Food Philosophy
"Anybody can satisfy your hunger. But, to satisfy the eater's heart, that's where lies the gift of a great cook"- A dialog from the Malayalam movie, Ustad Hotel.
I was debating where to blog this line which pretty much struck the right chords with me at all possible levels. The debate was whether to post this in my other blog which is more philosophical or whether to post it here, as this blog deals with food and everything related to it! So, as you reading this in my food blog I guess my decision is self explanatory.
Now, Coming to the reason as to why I'm blogging this in the first place. The saying in the opening lines of this blog, That's what drew me into blogging about it. It's true isn't it? Everyone cooks, some do it out of passion, some do it for a livelihood. But, according to me cooking is one of the noblest deeds one can do in this world. When you take it to the next level, you realize that cooking for someone surpasses everything. It overlooks gender, color, caste, creed, disease and just about anything. After all, we do what we do to earn our bread and butter isn't it? It is thus for a reason the old wisdom says we earn our bread and butter, not our iPhones and Lamborghinis perhaps!
I keep telling my friends and colleagues at work on certain days when I see what's on offer I don't feel good. In fact, I'm truly irritated and annoyed. This is not to state that I'm not thankful for the morsel of food on my plate, but, this has more to do with my happiness. Yes, seeing wonderful food neatly arranged in my plate not only makes me more hungry but very honestly makes me a really happy person. Have you guys experienced the same as well?
This leads me to another thing, the thing I write about in my blog. What? The ambiance. Is ambiance really that necessary? For starters, think about the food you get in a swanky 5star restaurant and the one roadside restaurant or maybe just a hotel. Does eating in ambivalent lighting and A/C make the food tastier? Hell NO! I've an experience to warrant this reaction. I once had pasta arabiatta from one renowned 5star restaurant in Bangalore. Very expensive food. And, in the end I had to eat the breads and water in order to fill my stomach. I was completely disappointed. But, when I had food for probably lesser than a 100th of the pasta in the 5star restaurant, I was happy and content. The reason for this is simple, perhaps the cook in the smaller restaurant did this out of love and the one in the 5star did it purely for money. Maybe. Maybe Not.
This leads to another amazing discovery of mine, again explained in the movie from which the opening lines were quoted. This was something to do with the scene where a milk-less tea was prepared. This milk-less tea is the famous "Sulaimani tea" the scene explained that "little bit of love(mohabbat*) should be added in every 'sulaimani', when we have that the whole world would come to a standstill." Now, I've experienced this kind of serenity. When? Read on.
I can give you the recipe and the ingredients for the best dish in the world, but the feeling in your heart while making it is what that will make it truly lickable. Now, do you realize why Mom's food taste the BEST in the world? I would say, it's simply because she prepares it with utmost love for her child. I feel that kind of serenity most times when my mom makes the cardamom tea. That's an absolute special!
I can go about explaining more about this feeling, but right now, I leave it to you, my dear readers to just close your eyes for a few minutes and think about the best meal you've had in your life. And, then you can sense that smile coming on your face. The moment of happiness. It is said that man is greedy for more. Give him anything and he can't have enough, but give him a heartful of good food, and he would have to say enough and he would be truly satisfied.
It is kismat (fate) that made me come up with this blog and kismat that made me love food so much, I don't know if it's in my kismat to ever prepare a great dish one day, but I truly hope and pray that i get to eat much of soul food as possible.
*mohabbat is love in hindi/urdu.
Notes :
1. I should go find where I would get sulaimani tea in Bangalore. I hope to write a review about it one day.
2. I have a few reviews in my draft which only kismat will tell if I would ever publish them.
3. It's 11pm in the night, and I feel like eating something really awesome. Can't wake up mom now though.
4. Everyone should resolve to feed at least one hungry person in their life.
