While I write this article, let me tell you, currently I am staying in an accommodation provided by my employer, and they take care of my #food…sadly, all three times. It’s been roughly three years, I left my considered to be my hometown #NewDelhi, so not only I miss the #HomeMadeFood but also the #StreetFood of #Delhi. But whenever I think of #IndianCuisine, I am not sure, why? It gives me a perspective that Indian cuisine is all about, ‘Mothers’. Indian cuisine starts with mother and goes up to the memory lane that we carry through our life. I am not talking about any #FoodRecipe here, so you can stop right now, if you are looking for a food recipe (refer to another article). If you are reading this line, means you will be going through the food memories, you always cherished about, right from your childhood to till today.
It all starts because of the artificial intelligence (learning habit) of our taste buds. Let’s learn a bit of science here; based on the food you are served during first eleven years of your birth; you develop an expectation about the taste of the food. It’s like if you are served a piece of brown colour #chocolate shaped bar you will expect it to have a chocolaty taste. During adolescence, mostly you eat #homemade food, you develop a habit of such taste and expect other food to be similar.
I remember, the Sattu Puri (stuffed flatbread prepared with the filling of toasted gram flour), Aloo Paratha (stuffed flatbread prepared with the filling of mashed potato), Simple bread and Jam, Puri Bhaji (flatbread with vegetable), Poha (fried flattened rice), Idli (Indian rice cake), Upma (Semolina), Dosa (thin pan cake generally made from fermented lentils and rice staple of south #India), Thepla (think flat bread made out of fenugreek leaves) and many other dishes which I carried in my Tiffin box, had a bite while running to catch my school bus, spread the joy in school recess with my mother’s famous Dosas, fulfilled my never ending appetite when I used to return after evening hours of outdoor play (evening snacks after play always gave me a feeling that I am a king who has just conquered a kingdom or may be just lost a #cricket match).
Then we grew up and our preferences changed a bit, now we are more attracted to #WesternFood or would eagerly wait for that day of the month to go out for a family dinner or for that treat in McDonald sponsored by en elder #brother or #sister, or will wait for someone’s birthday, marriages invitation to taste that mouth-watering food by that famous caterers in our locality. It was a great #feeling and cheer to share such #excitement with friends and say, “kabhi toh bahar ka khana taste karne milta ha” (sometime only we get a chance to taste outside food), mujhe toh intzaaar hi karne nahi hota, Jalebi khane ka mann kr raha ha (I can’t wait, I want to eat #Jalebi). Such #moments and wait filled with curiosity for food, during #childhood were priceless and it can only be felt now.
We grew up again, to be somewhat less dependent on waiting for that day of the month to go for family dinner to fill our #OutdoorFood appetite. The incentive or pocket money could be spent on #McDonald’s burger or #KFC’s chicken (I was more of McDonald than #KFC). By this time our taste buds has already developed an expectation of outdoor food, such outings increased and the picture was clear, ‘Outdoor #food are so delicious and mouth-watering while, ghar ki murgi daal barabar (homemade chicken is like pulse). At this stage, the #memories of outings have taken over the adolescence cheers. We grew up again and the memories became vivid, we grew at a stage when the outings are regular but family outings are rare. We grew at a stage, when outdoor food is common and homemade food is rare. We grew at a stage when we compliment the #restaurant staff for remembering our preferences but forgot to compliment the #mother, who has taken care of our preferences from the moment we started breathing. We grew at a stage where we pay tips but never thought about a gift for mother (I know you would have gifted her many things, but I can bet, not by complementing about her #food).
But time is changing, we are growing further and what goes around comes around. The cycle is repeating itself reversely; a journey of #adulthood which started with #attraction to the outside food is now taken over by a, grown-up, mature individual with lots of #memories; an individual that misses mother’s cuisine. An individual that has memories of stealing sweets during his #childhood, an individual who can remember how he was caught eating Rasgulla’s (Indian Bengali sweet made out of chhena and semolina dough poured in sugar syrup), an individual that go partying on weekends but miss those family outings deep inside.