From one meal to next
I live like this…. While eating one … already planning for next is on mind…. And ensueing excitement of it. By any chance, there is a bleak chance of uncertainty of the next then anxiety is inevitable, too.
Does this originate from any lack, no idea.
Food is love.. the smell, taste, or thought of it is invigorating and life-giving. There can be an obsessive pursuit to get to that store on that bustling chandni chowk Street, Delhi to savour deep fried parattas and to that thattu- kada in thrissur to taste that parotta and beef curry. So every journey starts with a home cooked meal and ends in a fanfare either on a highend joint, roadside joint or cart. Only taste matters, ofcourse hygiene on point always.
There are food buddies in my circle to whom food memes are shared to show our solidarity to food lovers collective or food photos are exchanged to collectively salivate on them. Then there is a huge bank of saved recipes on Instagram, we may not look back on them or even try to make, but it needs to be in the repository for that mental satisfaction of having it “all”. All the food bloggers are our heros, we follow them through the streets which they travel and enjoy the meal with them too and note that when in that city this is a go-to place for a meal. So, a city based save list is there in the repository, which comes in handy when in that city.
From my experience, the best food in the whole world is the malayali sadya, which has myriad tastes in one plantain leaf. Starting from sweet, sour, salt to all the flavours of all the vegetables used makes it a fanfare for the tongue first, and then it explodes in the brain. This when served on a plantain leaf piping hot makes it a wonderful experience.
The punjabi food has its elan, not to deduct the North Indian richness with those mughal influences. The variety in their parattas and pulse preparations are to die for. Why did I mention Punjabi food, as this largely represents North Indian cuisine for most of us, but to realise that it’s not all butter chicken masala that rules the palette there, but each region has their own unique preparations which are to be relished. Kebabs from Lucknow, Litti Choka from bihar, kashmiri yakhni pulav, Thupkas from North Eastern belt, the sleep inducing Daal baatis from Rajasthan, Gujju Fafdas, Mumbai chats, konkan fish preparations with kokam and coconuts, Andra biriyanis, the myriad rice varieties from Tamilnadu, and much much more.
The variety of food we have in India is humongous as our cultural variedness and our language diversity.
Every city in India would have a food map that says that these needs to be tried from that nook store, and invariably, it would be most authentic and heavenly.
Not to deduct the international variety on offer. Desi food is love.
There is so much to look forward to. The possibilities are myriad and thus the wait for that next piping sip of it or crunch of it.
