But things like this make me proud to have Obama as president:
“‘I would love to visit. As you know, I had Pakistani roommates
in college who were very close friends of mine. I went to visit them when I was still in college; was in Karachi and went to Hyderabad. Their mothers taught me to cook,’ said Mr Obama.‘What can you cook?’
‘Oh, keema … daal … You name it, I can cook it. And so I have a great affinity for Pakistani culture and the great Urdu poets.’
‘You read Urdu poetry?’
‘Absolutely. So my hope is that I’m going to have an opportunity at some point to visit Pakistan,’ said Mr Obama.”
Via Wonkette, which also reports on the travails of the English only movement.
Comrade Stuck
Me too. But does it deserve it’s own thread?
Linkmeister
New photo op: Barack in a chef’s toque standing over a well-seasoned wok.
matoko_chan
From Sully.
The Moar You Know
SEEKRIT MOOOSLIM
This will have the “Manchurian Candidate” birthers in a white-hot frenzy by sundown.
Bad Horse's Filly
@Comrade Stuck: Hey it does if commenters can come up with some great recipes for these dishes he mentions. I’m up for something adventures in cooking.
Ash
Ask a Republican what a ghazal is, and they’d probably say it’s lion food.
gbear
You know that if you ran into this guy at a party you’d hate him by now. He probably spends weekends perfectly tuning the engines in his own cars and supervising the construction of his new geo-thermal heating system.
Comrade Stuck
@Bad Horse’s Filly:
Well, in that case. I’m always up for some good poetry and eastern dishes. The food isn’t bad either.
Svensker
Especially since our last president still has never heard of Urdu, let alone read any poetry written in that language.
Comrade Stuck
@Svensker:
My Pet Goat is universal in it’s appeal. Give the urban cowboy some credit. Geesh.
GregB
Pam Gellar’s tits just exploded.
-G
DougJ
Ouch.
Comrade Stuck
@DougJ:
I have been enlightened by the possibilities for this thread. My apologies sir.
Pam Gellar’s tits just exploded.
Jackie
@gbear: My first thought is that Michelle’s family didn’t stand a chance against him. A college kid that could endear himself that well to a roommates mama only got better with time.
Drive By Wisdom
It is great to have a President who is familiar with the culture of all nations and all 57 American states.
I’m sure Pakistan can find a teleprompter that does Urdu.
matoko_chan
lol, ‘zactly.
That is why the rightwing fundies hate on him so.
He’s teh graceful charming brainy jock that gets all the hot chicks at the party. The American electorate is just the latest hot chick to fall….
Refuglicans cant believe it.
Comrade Stuck
@matoko_chan:
No more geo-thermal for you.
anonevent
@gbear: And as it’s been said before, I don’t choose my president by whether or not I want to drink a beer with him or her.
Edit: Though I am completely comfortable with my abilities, and would have not problem being at a party with him.
smiley
There goes the PETA crowd. Good riddance.
trizzlor
@gbear: Reminds me of this old commercial.
ericvsthem
Wingnut heads will assplode just trying to figure out how to be properly outraged over this.
Obama is just full of win today.
Joshua Norton
But there were many times I could have sworn he was speaking it.
eric
OMG: he is james bond.
Cris
Considering how many threads this is likely to spawn in the Outrageosphere, this probably isn’t even the only thread we’re going to have about it here.
anonevent
@Drive By Wisdom: God, wouldn’t that be awesome if we could see it while Obama was reading it.
steve s
The inevitable freakout about these comments by talk radio, the Corner, Michelle Bachman, Glenn Beck etc will retroactively justify this thread.
I mean, they talked smack when Obama wanted a condiment that an American burger joint had. Pakistani food, they’re going to completely lose their sh1t.
Roger Moore
@smiley:
I think he had already lost them with last week’s fly swatting episode.
Xenos
As in, hamburger meat and beans… This is super-basic cooking here. I love it, because the xenophobes will freak out for a couple news cycles, then the sheer ordinariness of the food he is talking about will take up a couple more news cycles, and all the while Rahm is in the Senate, twisting arms, and nobody is noticing.
