A noted British baker has provoked a furore in Mexico by saying on a podcast the country does not “really have much of a bread culture”.
Richard Hart, who opened the Green Rhino bakery in Mexico City in June, also said the country’s wheat was “not good … completely highly processed, full of additives” and its sandwiches – tortas – were made “on these white ugly rolls that are pretty cheap and industrially made”.
The comments were made in April on the PopFoodie Radio podcast but went viral this month when they were picked up by food bloggers and commentators, who voiced outrage at the idea of a foreigner criticising their cuisine.
“He wants to be the Christopher Columbus of bread,” said pastry chef Tania Medina on TikTok. “It’s not fair for you to stomp on where you’re going to open, and even less so if it’s not your country and that country is welcoming you with so much affection, so much love.”
Hart, who has worked with Gordon Ramsay and René Redzepi of Noma restaurant in Copenhagen, issued an apology on Monday on Instagram. He said: “Since I moved to Mexico, I fell in love with the people and this city. However, my words did not reflect that respect – in this country I am a guest and I forgot to act like one.”
He is the latest British chef to land in hot water for insulting or meddling with national cuisines, including Jamie Oliver’s addition of chorizo to Spanish paella, Mary Berry adding white wine to spaghetti bolognese and Nigella Lawson putting cream in her carbonara.
In Mexico, where food is considered a national treasure, the comments struck a particularly sensitive nerve.
“Mexicans are very defensive of their culture and their traditions,” said Rodrigo Sierra, whose Instagram video reacting to Hart’s comments went viral. “I’m sure Richard Hart didn’t mean it maliciously or out of complete disrespect. What he did do was make a very ignorant comment, without considering the consequences.”
The remarks come at a tense moment in Mexico City, where many have accused foreign arrivals of driving up rent for locals, a phenomenon that has led to furious and at times violent protests in the capital.
Commentators took particular issue with Hart’s criticism of the bolillo, a white roll that is a staple of everyday Mexican food, whether for making tortas or mopping up the remnants of traditional dishes.
“The bolillo is a popular bread, a bread that has served most Mexicans, lower classes, middle class, upper class, but it’s a cheap bread because it has to be cheap, it’s a practical bread, it is an everyday bread,” said Sierra. “Classifying it as an ‘ugly’ bread just because it serves the needs of a population that can’t spend 100 pesos on the bread that this baker sells in his bakery seems to me like a very poor point of view.”
Sierra noted that Mexico had more than 600 kinds of bread, including pan de muerto, which is made for Day of the Dead celebrations and placed on altars honouring the deceased.
“Bread is embedded in our culture … it’s an important part of a Mexican’s ritual,” he added. “You can’t say that bread doesn’t have a culture or that Mexicans don’t have a bread culture just because you’re referring to your type of bread. It’s a very Eurocentric view to say that we don’t have a bread culture if we don’t have European breads.”
