Powerful Food

Food. This ever encompassing word is used to describe an apple, a tomato, spaghetti, a slice of pizza and even something exotic like foie gras and truffles. What does it mean to people? For some it can mean a source of nourishment, others look at it as a bag of chemical compounds waiting to be broken down in your body. Yet again we have those who see food as something much more than that. They see it as a conversation starter, an act of love, a selfless gesture and a way to someone's heart.

Food is more than just the taste, texture, flavor, smell and all those other verbs we think of when we talk about food. It is more than the act of putting an edible item in your mouth to release gastric juices that will ultimately digest it and it is definitely more than getting your Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of your carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins and minerals. Studying nutrition myself, we sometimes forget that food is not just about those chemicals that have been so perfectly arranged in an intricate pattern. Michael Pollan rightly said that society has become so much about counting calories and fretting over the adequate intake of certain food groups. We are so used to using so many scientific terms when we think about food that we forget what it actually means.

For me, food is about relationships, emotions, family and love. Food is what connects us to other human beings. It brings people together around the table or even in the kitchen-though some don't like being disturbed in the kitchen. It is an unselfish act to show someone that you love and care about them. Food sparks memories. We remember our childhood and those foods that your mother, father or grandmother used to make for you and that no matter who else tried they could never get it just perfect like them. No matter who we are, where we are from or what we look like, we can always bond over something to eat. Food is a universal experience, it is what gives all of us a common ground to stand on.

World Cuisine

"I'll bet what motivated the British to colonize so much of the world is that they were just looking for a decent meal." ~Martha Harrison

Ofcourse with no offense to anyone who is British, but they did come to India to look for spices. There are jokes made in India that they loved it so much and the food was excellent that they decided to stay on and on and on and on.

There are often many such jokes about foods from different parts of the world. For example, it is said that British food is meat and potatoes, that are absolutely tasteless. American food is considred to be hamburgers, hot dogs and soda. When we think of Italian food, we think of pizza and pasta. Similarly, Indian food is always thought to be spicy and something that may cause flatulence. There is nothing wrong with stereotyping foods from all these places. There are always exceptions ofcourse, but they are also unique.

I feel that in the world today, we are losing this uniqueness. Why do we find a Wendy's or a Mac Donalds in places like India and China? It is not supposed to be there. Why do chain restaurants and food corporations have to take over the world? Now if you travel you can get the same food all over. In India, there are always lines of people to get into these chain restaurants. It has become like a status symbol. These irreplaceable food characteristics are fading away into the memories of these magnificent places. The cultural practices are making way for globalization.

This epidemic should be stopped! We need to protect our indigenous foods and make sure that they do not get lost in time. We are what we eat and we are all different, then how can we all eat the samething?

Finger Lickin' Good

According to me the best way to enjoy food is to eat with your hands. I have grown up enjoying my rice with dal with my hands. There are a lot of reasons why people like or do not like eating with her hands, these are mine:

Temperature: This is such an important reason! You can test the temperature of the food if you gently poke or touch the food before stuffing it in your mouth and burning your tongue as a result. When we eat rice, we put the rice in a small mound on our plate and take the rice from the sides to check the temperature. Rice cools from the sides and this I know because I have been eating with my hands.

Texture: Don't we all love to have a meal that has a variety of textures? We want a bit of crisp, a dash of crunch, a pinch of softness and a dollop of smoothness. We look for that on a plate when doing a presentation. When eating with your hands you can feel the texture of the food. The graininess or the lightness of that food. Specially with foods like rice, when eating with your hands you can feel the separate grains of rice with your fingers. The delicate grain sticks to your finger as it leaves the rest of the rice behind on your plate.

Taste: May be this part is controversial but I believe that a meal tastes much better when enjoyed with your hands. Obviously I don't expect one to eat spaghetti with your hands but I am talking about all rice based dishes. The moment when you touch the rice with your hands you have made a connection. It is like a bond with that rice on your plate, your fingers and your taste buds. They are all connected together the minute you lay your hands on the fluffy white pearly grains. After the meal, we lick the remnants of our finger, pondering the food we just devoured. It's like you want to eat again. That simple act of licking the last drops of food off your finger calms you. It is pure satisfaction and bliss. This orgasmic feeling could not have been enjoyed with a fork or a spoon.