Monday, July 11, 2011

Food Theory

Shreekhand fresh from the cows, butter straight from the dairy, puran-poli and puri-bhajji steaming from the kitchens, fishfry or mutton masala cooked with care (read pain), fresh idli and dosa- fermented just right overnight, sarson da saag, aromatic biryanis cooked with authentic spices and formulae or the seemingly crude vada-pav and cutting -chai

pasta and lasanga with detailed concoctions of spices and sauces, the aroma of stew and chicken noodle soup, tossed vegetables in the blend of soy and chili....

slurp...

each dish painfully made with tender loving care, toiling hours in the kitchen, tasting and re-tasting to make sure its all just right... but at the end, the joy to relish... special occasions special food, good times good food, people and food, food and people...

So, having a heavily watering mouth, i meander back to the topic i have at hand..... i heard somewhere recently (pretty sure it was a movie, but cant remember which one, and so the garb of somewhe
re :\) ... that people or communities (or countries) who have an 'intimate relation' with food are typically those that have been through the tough times of drought and famine and poverty or slavery and colonization :P

.... for it is he who has lost and found knows what it truly means....

Having been born and brought-up in such a country myself (like a gazillion others here and elsewhere) (i think the long list of dishes at the top gives it away, hopefully) i cant help but ponder over, or perhaps dig deeper into; this with a thumping heart and an invisible smile...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Holiday !

I was in LA
on a holiday
amidst a welcoming company
time quite just slipped away.

reliving the good ole history
the years gone bye seem only yesterday...
a tryst with the city
without much of a mystery

a walk around Hollywood
and the day was all good...
gazing at the stars on the ground
and up in the sky- at the observatory

basking in sunshine on the beach
made me realize with a stride each
how much missed the openness was
that was until just over a year
so commonplace

the plush streets at Beverly
mouth watering clearly
PCH at its scenic beauty
downtown la for its staggering majesty

theres a word of caution
of oppression in the street
each one on the guard
keeping friendly greetings at bay...
quite foreign for a small towner each day

soaking in the year-end
amongst a sea of revelers
Universal merriment
laughter and screams
after what seems like ages

and to top it all
'home' made delicacies
and jolly company
concluded my tryst
with the city of angels?