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Political Correctness at the Milk Bar

Toliver

By Toliver
in Food Media & Arts

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Toliver

Toliver

Posted
Posted

"Milk Bar’s controversial Crack Pie now has a new name"

Quote

On Monday, Tosi published an open letter on Milk Bar’s website stating that the butter-drenched pie now has a new, straightforward moniker: Milk Bar Pie...

...Critics of Milk Bar have honed in on the offensive ways that the name of the pie...playfully references the addictive qualities of crack without recognizing the rampant destruction that communities and families — particularly African American ones — faced at the expense of the drug.

I've only heard about the pie and once thought perhaps I should order one online to see what the fuss was all about.

Has anyone tried it?  

Is this political correctness gone too far? Or is it appropriate?  It's just a pie, afterall...what harm is there in that? :|

 

“Peter: Oh my god, Brian, there's a message in my Alphabits. It says, 'Oooooo.'

Brian: Peter, those are Cheerios.”

– From Fox TV’s “Family Guy”

 

Tim Oliver

gfweb

gfweb

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Toliver said:

 

Is this political correctness gone too far? Or is it appropriate?  It's just a pie, afterall...what harm is there in that? :|

 

Yes. Sadly, the norm now is to take offense rather  than give the benefit of  the doubt or realize it doesn't matter even a little bit. (of course there are genuinely offensive things in the world etc etc).

  • Like 3
KennethT

KennethT

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, teonzo said:

What if a pie has a crack on the surface?

 

 

 

Teo

 

That would be a cracked pie...

teonzo

teonzo

Posted
Posted

If I were Tosi, I would make a new pie with a deliberate crack on top, say I was inspired by Lucio Fontana's cuts, then call it Crack Pie. Just for trolling reasons.

I lost a cousin to heroin overdose, saw other bad stuff with people I know, but I can only say this story is completely absurd.

 

 

 

Teo

 

  • Like 3

Teo

Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Toliver said:

Has anyone tried it? 


I've made it. Whether or not the recipe they share adds up to the same thing as what they do in-house, I have no idea. Never had one they made to compare. Political correctness aside, I think the name change may be in order if only because, while it is indeed tasty in a sugary buttery way, it's far from what I would consider "highly addictive". I enjoyed the one I made, had no regrets over making it... but thus far haven't felt compelled to make it again.

  • Like 4

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

eugenep

eugenep

Posted
Posted (edited)

I tried one at their location in Williamsburg, Brooklyn a few years ago. 

 

I think it was priced at $7 or $9 or something 

 

and it tasted like a good pie - like one you would make at home using one of Rose Berenbaum's recipes in Baking Bible 

 

but I think it was the first time I tasted normal store pie that tasted close to homemade (but less fresh) 

 

if you don't cook or bake at home this pie will be like a new revelation or something bc all you've eaten are factory pies that taste like poop 

 

but if you cook at home, then it's nothing special and just like what you make at home 

Edited by eugenep (log)
  • Like 3
Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted

This affected  a local establishment last year about their Crack Fries.

 

One  Two

 

 

Quote

We chose the name more than 11 years ago as a reference to the addictive quality of the fries and their cracked pepper seasoning, without consideration for those the drug negatively affected. We were wrong.

 

The crack epidemic and the lasting impact on those it affects [sic] is not funny and never was.

 

As we grow as a company we have come to realize that to make light of this drug and of addiction contradicts our values of inclusion and community. We want to thank our guests, employees and community members who have helped us come to this realization and apologize for the pain the name brought to others.

 

  • Like 2

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

A king can stand people's fighting, but he can't last long if people start thinking. -Will Rogers, humorist

eugenep

eugenep

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, pastrygirl said:

I'm only surprised that it took so long.  That pie has been around for what, 10 or 15 years already?

you're talking to Toliver right? 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by eugenep
didn't know if I sounded sarcastic? but not intentionally (log)
pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, eugenep said:

you're talking to Toliver right?

 

well yeah, that's who started the topic ...

 

I appreciate Tosi's statement that the mission is to spread joy and offending people is contrary to that.  Just curious what the tipping point was.  Maybe she's older and wiser, maybe the hijinks of those early restaurant days have lost their shine, maybe she just got tired of hearing about it ... or maybe she struck a deal with (walmart/target/costco) and they made her do it? 🤔

 

Btw, I have not tried the pie either.  I had Tosi's Milk Bar cookbook for a while but little in it appealed to me so I sold it.

  • Like 1
chromedome

chromedome

Posted
Posted

My late wife and I thought about putting the pie on our farmer's market menu. We made it a couple of times, shrugged and thought "meh."

 

We went with other desserts that were less buzz-y, but tastier.

  • Like 2

“Who loves a garden, loves a greenhouse too.” - William Cowper, The Task, Book Three

 

"Not knowing the scope of your own ignorance is part of the human condition...The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is you don’t know you’re a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.” - psychologist David Dunning

 

teonzo

teonzo

Posted
Posted

There's a detail that nobody points out and I think it's dreadful.

Sugar is an addictive drug in all the senses as crack is an addictive drug. The consequences of sugar addiction are much worse for society than the ones for crack addiction (or heroin or meth or all that $h|t). I suppose people in the USA should know this pretty well, since it's the country where sugar gives the worst consequences to the health of its inhabitants. If we talk about "crack pie" then the word that refers to the worst addiction is not "crack", it's "pie".

