A Polite Furore: Irish Carbomb Cupcakes
I am a big fan of the blog Smitten Kitchen. It’s written by a talented cook who writes about the food she makes for her self and her site-photographer husband in her small New York kitchen. Her most recent entry bore the title “Irish Carbomb cupcakes,” a delicious concoction of chocolate, Guinness and Bailey’s. I’m notoriously insensitive to sensitive issues and frequently need explained to me why something said may be considered offensive by others, so I was delighted to find an example where I was actually ahead of the game.
The use of the title, which is the name of the well-known American cocktail from which the inspiration for the recipe is derived, stood unchallenged for quite some time as poster after poster cooed at that lusciousness of the sweet treats. Finally, this question arose in a post from “a Belfast baker” who asked what desserts celebrated the events in Gaza or the destruction of the World Trade Centre. Another poster made the point from the British perspective that the fact that much of the IRA’s funding came from America makes popular use of the name there even bitterer.
The joy of Smitten Kitchen was that the post did not lead to the sort of internet slanging match that is the usual result of this type of debate. Sure, a few people suggested that the posters calling foul needed to chill out, but the debate was mild and it was polite. To the site’s credit, it took a very short time for the title to be changed to “Chocolate, whiskey and beer cupcakes.”
Smitten Kitchen: civilised and tasty.
Irish Carbombs: offensive or over-sensitive?
The use of the title, which is the name of the well-known American cocktail from which the inspiration for the recipe is derived, stood unchallenged for quite some time as poster after poster cooed at that lusciousness of the sweet treats. Finally, this question arose in a post from “a Belfast baker” who asked what desserts celebrated the events in Gaza or the destruction of the World Trade Centre. Another poster made the point from the British perspective that the fact that much of the IRA’s funding came from America makes popular use of the name there even bitterer.
The joy of Smitten Kitchen was that the post did not lead to the sort of internet slanging match that is the usual result of this type of debate. Sure, a few people suggested that the posters calling foul needed to chill out, but the debate was mild and it was polite. To the site’s credit, it took a very short time for the title to be changed to “Chocolate, whiskey and beer cupcakes.”
Smitten Kitchen: civilised and tasty.
Irish Carbombs: offensive or over-sensitive?