Beef Faux Pas Leaves Indian Diners Hungry

Manorama Mathur, president of the Indian Medical Association of New England, is a vegetarian. She ended up eating only salad and dessert at a meeting of Indian professionals at Radius restaurant in Boston. (photo: INDIANewEngland.com)

The following edited article was first published in INDIA New England.

Beef was mistakenly placed on the menu at the Indian Medical Association of New England dinner in a Boston restaurant.

While the fancy meal at Radius restaurant featured starch-white tablecloths, freshly squeezed orange juice and tulips in vases and attentive waiters, the dinner choices were beef ribs or salmon.

"I was kind of surprised [that] for an Indian event they only had beef and salmon," said Vikesh Singh, a gastroenterologist from Boston. He expected to see at least one vegetarian option on the menu, or at least spaghetti, he said.

Manorama Mathur, a Malden, Mass., pediatrician and the president of the Indian Medical Association of New England, who is a vegetarian, said she ate only salad and desert.

"Seafood I don't eat, so there was no choice," she said. "I ended up ordering beef, but I didn't eat it. So I had salad, bread and the desert."

The dinner was paid for by the Sanofi Aventis pharmaceutical company, whose representatives made a presentation about deep vein thrombosis [blood clots in the legs] medication at the event. The company also selected the food options for the evening.

A company sales professional, who requested that his name not be used, apologized and explained that he simply didn't know that many people from India didn't eat beef.

"Shame on me for not doing my research," he said. "Honestly, I thought it was more of a pork issue than a beef issue. This was my first experience hosting a dinner for Indian people."

Practicing Hindus, who make up about 81 percent of the Indian population don't eat beef; Muslims, who make up 13 percent of the population, don't eat pork.

Restaurant manager Ted Kilpatrick also excused himself.

He said the restaurant prides itself on accommodating special dietary needs and the food preferences of people from other countries. The problem, he explained, was that the restaurant was not told that most of the attendees would be either vegetarians or non-beef eaters.

"We sort of pride ourselves on our vegetarian options that are created spontaneously by the chef," he said. "Had we known that it was entirely non-meat eaters, it would have not made sense for us to offer [a beef] dish."

Only one of the approximately 50 attendees ordered beef, he said.

But not everyone was upset by the ribs on the menu.

"This is not a religious get-together, it's a professional get-together," said gynecologist Purnima Sangal, who is a vegetarian. "I don't think there is any issue."

Anil Nair, an assistant professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, who made a presentation about the latest research in Alzheimer's treatments at the dinner, agreed it wasn't a big problem because the event wasn't religious in nature.

"I think it's a lack of sensitivity of the person who ordered it," he said. "[But] one of the things about Indians is that they are very tolerant. If it was an event where a lot of religious people came, it could have been a problem."

Source: INDIAnewEngland.com

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WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN UPSET IF THIS MISTAKE HAD HAPPENED TO YOU?
EVER HAVE A CULTURAL OR RELIGIOUS FAUX PAS HAPPEN TO YOU?

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