US Professor’s tweet slams Indian food as ‘terrible’; Zomato calls for a dislike button

If you’ve been on Twitter long enough, you’ve probably witnessed several foot-in-the-mouth moments, coming from established stars and well-known personalities as well as the regular user.

The latest one to join the list is an American professor, Tom Nichols, whose ‘controversial food opinion’ landed him in the middle of a storm. What’s more? The circumstances were so dire that it made food delivery giant, Zomato jump in and ask for a ‘dislike’ button.

It all started with a user, Jon Becker, asking Twitterati to share their controversial food opinions. As expected, netizens poured their heart out on the post and shared views, several of which left Twitter divided.


One user raised a seemingly valid point about walnuts and raisins.



While another voiced his concerns over lettuce and why all of us should be brave enough to stop eating it.


And then came a tweet from Nichols, that earned him the wrath of desi Twitter.

Controversial opinions on Twitter are commonplace. But desi Twitter was in no mood to spare Nichols.

The gastronomists were offended. So were the connoisseurs and lovers of Indian food. Indians on the micro-blogging platform unanimously questioned if Nichols’s taste buds were doing their job right and wondered how the man could lead a flavourless existence.

The host of the US cooking competition ‘Top Chef’, Padma Lakshmi, slammed the author-professor for his opinions.


Shashi Tharoor’s son, Ishaan, too, joined the conversation,calling Nichols’s palate ‘stunted’. “So, Indians in Tom’s world are also “pretending” that their cuisine is terrible? Or do they not exist in Tom’s sense of community?”, Tharoor asked.

Food delivery app Zomato went as far as asking for a ‘dislike’ button on Twitter.


Twitter users came for Nichols in hoards after his tweet went viral.





Oh, and it was not just Indians who called him out. People from all nationalities and cultures came to defend Indian food.


WIth desi Twitter taking Nichols to task, it will be interesting to see if he will defend his views on Indian cuisine.