Violet
Via Sully, the notion of stuff like this being “soft power.” Totally agree. It goes a long way when you just do something simple like speak a few words of the language in a foreign country. But for the President to know how to cook some well known dishes and be able to discuss Urdu poets…wow. That’s the kind of thing you can’t really measure, but it goes a long way to increasing trust and building bridges.
I still can’t quite realize he’s our President. We’ve made so many mistakes. How did we get this one right?
Comrade Stuck
@Cris:
You could be right. Plus it will give the “Birthers” another country to savage looking for that elusive BC./
WereBear
But does he hold hands with Princes?
That’s how to get along with the Middle East.
Brachiator
@Comrade Stuck:
How about a thread for Urdu poetry, then?
Of course, comments like this from the president set off the alarms in the wingnut mind, confirming their belief that he is a stealth Muslim, sitting on cushions in the East Room, hosting mushairas.
Dubya thinks that Urdu is either a university in Urd, or a variety of pig latin.
grumpy realist
Take a look at Madhur Jaffrey’s Vegetarian Cooking if you want recipes for dal etc.
I often end up making lentil pilafs with whatever random veggies are left over in the vegetable drawer and whatever spices are on hand. One thing to remember: don’t boil coconut milk.
Quicksand
C&C:
“What can you cook?”
“Oh, keema … daal … You name it, I can cook it.”
vs.
“What newspapers and magazines do you read?”
“Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me all these years.”
PeopleAreNoDamnGood
Wow. A president who reads ANY poetry.
And one who says, to a fuckhead reporter who asks if John McCain’s taunts made him change his stance on Iran, “What do you think?” And then laughs out loud.
All in one day.
Life is good. Veddy, veddy good.
Xenos
@Violet:
We are much luckier than we deserve to be. If McCain won, there would be a long century of collapse and devolution. A real nightmare for the next few generations.
joes527
Separated at birth?
Cris
@grumpy realist: I very well may open Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking more than I do Joy of Cooking. I have at least six of her recipes in my regular kitchen rotation.
She taught me that the word “curry” (as it appears in the spice aisle) is essentially a nonsense word. What I love most is how she builds all her sauces from core spices — cardamom, cumin, turmeric, cayenne, cinnamon, cloves…
Litlebritdifrnt2
@gbear:
While scoring three-pointers at the street corner pick up game and rescuing the young spectators from poverty. No wonder the wingnuts call him the messiah.
I grew up with pakistani kids, (our home was in an area where they all lived on one street in their terraced houses which were painted every colour of the rainbow), I have the most glorious memories of wandering into their homes and being greeted by the most delightful cooking smells, and trying on saris etc., as a lark. Our local corner shop sold all kinds of exotic spices and ingredients and I discovered all sorts of wonderful food. I may be gushing but I like the fact that our POTUS has experienced life outside of the US, it makes for a more well-rounded person.
Martin
No, he’s The Most Interesting Man in the World.
Litlebritdifrnt2
@Drive By Wisdom:
It is a moments like this that I wish I could say “fuck off” in Urdu.
Litlebritdifrnt
sorry John forgot my own damn user name!
mcc
Something I’m still trying to figure out is which languages Obama speaks. He’s quietly admitted to retaining some proficiency in Indonesian.
binzinerator
@The Moar You Know:
Obviously the trigger word is not ‘keema’ or ‘daal’.
Mike in NC
Fixed. Been to Karachi but never met any Urdu poets. Just got dysentery after shopping for cheap rugs. Good times!
slag
Typical Politico bullsh#t. They start out a perfectly good article by intimating that Obama’s is a freaky elitist who catapults over good ol’ fashioned liberal elitism into scary f’reigner elitism. I’ve heard Obama allude to Shakespeare as I’ve heard him allude to Emerson, Blake, and others. I’m pretty sure he’d be able to “make high-brow small talk” at his “cocktail parties” on any of those subjects, if he were so inclined. However, I’m even more sure he’d prefer to engage in analysis and debate on those topics instead. But then, I guess that’s why I don’t write for Politico. Asshats.
