Who are we? We tend to identify ourselves using race, language, religion and culture – but food? Could each one of us really be so unique? What of the countless Americans who stuff cheeseburgers down their throats every day? Would they all be the same?
Perhaps the earliest food related memory I have is of eating beef stew with rice in the kitchen on the floor. I can clearly remember my mother smiling down at me from high, high above as she ladled more rice on my plate. I was about 3 or 4 at the time. To date, my mother’s cooking has never been topped by anybody else, not even chefs with graduate degrees working at five-star hotels (the few times I have had the opportunity to try them). My mother learned to cook from her mother, and good cooking (especially good meat cooking) has been a family tradition, passed down from generation to generation.
This culinary tradition is perhaps best exemplified by the fact that I’ve grown up to love meat. The associated expertise on judging the quality of different kinds of meat has become renowned in my extended family. Whenever anyone wants the last word on a rare steak or lamb chops, they consult me.
Family legend attributes this to my maternal grandfather, who was so pleased when his first grandchild was born that he distributed meat to everyone in the neighborhood. Since then, my meat-devouring prowess is unmatched by any of my relatives. But my intuition tells me this is due to the upbringing I’ve had – my mother has always been the undisputed queen of meat-based dishes in our neighborhood, especially those prepared in the traditional Mughal style of cooking famous in India.
"A basket from home"
Clockwise from top-left: Biryani (Spicy rice and meat dish), Matar Paneer (Cottage cheese with peas in curry), Butter Chicken with Naan, and Aloo Paratha (Potato-stuffed flatbread served with butter, pickle and yogurt).
It would be safe to assume that most of us have had a similar experience. Maybe you’re an expert on waffles or omelets. Maybe you had lots of lasagna when you were young – by making lasagna a central part of your cuisine, you are defining yourself in a way that marks you out from the crowd. I’ve found that a person’s diet tells a lot about his/her character.
To be fair, two major culinary traditions have influenced the kind of food I like. Growing up an Indian-Muslim meant that my mother’s cooking was typically Indian, and pork and alcohol were banned on our table. And it sure meant that there was a lot of meat, even though many Indians are vegetarian. On the other hand, fast food and international cuisine are more of an acquired taste for me. This experience is possibly unique for me, and thus it is a core component of my identity.
It may surprise some of you to know that Indians tend to overcook their food (as compared to say, Koreans, who like to eat raw seafood). India produces hundreds of spices and its abundance is reflected in our cuisine – thus the hot and spicy nature of our food. Sometimes when I try American or Continental dishes, I am taken aback by the blandness of the dishes. Perhaps this will change over the coming years as I try more international cuisine.
Identities are not permanent, and tastes and likes are just as ephemeral. Growing up can mean a lot, including changing who you are and by extension, what you eat. Picture a five-year old child. Most probably the child likes milk, chocolate and ice-cream but is neutral on most dishes. Now picture a ten-year old kid. Now this kid likes pizzas, cheeseburgers and most probably hates veggies. My point here is that though our taste buds develop much earlier, children aged 5-10 undergo a crucial transformation in terms of culinary development.
This is exactly what happened to me (and most probably all of you as well). We moved to Qatar and stayed there for the next five years. Then a year in Canada, followed by more than seven years in Kuwait. So most of my culinary development took place outside India. Naturally, our exposure to Middle-Eastern and Western cultural scenes had an effect on my mother’s cooking. It was still basically Indian cooking – but maybe with that Arabic hint or that dash of Chinese in it. And of course, I grew fond of cheeseburgers, pizzas and all kinds of fast food, along with several Arabic specialties.
Now I can relate to street kid in India enjoying a bite of vada pao and an Arab kid digging into his fatayer equally.
"Different stories? I don't think so..."
I've seen them, played with both groups, and enjoyed both Indian and Arab street food. Does that make me unique? A cultural hybrid?
Like almost anything else in this world, you have the power to shape who you are by modifying what you consume. It is probably one of the reasons that make gastronomic experimentation a subject of great interest, something people devote great amount of time into. Like my mother. Many a times, she would learn a new recipe and share it with her mother when she would visit India. Then my grandmother would improve upon this new addition, creating in turn new recipes, new varieties and hybrids of dishes that would taste completely different from the original. It is a dynamic, fluid process, not unlike character and personality development in humans.
What better way to demonstrate this than to place before you this offer? I have tried many American dishes before, but I am still relatively inexperienced. So here is a unique offer for you – if you can guide me through the quagmire of American cuisine, and tell me how to get the best out of the melting pot America is (Is pizza even Italian anymore? Is Chow Mein Chinese at all?), in short, if you can add another dimension to my tastes – then you get to define who I am. You get to shape a part of me.
“Tell a man what to eat, tell him what to be.”
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Biryani: http://lifeismystery.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/chicken_biryani.jpg
Aloo Paratha: www.showmethecurry.com
Butter Chicken and Naan: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3213/3157980280_3c721e2da7.jpg
Indian street kids: www.spencesmith.com
Arab street kids: blog.justanothersoldier.com
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