no no! It is not spreadable butter. Ghee is not butter. That is the whole point. There were some ‘ghee oils’ in that shelf. not sure if I would rather take that than calling it butter.

Ghee has fallen victim to the health craze unfortunately and seems to have captured people’s imagination. Himalayan salt, Turmeric, and Vanilla were the offerings when I visited last week – two flavours to bring the healthy Indian to merge with the newly found health food and the vanilla to give some ‘I know this’ comfort to the regular American I guess.
(I am disturbed by vanilla chai but once again this tops it)