I am no stranger to cuisines specialising in non-vegetarian dishes.... by that I mean, India has enough diversity in this respect to cover the entire gamut of culinary experimentation. I myself am a strict vegetarian, technically by upbringing, but more importantly, by choice. There is just something so...I linger for want of a better word...inhuman in the way the incisors rip at flesh and are consequently stained a dirty, ugly red. The sight is nauseating, and immediately prior to my own repast, a definite no-no, retching-wise.
Well, so I have seen people feed ravenously off the flesh of the land(and water), so what else possibly could South-east Asia have to offer that I hadn't already lost my appetite over?
Turns out,...quite a lot. For starters, there is the ridiculous habit of consuming rice morning, evening and night. Now, I can see some sideward glances, since as a South-Indian, I can't be objecting to rice as the primary food item.... But then, we do have diverse breakfast spreads, from the humble idlis to upma, dosai, and what not. But these people live off rice! Put-off number 1.
Typical menus...- as an aside, the system in NTU is termed "pay-buy-eat", with several private caterers at a single canteen, so very graphic picture-boards of an assortment of dishes adorn the hall...unavoidable -
Pork rib soup
Squid chow mein or some such thing
Crab blah blah
Lobster...oyster...and any other crustaceans I may have left out...
As if that wasn't bad enough, one Chinese stall hangs up a huge, bloody carcass every day, presumably of some breed of cattle. It doesn't look like going down any day soon. Now with all these deep-sea delicacies being served up all around me, the atmosphere smells like a school of fish had beached overnight in the cold air....
Vegetarians are hard-pressed for options out here. Even the Indian stalls go the Chinese way, selling prawn and pork alongside chana and sambar. Luckily for me, a couple of Chinese stalls do sell pure Vegetarian food, but the very first day I encountered them, I nearly gagged at the display:
Vegetarian chicken rice, Vegetarian pork chop, Vegetarian fish rajok et al.
Then an amused Indian student passing by clarified that they were composed mainly of tofu, a soya paneer that is meant to simulate the taste of meat. Well, I am a huge fan of paneer, and this seemed like a good chance to experiment with videsi variants. Of course, the curries are not a patch on our own palate-tingling concoctions, but I have settled into a comfortable groove here. No chapathis, parathas, puris and unlimited curries, though(I dig all veggies, and have caused my mother not a little annoyance for polishing off her curries before meals). And coffee is awful!!! Oh, my kingdom for a steaming tumbler of filter coffee....
When I think of how balanced our Indian diet is in comparison to the stuff people live on elsewhere, how sociable(and of course, innately pugnacious) our people are, how unassuming, how modest our ways in relation to places without(though times are changing in these respects as well), and how exciting our sights compared to the bland man-made curiosities in these 'modern' societies, I feel oh! so proud to be an Indian!
3 comments:
I should say you are expecting a little too much. While we cannot offer them good oysters or crabs or snakes (if they eat that too) in India, I do not see anything atrociously wrong about idlis, dosas or even veg food being rare. There are places in India itself like Andaman islands where vegetarian food is not very common. So "swalpa adjust madkol baku".
Why don't you try bread channa or some sandwiches for breakfast if you are so bored with rice.
I know it is easier said than getting adjusted to such kind of food. I agree with you on feeling proud about being Indian. Do in Rome as Romans do. (I meant find out what other veggies are doing). All the best.
I think it is obvious that the problem is one of an Indian in a foreign land. I pity these people for having such an unbalanced diet.
"Do in Rome what Romans do". Rather inapt, huh? lol..
dei!
you have stepped out of the country.
i say, shed inhibitions and dive into the deep sea-food!
and pig into the pork... :D
and you say, "goto hell"
conversation ends.
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