Some Ina Garten Fans Call Her Out Over Inaccurate Barefoot Contessa Recipe Name: ‘Do Better, Ina’
Ina Garten’s fans are calling out the Barefoot Contessa star for a recipe named Israeli salad. The Food Network host posted a photo of the dish on Instagram and many of her followers urged her to correct the inaccurate name.
Ina Garten shared her Israeli vegetable salad recipe on Instagram
On July 28, Garten posted a photo on Instagram of her Israeli vegetable salad as part of a weeklong lineup of recipes that are no-cook options for hot summer days.
“TOO HOT TO COOK WEEK!! Israeli Vegetable Salad — a big puddle of creamy lemony hummus with a crunchy tomato and cucumber salad piled on top,” she explained in the caption.
“It’s so satisfying and you don’t even have to turn on the oven!” she added.
How to make the Barefoot Contessa Israeli salad recipe
The recipe is a combination of homemade hummus topped with fresh garden veggies.
Garten makes the hummus by combining tahini, lemon juice, garlic, cumin, sriracha, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a food processor and blending it until smooth and spreadable.
In a bowl, she combines cucumber, tomatoes, bell pepper, red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.
To assemble the salad, the Barefoot Contessa star spreads hummus onto a platter then mounds the vegetable salad on top, sprinkles mint and salt on top, and drizzles it with olive oil. Garten serves it with pita bread.
The full recipe is available on the Barefoot Contessa website.
Some fans called out Ina Garten about the recipe name
While Garten’s post got plenty of love for the easy, fresh, and healthy no-cook summer option, some of her followers pointed out that the recipe name is inaccurate.
“Ina, this is not an Israeli salad!” one person commented. “It’s a very typical Palestinian, Arabic salad!”
Another follower commented, “This is a typical Egyptian salad for thousands of years, definitely before Israel ever existed! At least say Middle Eastern.”
One commenter said they didn’t want to get “political” but wanted the Food Network host to get it right. “FYI! My Palestinian grandmother used to make this salad every night for us before Israel was established,” they wrote. “I hate to make this political but you can’t come up with such names without doing some research of the region and get your info straight.”
One of Garten’s followers explained why the recipe name matters. “Food is so strongly tied to cultural pride and cultural recognition. It’s wonderful other cultures have taken a liking to this dish, as it is very tasty, but it’s important to source it as a staple of Palestinian cuisine so as to not mistakenly appropriate our culture. Not recognizing our food contributes to and supports the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and our culture. So glad this dish is being shared, and let’s continue spotlighting Palestinian dishes.”
One fan simply said, “Do better, Ina.”
