Cordon Bleu- Pampering the Taste Buds

For me, the fun ersatz to my afternoon siesta has always been movies, most of the times the good and the sensible ones. Today I happened to watch one such ‘mouth-watering’ movie, if that is a non-lecherous way to describe a movie. Julie and Julia, starring my favourite Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, was a movie based on Julie Powell’s book “Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen”, where Julie (Amy Adams) excellently cooks Julia’s (Meryl Streep) French dishes from her recipe book ‘Mastering the art of French Cooking’ and shares her experiences of the same on her blog. Some of the French dishes that were shown were amazingly tempting which of course, required a lot of meticulous effort on the ingredients and the method of cooking to be obediently followed. French cooking was epitomized in the film ‘A hundred foot Journey’ as well. The reason why ‘La Cuisine Francaise’ is considered best in the world is probably attributed to the geographical and climatic variety of France. The reasons for the supremacy of French cooking have a great deal to do with religious attitudes to pleasure, high-powered political patronage of cooking over the centuries and straightforward economic reward. So much so, that the words ‘restaurant’, ‘gourmet’ and ‘Bon appétit’ have not found any English equivalents. It is as though cooking and France share a tautological relationship.

Food is one of the basic necessities of all living creatures. But this basic necessity when blended with sterling culinary skills can result into a healthy being. Recently my sister got for me a walnut cake. Each bite of that cake tasted like heaven. The adage “One must eat to live and not live to eat” seemed momentarily hazy for me as I could live to eat such tempting confectionaries. I have a sweet tooth for few selected sweet dishes circumscribed to Sheera, Seviyaan, Gulab Jamun and of course, cakes. Indian sweet shops are loaded with a panoply of sweetmeats and the rush for them during festivals is at peak.

I consider India as one of the best places to savour and devour food. If variety is the spice of life, then welcome to India as Indian food is a potpourri of rich ancestral heritance and a variety of spices and ingredients, which one cannot procure anywhere else in the world. When I enjoy the delectable dishes of various states of India, I silently thank my country for its diversity. The cuisine of each Indian state acts as a liaison of the unique traditions, culture, language, religion, geographic and climatic conditions of that state. To give a simple example of people living in north India who prefer fatty and highly carbohydrate oriented diet owing to the chilling weather conditions, in contrast to their Southern counterparts who prefer less fatty and light diet due to the sea coast in its propinquity. The bountiful Mother Nature in India has assured that man uses her edible resources to satiate his eating needs and therefore we enjoy diverse cuisines and distinct cooking styles.

Being a Mumbaikar I enjoy my country’s diverse food here as Mumbai is a city where people of almost all states reside. Hence, there is no dearth of any cuisine in Mumbai. A gourmet like me can enjoy food of all kinds here- both continental and Indian. Mumbai’s status of the ‘commercial hub’ of India is a feather in the cap as you can taste the food here which is found globally, without losing the original essence of the dishes. Mumbai is also famous for its street food and chaat which every Mumbaikar relishes. The dishes which Mumbai can call rightfully its own are Pav Bhaji and Vada Pav. It is believed that no person in Mumbai can starve as he can thrive on a vada pav. The laborious work style of the mill workers in the olden times of Mumbai necessitated a wholesome and heavy meal and thus Pav Bhaji came into existence, the variations of which we enjoy today. It is a perfect example of:  creation of need --> identification of need --> ways to fulfil the need --> creation of a profitable business model.

I believe traditions, ancestral inheritance and culture play a major role in shaping the cooking style of a family, a state or a nation. For example, I have noticed that there is a tremendous difference between the South Indian dishes prepared by people other than South Indians and the same dishes prepared by a South Indian family. Similarly Puran Polis made in a Maharashtrian home taste better and original than in a non-Maharashtrian home. Also the Biryani that is cooked by the Muslims has an original charm and unique taste. It is as though the food is analogical to a state. When we say Dhokla, it’s Gujarat, Chole Bhature – Punjab, Daal Baati Churma- Rajasthan, Rasgulla- West Bengal, so on and so forth.

Thanks to globalization, we are exposed to international cuisines. Successful chains like McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Subway, Starbucks, Taco Bell etc. attempt to introduce Indians to western lifestyle. Many dishes at these outlets are designed to suit the Indian tastes, keeping the religious sentiments in mind. Therefore we enjoy vegetarian burgers, French fries, sizzlers, pizzas, tacos and cakes which are normally non-vegetarian in their countries of provenance. Where else would you find paneer on a pizza or aloo tikki in a burger? Well, that’s truly the east meeting the west! As a result, vegetarians like me are not deprived of such delicacies!

In India, there is a rift between the vegetarians and non vegetarians. Vegetarian food eating people may not like to eat food in a restaurant where non vegetarian dishes, too are served. The vegetarians see the non-vegetarians as carnivores, bloodthirsty people. On the other hand, the non vegetarians view their vegetarian counterparts as cattle, eating ghaas-phoos!

Though I am a connoisseur of various vegetarian continental and Indian cuisines, for me the best cooks in the world are my mother and grandmother. My Grandmother’s signature recipes of puran polis, jhunka, modak and every other simple dish that she cooks are worth devouring. Despite her old age, I see the immense efforts and dedication that she invests in making that dish. For her, cooking is her forte and every dish that she cooks, her piece de resistance. My grandmother honed her culinary skills under my great grandmother’s tutelage, she says. That’s what I call bequeathing the food habits from one generation to the other. My mother’s expertise, as a working woman, lies in cooking tasty food in a short span of time. Though my sister is an amateur when it comes to cooking, I can proudly say that she is getting an excellent hand at cooking for I appreciate every dish that she prepares lovingly for the family. My sister is the one who introduced me to the world of continental dishes because she is a foodie who loves to taste and experiment various dishes.

Like I said earlier, food being a necessity, no person can live without it – rich or poor and hence the food industry will never cease to exist. Lot of innovations and variations are possible to make food taste better every time. Cooking provides lucrative opportunities to so many, especially the housewives who possess excellent culinary skills.  This can be a paradigm where you can transform your métier into money making successful business proposition. And what can be better than you being your own boss?

I believe that our body is a representative of our diet. While pampering one’s taste buds, one should not forget the nutritional enrichment or pernicious repercussions that affect the subsequent stages of life. Choosing to have a vegetarian diet or a non-vegetarian one or both, omnivores that we humans are called, one must always keep in mind the diet’s influence on the body. Faulty and miscalculated eating habits in addition to the stressful lifestyle can cause several ailments. To avoid that, we must relish the gifts of nature in their original form so that we enjoy a healthy, disease-free, long life. The food prepared and the eating habits adopted, not just bearing to please the tongue but to the well being of the entire human body can ensure that. So readers, watch your tongue!