It’s 5 a.m. on a Saturday morning, and I am wide awake, tossing and turning in bed. We have officially entered fall, and the sun has been rising rather late. The first thought that comes to my mind is: What should I fix for lunch?
I am a little embarrassed that thoughts of food are hovering over my head so early in the day. But why should I be? I am hardly the only soul on this planet who eats, cooks, and feeds. We all have so much going on around food: dilemmas, competitions, controversies, and whatnot in our daily lives. Countless real-life stories are woven around it. Let’s explore some of them.
The perennial question surrounding us!
We have statistics on how often people cook, how much they eat together, and how many times they eat out. But apparently, the minutes spent asking “What shall we have for lunch or dinner?” remain an officially unmeasured part of human existence.
And this question passes from one generation to the next. I remember watching my mother trying to figure out what she should cook. Years later, I found myself and many of my friends facing the very same dilemma.
In their conversation at Film Companion Studios, author Twinkle Khanna and film critic Anupama Chopra have touched upon this seemingly endless question of deciding what to cook for the family. Their discussion captures a familiar domestic predicament: the person responsible for the meal is somehow expected to know what everyone wants to eat, often without anyone actually having an answer.
And so, the daily question “What shall I cook?” continues to haunt kitchens everywhere.
Stars are not aligned the right way!
What the future holds for us, no one knows! The same can be said about cooking. A dish you have made perfectly countless times may on occasion refuse to turn out the way you expected. This is especially frustrating when you have invited guests!
Who owns the copyright?
Not too long ago, I wrote a piece about how countries and states have fought among themselves over foods they claimed as their own. After all, who doesn’t want to take credit for creating a delicacy?
We see these food battles playing out on a much smaller scale too. Back in the 1980’s, when the internet was not yet our refuge, an aunt, using her creativity, came up with an outstanding recipe for a chicken dish. Very soon, the dish became popular in family circles, with everyone eager to try it. Yet she once lamented that no one gave her credit for coming up with the recipe. A copyright issue, perhaps, but on a decidedly micro level. After all, there was no Google to check who had invented the recipe!
Is it some sort of a competition?
Nobody likes to be compared with another person. This is especially true of all members of the culinary department.
At a gathering, a couple would have almost gotten into a heated argument had it not been for someone smart in the room who quickly changed the subject. The husband had tactlessly remarked that his mother was the best cook in the family, much to his wife’s consternation.
Truth be told, have you ever heard anyone say that his or her mother is a bad cook?
Human beings are so hard to please!
You may prepare a dish that everyone loves and watch it disappear within minutes. Yet don’t get overconfident. You are never quite safe from someone making a snide remark.
With all the love and sincerity in your heart, you may bring your signature dish to a potluck, only to hear through the grapevine later that someone had made the caustic observation: “She makes that same dish every time!”
Why is it so hard to utter those words of praise?
We have such a wide mix of characters in this world. Among them are those who consider themselves the best cooks and are extremely stingy when it comes to complimenting others.
“Where did you get the vegetables?” asked a guest. The out-of-this-world taste of the casserole was attributed to the freshness of the produce rather than to the cook’s talent! One wonders: do people deliberately hold back their praise, or do they simply not know how to express it?
It is only natural for someone to feel hurt when their labour of love goes unappreciated. Let’s not go over the top and praise something that is truly inedible. But when someone has spent time and effort preparing a dish, could we not be kind enough to offer a few words of appreciation?
And finally the war on the plate!
I wonder if people in any other country besides India fuss quite so much over who is vegetarian and who is not. Each side has its own arguments, and obviously no side can be declared the winner. What people sometimes fail to understand is that what one eats or chooses not to eat is deeply personal.
What could be more amusing than the food controversy that erupted recently in India? At the 18th BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Summit hosted by India in New Delhi, an elaborate vegetarian menu was served at the dinner for leaders and delegates from the expanded group. The spread included dishes such as khumbh galauti, paneer lababdar, millet pulao and beetroot raita.
The menu soon sparked a political controversy. Opposition leaders criticised the all-vegetarian spread, arguing that it failed to reflect India’s culinary diversity and questioning why non-vegetarian food had been left out. Government representatives, on the other hand, defended the menu and pointed to the richness and variety of Indian vegetarian cuisine.
So here we go, turning even a dinner table into a battleground. And as for my stance on this issue, I prefer to be politically correct and keep my opinions to myself! 😊