Mike G
Compare and contrast —
Obama (2009):
“Oh, keema … daal … You name it, I can cook it. And so I have a great affinity for Pakistani culture and the great Urdu poets.”
‘You read Urdu poetry?’
“Absolutely. So my hope is that I’m going to have an opportunity at some point to visit Pakistan”
Stay Thirsty, My Friends.
Bush (2000):
‘Who is the leader of Pakistan?’
“Uh…General…I know he’s a General”.
Wingnut Chorus:
“I’m-a skeered! Obamooslim be makin’ me feel bad!
I wanna preznit who’s stoopit like me!!”
tb
Another one that will have wingnuts writhing in an ecstacy of outrage. They’re probably ripping their hair out over not being able to use this, Clinton-in-Moscow style, before the election.
I need to get that one- I live near an amazing little Indian grocery which carries an amazing assortment of things I have no idea what to do with.
David
“I can see the Bain Marie from my house.”
Mojotron
he’s heard of it, you can’t spell “git-ur-dun” without urdu
JL
According to the local media, Sanford’s car is at Hartsfield. It is still possible that he wanted to take a long hike to the entrance of the Appalachian Trail.. I figure it’s about 45 miles but for him that might just be a day’s hike. Does Sanford have a copy of his birth certificate? He actually might be from another planet.
cleek
‘You read Urdu poetry?’
‘Absolutely.’
Pam Atlas’s head just exploded
Comrade Stuck
@tb:
I’m sure they will point out George’s slick deal of giving India Nukes for Mangoes.
Mike P
@matoko_chan:
I guess that’s why Rove whined about Obama being the smooth guy drinking a martini at the country club; he knew the dude was basically the black James Bond and that there was nothing he could do about it.
But…permanent Republican majority!
Notorious P.A.T.
When Obama says he went to Pakistan it was illegal for Americans to go there, so!
(not true but widely believed)
Cris
Who’s the black private dick who’s a sex machine with all the chicks?
JenJen
We can haz Sanford thread? C’mon, it’s delicious political juicy-fruit. :-)
Mike P
@Cris:
I’d give a lot of money for Obama to have “Theme from Shaft” played at a rally…
Mentis Fugit
@Drive By Wisdom: There’s yer problem right there. Yer not supposed to drive by it; yer supposed to stop and partake of it.
@Mojotron:
You can’t spell “git” without it either.
A Mom Anon
@JL:
Hartsfield is farther than 45 miles from the AT,I live in the NW Metro suburbs and it’s at least an hour for me to get to the airport from here. The AT trail head is in the far NE corner of the state,at least 2-3 hours from the airport
grumpy realist
tb, that reminds me of the time I ended up purchasing a Japanese cookbook on What To Do With Vegetables (with pictures) because I had absolutely no idea what half the stuff in the grocery store was.
(The one thing you *don’t* do to prepare yama-imo is peel it and boil it like an ordinary potato….BIG mistake. Hope you can find your stove again.)
JL
@A Mom Anon: I actually was trying to do as the crow flies. I think it’s more like 60 miles cuz it starts at Amicalola Falls. I’m listening to ABC and they just said he was hiking. No information on the car being at the airport. It is on the AJC now though.
Just went on google maps it is 65 miles. Nice walk though. lol
J.D. Rhoades
Look, I like Obama a lot, but does this remind anyone else of the scene in Wayne’s World where Rob Lowe tries to impress Tia Carrere by ordering Chinese food in Cantonese?
Ash
@J.D. Rhoades: No, not particularly.
JenJen
@J.D. Rhoades: ROFL ROFL
Nice visual. Thanks for that.
demimondian
@Cris: Actually, ‘curry’ is not a nonsense word. It’s actually a borrowing from Arabic, by way ofIndian English. The original root word ‘kari’ means, literally, gravy. This was used for any ‘dish-with-a-spicy-sauce’ by the Europeans, and then reborrowed into English when the soldiers who’d learned it abroad came home.
