Salt,Pepper and Chilli!-Foodie Tales

Yesterday was a lazy Sunday, and to just test that my culinary skills are not getting rust, I delved myself in to cooking after a long time. And after relishing the meal, I was satisfied that my armor has not developed any chink! I used to cook for myself until four months back, when I was in Mumbai. But after moving to Bangalore, by God’s grace I have got a cook who makes the food that I like. When it comes to food, I am very particular. If I do not get the taste that I want, I get myself indulged! Infact the craving for this taste led me to cooking!

In my opinion, when it comes to food, there are two categories of people- one who eat just because they have to survive, never be bothered about the taste and quality. The other is the people who savor food, right from the quality to taste.

I belong to second category and am a vegetarian foodie. Foodie, in literal sense means, “A person keenly interested in food, esp. in eating or cooking”. To be true in literal sense, I relish both eating as well as cooking! Infact one of my hobbies or areas of interest is cooking. I think we are living in the twenty first century, where the cooking is not confined to as “ladies only” department. And to put an emphasis on that, most of the famous chefs are male! I specifically mentioned “vegetarian” because many of the non-veg fraternity have the opinion that the real taste of food lies in meat and all. With offences towards none, I completely disagree with that and believe that the taste of the food lies in the hands of the person who has prepared that and not in the food itself, be it veg or non-veg. If two persons make a dish, with the same and equal amount of ingredients then also it would not taste the same!

In the primitive ages, when the civilization evolved, man used to eat raw uncooked food because he did not have any option and had to survive. Necessity is the mother of invention, and I feel, perhaps the craving for a more palatable taste, paved the way for the cooked food!

Though I rarely like to eat outside, yet I always make it a point to visit famous eateries, where ever I am. Be it Cannon for Pav Bhaji or Ram aashray for South Indian dishes in Mumbai; or Nandhini for Andhra style thali in Bangalore. Needless to say, South Indian dishes are awesome at any Darshini stall in Bangalore.

As far as I remember, the liking for good food started in early childhood itself, because my mother has “magic” in her hands. Whatever she makes, I would lick fingers till the end!

As with most of the people, the food problem for me started when I moved out of school and eventually from home for my engineering. Everything was new for me- the city, the living alone and the food! When I ate first outside in a Tiffin centre, I was almost dumb stuck because of the quality of the food and the taste. What feared me most was the feeling that I have to eat this regularly! And with the passage of time, I unwillingly moved to the first category of people, and would just eat whatever it would be. I do not know how many Tiffin centres; I had changed during that time just in search of good food. Semester breaks that time used to be a heavenly feeling as I would visit my home for fifteen days. I used to prepare a dish list in advance as to what to demand from my mother!

The problem partially solved when we got an old lady, “Ammaji” as cook for ourselves. The food was better than Tiffin centres because we used to provide standard quality of grains and lentils. The taste was also better. However with the passage of time, Ammaji’s food was losing taste and I did not have enough courage to go back to the Tiffin centres.

Here destiny and necessity played their roles and I jumped in to cooking. Ammaji was there just to prepare chapattis and I used to cook rest everything else for myself along with my roomies. Initially I felt it difficult but gradually I started enjoying because I was getting the gratification that was very much needed. I was now eating to savor and not just for the sake of eating!

I learnt the nitty-gritty of cooking while doing- how much to put, when to put and more importantly what not to put! Like for example, onion always does not enhance taste! I experimented often and got few new things for snacks or substitute for meals. Not always experiments have gone successful, some went awry also. But then it was good because I learnt the things that would not work and create havoc with taste buds!

Cooking is fun and if you believe me, a pinch of salt, pepper or chilli, plus or minus can make a huge difference!

God Bless!

Cheers!

Adi