The chef who helped curate the menu for the 2021 Met Gala has defended the food after Keke Palmer jokingly mocked the meal served at the exclusive event.

On Monday, Palmer, who hosted Vogue’s livestream of the annual fashion gala alongside Ilana Glazer, shared a photo of her plate of food, which she captioned: “This why they don’t show y’all the food. I’m just playinnn.”

While Palmer claimed she was joking, the picture, which showed the main course that guests were served during the entirely plant-based meal, prompted a range of surprised reactions, with many criticising the wilted-looking meal and comparing it to the food served at Fyre Fest.

“$30,000 per ticket and this is the food they serve #MetGala,” one person tweeted alongside a photo of Palmer’s plate.

However, according to Marcus Samuelsson, head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, who in collaboration with Bon Appétit, selected the 10 New York chefs in charge of the vegan menu, the food at the prestigious event was “delicious” and was met with mostly positive feedback.

Speaking to TMZ, the chef, who noted that the picture in question was of ​​barley topped with roasted mushrooms, tomato salad with corn and zucchini slices, also pointed out that food is more about taste than appearance.

“Food, like anything, is a matter of taste, and it tasted plenty good,” he told the outlet of the sustainable menu.

Following the event, Samuelsson congratulated the 10 chefs who created the menu on Instagram, where he said that he “couldn’t have been more proud of the #MetGalaChefs who created a delicious and memorable meal for all the guests”.

According to Vogue, the menu for this year’s Met Gala included canapés such as “collard greens hot chow served on coconut buttermilk cornbread” and “black rice porcini arancini with pumpkin Calabrian chili sauce,” while the sit-down dinner began with a “refreshing” salad course created with farm-to-table ingredients.

The main dish, which was shared by Palmer, was then followed by an apple mousse and apple confit with a calvados glaze.