(And don’t get me started on the bastardized etymology of “Tofu Satay”.)
Cat Lady
@Violet:
My husband turned to me on Sunday after Obama gave his little father’s day PSA, which I barely noticed, and said “just whack me now to wake me up”. I didn’t understand, and he said “this man is our president now”. We high-fived, I cried (again), and we both went back to our business, in awe, unable to articulate how much has changed.
Spiffy McBang
@J.D. Rhoades: Of course. But he was talking to a Pakistani newspaper. When else would it make sense for him to bring it up? It’s politics. Love him or hate him, I’ve yet to hear anyone suggest he’s anything less than an excellent politician.
And if there’s still anyone who wonders why American poetry is in the shits, it’s because the random Urdu poem they quote, translated, makes as much sense as the stuff written in English nowadays.
Wile E. Quixote
@Drive By Wisdom
And yet, despite the fact that he supposedly said that there were 57 states and that he supposedly can’t do anything without a teleprompter he still fucked you Republicans like the bitches and whores you are in the last election. Seriously, think about it DbW, according to you this guy’s a loser, a muslim, he doesn’t have a birth certificate, etc, etc, etc, yet despite that he smacked the shit out of John McCain.
Now, I know that you think that the election was stolen by ACORN, if it was then good for them. I mean it’s just one more demonstration of Democratic superiority over the Republicans, the best the Republicans could do to steal an election was in 2000, and they had to get a dodgy Supreme Court ruling to do that. ACORN didn’t go whining to the Supremes like that whiny little punk-ass bitch George W. Bush did, hoping that Daddy’s friends would make it all right, ACORN just went out and figured out how to steal 10 million votes. That’s the manly way to steal elections.
Face it DbW. You guys suck compared to Obama and the Democrats. Who’s your fucking Daddy, DbW? Barack Hussein Obama is your daddy, you pathetic little Republican bitch. Now suck it! Suck it hard!
JDreyer
One of my daughter’s classmates family is from Bangladesh. The father hosted an end of year party a few weeks ago that was fantastic with lots of samosas and daal and grilled chicken. He’s an incredibly kind and generous person. He loves his family so much. He took pictures of his son every morning. He must have taken thousands of shots.
I wonder how much of our distrust of that part of the world would dissipate if more people attended more parties like that.
Rosali
@Mike P:
This Curtis Mayfield classic was played at a lot of rallies during the campaign last year.
gnomedad
@Xenos:
OMG, imagine doing this on purpose. “OK, Rahm, get ready to move, I’m gonna say something intelligent in 3, 2, …”
linda
@Cat Lady:
every time i look at photos of him in the oval office, or heading to AF1/Marine 1, i just have to stop to take it in. i still cannot believe he’s the friggin president.
and how gobsmacked must that reporter have been: ‘you read urdu poetry’ …lol
Litlebritdifrnt
@Wile E. Quixote:
Yes – this. Oh ever so this.
steve s
Mojotron wins the thread.
slag
I just checked out my favorite dish from my favorite Pakistani restaurant and realized that they may have been slipping me Iranian food instead. No wonder I’ve had the overwhelming urge to follow Sharia law lately.
Davis X. Machina
Jaffrey. Hazan. Childs. Kuo.
You could cook the whole rest of your life out of those four books.
LD50
I approve. Pakistani food fuckin rawks.
Ye’s.
LD50
@Wile E. Quixote:
Father my children.
Broken
@Drive By Wisdom:
There are 57 states and territories. Just thought I’d help you be as smart as the TOTUS.
tcolberg
@gbear: It could be worse, he could be running around telling everyone about how he doesn’t own a television.
Svensker
@David:
Ha ha ha.
The Cat Who Would Be Tunch
@matoko_chan:
Sorry ’bout that. Just couldn’t help myself.
@Xenos:
Obama was just throwing out the basics to stall for time. He was secretly hoping nobody would ask him about maghaz masala.
