I never thought seriously about this - how to eat and savour food till I read "Guess what we are eating..." by Vasundhara Chauhan (published in The Hindu, Sunday Supplement, "Gourmet Files", June 12, 2011.)
The writer confesses that she loves to probe into the food she eats because it makes it so much more interesting. She cites boredom and ego as a reason for contemporary styles of cooking such as making garlic payasam instead of the conventional rice kheer. Today's hostesses need to prove to their guests that they are creative and not boring enough to plate up what's been known and tasted many times before.
That got me thinking. I enjoy making food that tastes new. The ordinary cheese sandwich tastes yummier with an additional layer - dash of salad cream, mustard, olives and jalapenos. I am the one who's having it and it's not really about my ego but I just want to eat something other than the ordinary sandwich. Same goes with pasta. I love to add new things to perk up pasta. Sometimes, I add pan-fried garlic aubergines cooked in butter to pasta and to me, it is so heavenly. But that doesn't mean I eat only this version of it, you know.
You can do so much with different food textures and not necessarily drain your savings. You can also follow only the time old recipes, which are good for occasions that you can mark them for.
But I agree with the main point of the author - it's really interesting to find out the ingredients that go into the food we eat. How to eat is not as important as being aware of what it is one's tasting in the form of the food that sustains us. There's so much to know, isn't there?
The writer confesses that she loves to probe into the food she eats because it makes it so much more interesting. She cites boredom and ego as a reason for contemporary styles of cooking such as making garlic payasam instead of the conventional rice kheer. Today's hostesses need to prove to their guests that they are creative and not boring enough to plate up what's been known and tasted many times before.
That got me thinking. I enjoy making food that tastes new. The ordinary cheese sandwich tastes yummier with an additional layer - dash of salad cream, mustard, olives and jalapenos. I am the one who's having it and it's not really about my ego but I just want to eat something other than the ordinary sandwich. Same goes with pasta. I love to add new things to perk up pasta. Sometimes, I add pan-fried garlic aubergines cooked in butter to pasta and to me, it is so heavenly. But that doesn't mean I eat only this version of it, you know.
You can do so much with different food textures and not necessarily drain your savings. You can also follow only the time old recipes, which are good for occasions that you can mark them for.
But I agree with the main point of the author - it's really interesting to find out the ingredients that go into the food we eat. How to eat is not as important as being aware of what it is one's tasting in the form of the food that sustains us. There's so much to know, isn't there?
Comments
@Asha - Yes, of course. I too can't imagine garlic payasam. I like the traditional ones.
@Tan - Yes, its enjoyable to do so of course.