Tieghan Gerard, a food influencer known as Half Baked Harvest, is facing backlash for what some are saying is a lack of respect for a culture’s cuisine — as well as appropriating it for her platform and not responding to criticism.
Gerard posted a video of her recipe, “25 Minute Banh Mi Rice Bowls,” on Instagram Tuesday, showing viewers how to make coconut rice, ginger-sesame ground chicken, pickled vegetables and cucumber salad. She mispronounced the name of the Vietnamese dish and grouped together various Asian ingredients as “banh mi.”
People were quick to comment on the inaccuracy of the recipe and her incorrect pronunciation. “You guys are going to love these banh mi rice bowls,” she said, pronouncing the dish as “bon-my,” when it’s pronounced as “bun-mee.”
Commenters said they were confused by the name of Gerard’s recipe since it was a rice-based dish using non-Vietnamese sauces and seasonings like Thai basil and sambal chili paste. Banh mi, meaning “bread,” is a short baguette generally topped with sliced meat, pickled carrots and daikon, chilis and cilantro.
“The ginger/sesame/honey flavors are definitely leaning more heavily into Japanese and Thai cuisine than Vietnamese. Especially the inclusion of Thai basil,” one commenter said on the video, which garnered 1.8 million views.
Hundreds of comments called out Gerard for the dish and her silence around the mispronunciation.
“I love you, your content and recipes. However, please acknowledge the mistake/ you’ve made here and not just sweep it under the rug. People make mistakes and that is OK. Ignoring after knowing what is right is NOT,” one person commented. “You have a platform, make it right.”
“How are you still not addressing this feedback? Makes what you said about listening to your followers seem super disingenuous,” another said.
Gerard, who has 5.2 million followers on Instagram, hasn’t acknowledged the backlash and has continued posting videos and…
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