(For the uninitiated , that would be brain curry. Goat or lamb brains, primarily.)
John@MM
@Wile E. Quixote
I don’t comment on here very often, especially since the stinking Pens beat the Red Wings, but I had to thank you for this one. Best laugh I’ve had all week. I’m going to remember to use something along these lines the next time I have to deal with a rabid wingnut. I really needed this pick-me-up after reading through a comment thread on politico. The pure stupidity on display was mindnumbing.
Anne Laurie
Best grammar-nazi comeback evah, LD50!
Comrade Stuck
@Anne Laurie:
I thought so, but me ciphering grammar stuff is like Dick Cheney trying to be right. May I know the secret?
Augustine
@trizzlor:
umm, questioning your grasp of our lexicon and the adjective ‘old’
or maybe it’s just me.
(now that’s an old commercial.)
Nylund
I too own a Madhur Jaffrey cook book, and I too probably open it more often than any other cookbook.
All of this “exotic cooking” (especially the smells) horrifies my Texan roommate who probably considers pesto too foreign to eat.
Last time I was back in my hometown, I forced my Trinidadian friend to get her mother to invite me over to dinner (west indian food is my latest obsession). So good.
The food is one thing that really makes me sad about my new home in Texas. How I miss living in a town with various ethnic enclaves full of great great restaurants. Here is BBQ, Tex-Mex, some more BBQ, and more Tex-Mex (both good, granted, just severely limited in scope and variety).
Phoebe
Rosali @71, that Curtis Mayfield clip absolutely made my day.
someguy
He reads Urdu? Not just the common Urdu but Rekhti?
Holy shit, that’s super impressive.
Specially considering the last guy couldn’t even speak English.
LD50
@someguy: Actually, I think that interview is ambiguous as to whether Obama reads Urdu poetry in Urdu or in English translation.
JMN Is Now asiangrrlMN's Official Stalker
@slag:
I think you’re misinterpreting this. I don’t think it’s a slam for being too elitist to want to talk Shakespeare. It’s a comment that, if *all* you can do is Shakespeare, he’s going to wipe the floor with you. I took it as a compliment.
Cain
@Cris:
If you’re not watching “Vahchef” on youtube, you are missing out. Every recipe we have tried has been a hit. Especially try out the home made naan.. yum. Good stuff. He’s making a lot of money on youtube that’s for sure.. and he makes me laugh!
cain
Cain
The fact that the guy can read Urdu is pretty impressive. (it sounds like Hindi though and there isn’t much difference that I can tell) Ghazals are good stuff too. I prefer the song version.
It’s amazing that we have a president that can cook indian/pakistani food. BTW not much difference from persian food when I was trying to cook some of it. Looks like the persians like to cook with pomegranite to get their sour taste rather than tamarind like we do here. I got some their pomegranate paste from Tehran via a friend of mine (who is out protesting apparently, hope he’s safe) and we used it to make south indian dish called Rasam. Couldn’t tell the difference.
cain
prospero
ZOMG OBAMA IZ DREEEEEAAAAAAAAMMMMMMY!@
Glad you enjoy reading Urdu poets, dude. Call me when you do, you know, anything. It’s nice the Democrats have a more charismatic and intelligent head of their cult of personality than the Republicans have had since…well at any point in the 20th or 21st centuries. That, plus huge majorities in both the House and Senate have so far added up to…..what exactly?
dslak
@Cain: Urdu and Hindi spoken on the street aren’t all that different. At the higher registers however, Hindi depends more upon vocabulary and grammar from Sanskrit, whereas Urdu relies upon the same from Persian and Arabic.
As for demimondian’s point against Cris, I think what he was taking from Jaffrey is that, from within Indian cuisine, ‘curry’ really is a nonsense word. You don’t call potato curry ‘aloo kari’; it’s just ‘aloo.’ That it’s a dish with a spicy sauce is implicit.
Also, there’s some disagreement about the origins of ‘curry’: It may share a common etymology with the word ‘cuisine,’ but the shift from its use by Brits in India is spot on.