US man trashes Indian food as ‘subcontinental pound-of-spice slop,’ sparks debate
An American man has sparked a massive debate by trashing Indian food on social media as ‘subcontinental pound-of-spice slop’
An American man has sparked a massive debate by trashing Indian food on social media. X user Hunter Ash minced no words in his recent takedown. Besides painting the various regional cuisines of India under the same brush of “Indian food,” he also denounced it as “subcontinental pound-of-spice slop” - words that prompted accusations of racism.

In his X post, Ash said that loving Indian food is a sign of “PMC striverism,” mocking the aspirational behaviour of the Professional-Managerial Class. He added that Indian food fell short when compared to other countries like Korea and Japan.
The controversial take
“Loving Indian food is the best indicator of PMC striverism. Really? You tried Korean barbecue and sushi and French-prepared bone marrow and decided subcontinental pound-of-spice slop was amazing?” the X user asked.
His post received 1.6 million views on the microblogging platform. Many people disagreed with his take, while others agreed with parts of it. Thousands of viewers also rose up in defense of Indian food.
The reactions
“I like Indian food and I don't think I need to negatively polarise myself against it just because mass Indian migration is harmful,” a user wrote, referring to recent rise in anti-immigration sentiments.
“Tbh, the Indian food in the US is bottom tier compared to Japanese and Korean. If you're in London, you might have a better shot,” another opined. “This must be posted from America because it’s comically inaccurate in Britain,” a user named Mary agreed.
“I wouldn't put it in my top 5 national/regional cuisines, but they might have the best vegetarian spread in the game,” wrote one X user, which Hunter Ash conceded as a “fair” opinion.
“This take is garbage and you're uncultured,” one person said in the comments section.
(Also read: Australian woman trashes Indian food for using ‘dirt spices,' gets a lesson in colonial history)
ABOUT THE AUTHORSanya JainSanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More

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