Everything in life is evolving all the time. No aspect remains untouched. One of these things which I found to have evolved most is the food and eating habits. The earliest memories of growing up years being raised in a small middle-class family is that of my mother cooking food on a coal-fired 'angithi'( a cooking device made of clay with a place for lighting coal. It used to be fired early in the morning and would stay alive for almost the entire day by adding more small pebbles of coal. A simple food starting with a breakfast of bread or a 'paratha' and a cup of milk followed with a lunch of dal, roti, sabzi, rice and some chutney were all cooked on this. There were no pressure cookers so everything was cooked in brass or steel utensils and took quite some time to get ready. Later in the evening, the tea and snacks of biscuits or some times pakoras prepared on this 'angithi' were eagerly looked forward to. As the night fell the dinner comprising of chapati or paratha and vegetable and yoghurt was served early and after that, the 'angithi' would come to rest only to come to life the next day. It was a very simple life with no late evening eating and other indulgences.
As the time rolled on new additional cooking aids like a kerosene stove, and later the gas and pressure cookers entered the scene. Suddenly the cooking times were greatly reduced though initially, the taste of the food appeared to be affected. I completed my schooling and college years with pretty much the same food that I had been eating. Some new options appeared on the horizon like "The Nirulas' that introduced newbies like me to the world of pizzas, burgers et al.
I left Delhi to join the Navy and the world changed around me dramatically when it came to eating. Suddenly all the world cuisines ranging from Chinese, Continental and all kinds of cuisines about which I had only read in books and magazines appeared before my eyes every single day. Even the 'food scene' in all the markets which I visited had so many options that the 'world being a global village' literally happened. Each time I came home to Delhi from my place of posting on a vacation, new eating places ranging from Lebanese, Japanese, Thai and many more foods options that had sprung up left me in a stupor.
As I joined the corporate world, I got to see a bit of the world and everything turned topsy turvy. I landed in HongKong in early 2000 and was confronted with 'Induction heaters' in the apartment where I moved in. I was still learning as the initial shock of cooking on the new device with special utensils turned into a journey to another futuristic world. It was thrilling to cook on this set of new devices. My childhood days of seeing my mother bent over an 'Angithi' to stoke the fire flashed before my eyes like a fictional world full of love. The many food options to chooses from and such convenience of cooking has all happened in just one lifetime, leaves me bewildered. As if all this is not enough each day the talk of gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan cooking and new terminology makes me realise that I am still a child who is still learning with the same curiosity that I had five decades ago
PS: Image Kind Courtesy Google
Now food is not a boon but a bane of life.. too much is eaten and at all the times. Earlier we had a system now just choices.
ReplyDeleteSo agree with you. Thanks a lot for your comment
DeleteInteresting insight!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lady Fi!
DeleteLife is all about retaining the child in us...May u discover more :)
ReplyDeleteThat is a very profound statement Jaish! Thanks a lot for that lovely comment
DeleteTime for robot-cooked food now. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd the story continues...
True Dee!
DeleteWell transported back and front in cooking. The cooking becomes easy, but how healthy the stuff is a question?
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Jeevan
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