All this is said by a pastry chef (aka sugar dealer).

 

 

 

Teo

 

  • Like 5
  • Haha 2

Teo

rotuts

rotuts

Posted
Posted

well

 

at least The Supremes 

 

will be deciding if

 

'FUCT' is covered by free speech , or something else

 

and yes , Sugar  Salt  are serious problems.

Katie Meadow

Katie Meadow

Posted
Posted

Calling pies or fries or any other food "crack blank" has always made me uncomfortable. And after 15 years or how ever many years since  the Milk Bar opened and they named that pie my discomfort remains. The one time I went there, at least ten years ago, I was not wowed by anything I tasted. Not the pie and definitely not that godawful cereal milk ice cream. 

  • Like 2
Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted

I personally don't care what they call their pie. I think intent needs to be taken into consideration. If they're using something in an intentionally hurtful manner, that's pretty much always obvious. But we've gone way too far with the whole things-that-are-no-longer-allowed-to-be-the-subject-of-humor bit.

  • Like 4

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted

 

On 4/16/2019 at 8:23 PM, pastrygirl said:

maybe she struck a deal with (walmart/target/costco) and they made her do it? 🤔

 

Ha!  It was Target!  ...

 

Quote

Some people still find the term Crack Pie more offensive than cute, or at least inappropriate. To sell a packaged version at Target, she had to rename it Milk Bar Pie Mix.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/12/dining/christina-tosi-milk-bar.html

  • Like 4
JeanneCake

JeanneCake

Posted
Posted

so much for the moral high ground; it didn't occur to them to change it UNTIL they had a chance to make more money with it ....maybe she'll donate a percentage of the proceeds to addiction recovery services.

  • Like 2
nonblonde007

nonblonde007

Posted
Posted

No offense intended.... but, When did we become so super sensitive and easily  offended that an unintentional slang word makes everyone run crying to their mamma's ?  There was no obvious "slam" meant here, so why should she be vilified and have to apologize?  Please people, take a deep breath and chill, enjoy the beautiful offerings others have and if you find offense, don't patronize.  All is well.  :) 

  • Like 4

Brenda

I whistfully mentioned how I missed sushi. Truly horrified, she told me "you city folk eat the strangest things!", and offered me a freshly fried chitterling!

Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted (edited)

...

Edited by Tri2Cook
Got more political than I intended to, not what I'm here for. (log)
  • Like 2

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Steve R.

Steve R.

Posted
Posted (edited)

My question to friends these days is "when did the critique of 'political correctness' become of more importance than the issues that those (sometimes over the top and preachy) folks are trying to tackle"?  Isn't our rush to distance ourselves from being "too correct" (not sure such a thing is a thing, but whatever...) a diversion from thinking about the issues raised by titles and song lyrics, etc.?  

 

"Crack pie" was (I'm sure enough to state this) never intended to traffic in human suffering, but only to cash in on an idiom that would help sell more pies.  But, stepping back and trying to correct past injustices or insensitivities (for whatever reasons) isn't as bad as the original injustices or insensitivites themselves, is it?   I don't think its too much to ask of me to spend a little time self examining what I say or do and editing out what I can. 

Edited by Steve R. (log)
  • Like 4
pastrygirl

pastrygirl

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, nonblonde007 said:

an unintentional slang word

 

Except it was totally intentional,  intended to be edgy and allude to addiction.  It's all fun and games when you're young and joking around and pushing boundaries but some people grow up and learn about compassion.  Or make deals with Target.

 

If 'crack pie - one taste and you're addicted' is still funny, what else can we come up with?  I'm not living in a $3+ million dollar apartment so I need something marketable ...

 

Alzheimer's pie - one bite and you'll forget everything you ever knew!

Cerebral palsy pie - so good, you'll lose all control!

Colon cancer or HIV juices - enjoy sudden rapid weight loss without exercise!

Dyslexia vodka - one shot and you can't see straight!

 

I could go on, but I already feel too much like an asshole just for writing those. 

 

Look, I'm not 100% innocent, I don't call my products 'crack' but I have joked about addiction (the first one's free, then you're hooked). I should be more careful about that because I  do aspire to be a better person and use my powers for good.  YMMV.

 

 

 

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Tri2Cook

Tri2Cook

Posted
Posted (edited)

...

 

Edited by Tri2Cook
Got more political than I intended, not what I'm here for. (log)
  • Like 3

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Steve R.

Steve R.

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Tri2Cook said:


I have no problem with that whatsoever. What I have a problem with is other people telling me I have to do that editing based on their criteria and my criteria is irrelevant. I don't feel obligated to feel guilty over everything anybody anywhere may potentially feel offended over. It's just an impossible task, somebody somewhere will by offended by everything. And before I'm accused of extrapolating that to the extreme, take a good look around and then tell me I'm incorrect. We've created a situation where every person wants to feel special and supported over everything they don't like or feel offended over. 

 

I basically agree.  These things should be used to initiate discussion & to get people to understand each others' perspective, not as a sledge hammer to force the "other" person to accede.   This society (in my opinion) needs more discussion and fewer decrees.   

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