Did National Geographic really call ‘Mithila Thali’ as (one of) the finest dishes in South Asia?

A National Geographic Traveller feature was widely misrepresented by Nepali media as a culinary endorsement of Mithila Thali. The article makes no such claim. 

On November 27, the UK edition of National Geographic Traveller published a travel article titled “These Nepalese homestays are transforming Himalayan Travel”. Known for covering travel, culture, wildlife, nature, science and history around the world, the magazine has a global reputation, including its features.  

In Zoey Goto’s work, she explores several homestays in the country, including Sipting, a village in Dhankuta, Janakpur and Panauti in Kavre. The feature is based on the “Road Less Taken” tour where Zoey was also a participant. The tour was an eight-day trip organised by the Community Homestay Network, a social enterprise with several members across the country.

As Zoey writes in her feature, “The recently launched Road Less Taken tour promised glimpses of authentic local life, following a route from Dhankuta in the east, stopping for a night in the city of Janakpur, then pausing for a couple of days in the ancient town of Panauti before looping back to the capital of Kathmandu.”

The section on Sipting, covers Aathpahariya community, an indigenous group living in the area, their culture, lifestyle and tradition through writer’s interaction with local residents. The writer eventually moves towards her experience of Janakpur and Mithila cuisine by Santosh Shah followed by the homestay experience of Panauti, Kavre.  

“Around us, the dining room hums with a mix of local patrons: market vendors, noisy extended families, groups of students sipping lassi and a local dignitary, flanked by a pair of hulking minders. Despite the diversity of faces and backgrounds, there’s a sense of shared space here, with everyone enjoying their food under the slow spin of the wooden ceiling fans,” Zoey writes, describing her observation inside the dining hall of the Mithila Thali outlet in Janakpur. 

After the November feature appeared, Nepal’s media outlets and social media pages widely celebrated the feature, accompanied by a misleading assertion: National Geographic recognises Mithila Thali as one of the finest dishes in South Asia, without providing any reference or evidence for such a claim.

On 10th December, Setopati, a widely read online news portal reported that Santosh Shah’s Mithila Thali was recognised as the finest dish of South Asia. Two days later, OnlineKhabar, another widely read online news portal covered it with a similar headline.

Zoey's feature includes a section titled “New-wave thalis” highlighting Shah’s success story as a finalist on the UK’s Masterchef Professionals 2020 and his restaurant Mithila Thali, the restaurant he had dreamed of opening for years. While the article praises the role of Santosh Shah in gaining the city’s food scene international fame, it does not actually discuss or review the food itself, let alone make any verdict on it as South Asia’s “finest”.

Instead, it focuses on Santosh’s journey from selling plastic bags on the streets to leading kitchen rooms of some of the UK’s most recognised restaurants, Dishoom and Cinnamon Club. Overall, it describes the city, Santosh and his restaurant in a positive light. The work is merely and clearly a cultural experience.

Although it is clear that the mentioned publications referenced Zoey’s work, the_farsight sent an email to the Editorial team at National Geographic Traveller UK and the author of the article, Zoey seeking a clarification if National Geographic has released any such verdict on Mithila Thali cuisine elsewhere or if we missed anything. No response has been received yet.

The misleading claim is not only limited to OnlineKhabar and Setopati. Multiple Nepali news portals and social media pages have repeated the same misleading headline. Some of these online portals include Tourism Info Nepal, Nepal UK, EverestPedia, Nepal Muhar, Fiscal Nepal, 12Khari, Sunaulo Nepal, NepalConnect, News of Nepal and other online portals and social media pages.

Santosh Shah himself has been sharing the misleading claims through his Facebook account, further fueling the spread of false information.

As of Dec 18, Setopati’s news on its Facebook page accumulated 1,031 likes, 24 comments and 25 shares. Santosh Shah’s repost of the same news has garnered 2,400 likes, 237 comments, and 62 shares. Onlinekhabar’s post in its facebook page has 171 likes, 9 comments and 10 shares. These figures do not account for the additional reach generated through further sharing by other accounts and platforms. Each of the two publications have over two million followers on Facebook. Additionally, over several other online portals have covered the same news and made similar posts.