Sunday, August 10, 2014

Daal, Roti and 100 Pipers

I’m basically a Daal, Roti and Scotch person !! 

For long I resisted suggestions and prodding from family and friends to write on food.  I was reluctant because these days I find every second person these days is a Food Blogger and almost everyone is a “Foodie” ( a term I detest – but more on that later). I never fancied myself to be a gourmet and an epicure I am certainly not. I don’t know much about the history of various cuisines nor  “Food Anthropology”  (another fashionable term). I have tried my hand at cooking occasionally with the odd success, that too mostly for the family (and once burnt my hand - literally - with boiling oil while trying to over-turn a whole chicken in a Kadai, a scar I still bear )– but can hardly claim to be a modern day metro-sexual wannabe master chef. I hardly watch Food Shows on TV (which are mostly scams anyway) and read only the occasional food column. I’m deeply cynical of Food Reviews – which I suspect are obtained  either through free-meals and wine – or , at times, simply paid-for (unless it's the Michelin Guides - there are very few food critics like the late Egon Ronay - who always paid for their meals). And, oh – I love Nigella Lawson. But, only for her looks, not culinary repertoire (which I have a creepy feeling they are largely outsourced or crowd-sourced).

Then what are my credentials – at all to write on Food ? To be honest, none actually. Like most ordinary people I like to eat.  Hunger is a natural desire we humans have been gifted purely for reasons of survival – embellished with a sense of taste, smell and touch that makes it a pleasurable experience. No wonder someone coined the term 'gastro-sexual' - as enjoying food is very much giving in to the senses. I believe even the most ascetic of individuals – even those practicing strict gastronomical abstinence - enjoy food. That’s why most fasts end with a feast and I have seen spiritually evolved persons of all religions (read - monks, nuns priests  and saints) indulging in the occasional repast with great relish.

I am no different from them. Perhaps, a wee bit more experimental and adventurous – but, certainly not one of those who “live” and are willing “to die for”  food.  For me food is more about memories, company and conversations.  Snapshots stored in the mind’s soft-disk indexed by the taste-buds and aromas.

The posts that will follow are part of that journey that I have taken through highways, by-lanes and alleys of the food trail the meals that I have partaken not only in restaurants, cafes, small road-side eateries, pubs, bars, dhabas - people's homes and clubs that has shaped my own private gastronomical universe. 


8 comments:

  1. I have been a regular visitor on your blog. And like most of your other posts, this too is refreshingly honest.

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    1. Thanks for visiting. This is something new I am trying. Would appreciate your candid (critical) feedback. Have you read the Hakka Route. Would value your comments.

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  2. Sandip - rarely I comment on blogs or posts. For a change I wrote a real long one and now it has vanished!!! :(

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    1. Thanks for taking the time and effort to comment. Do it once more - as I really value your comments :)

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  3. Agree! I dislike this "foodie" craze and a little experiment I ran recently spiked visitors to my own blog by a massive factor. What this really means is food blogs are here to stay. About the only thing that challenges them are kittens and self-help or sanctimony.

    I have been to your blog a couple of times and somehow never managed to leave a comment. However!! I have fixed that by "following you" from my own blog.

    Call it stalking, if you will. :) And yes you do know me and I know you. In real life.

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  4. The pleasant flavour of your write ups and the vast knowledge of food items across the country will surely be interesting to read.

    Will await your posts.

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  5. "Snapshots stored in the mind’s soft-disk indexed by the taste-buds and aromas". What more credentials would one want? Besides being the only person I know who is equally (and genuinely) at ease with all food - from the poha in Bhagalpur and puchka's on Kolkata's streets, to fine-dining at the finest five-stars and the French resorts. Ok, will not call you a 'foodie'.

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  6. Good trailer ... Point me to the one where you sing paeans to pork please :)

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