What, how and where we eat has become a function of socio-economic variables. Arranging sanctity of food in a pecking order, the privileged have always undermined what the working class enjoys. Isolation and vigilante-exposure of eateries offering beef is a classic example. Mine is a meat-eaters family. We have always never shied on shelling out bucks for food. Though no aversion for juicy Kentucky fried chicken and strips, we have a special place for our native delicacies like deep-pepper Mutton chukka, biryani (I mean the real one deep south in TamilNadu, not the elite basmati of Chennai), meat balls, curry dosa, fish kozhambu, prawns’ gravy and the holiest of all- Parotta and Saalna. Having dwelled all throughout in Madurai- the food capital, having ancestral roots in Dindigul- the goat slaughter house of TN, my aunt owning an aqua-culture business, this pining shouldn’t be a surprise !!
Despite all of this, earlier I also use to pay lesser attention to what is being served on the dining table, finish it as soon as possible and keep moving. But this year ever since I contracted COVID and was briefly hospitalized, my taste buds had literally gone numb, as if having lunch was a punishment. Only idiyappams, hardly one and a half dosas seemed edible and digestible. Gradually recovering upon medication, craving for even regulars at home such as garlic kuzhambu, scrambled egg became so high that my rice quantity consumption grew two-fold. After the corona episode, the first time I devoured mutton into my mouth, mincing every inch of flesh with the masala on top of it, I felt as if my taste senses had taken re-birth. I whole heartedly went and thanked my Amma for serving us great food all these years. As there is a popular saying- “Only when you are deprived of something, you begin to realize it’s true potential”. Well, I am no new connoisseur in town, but after all life is so short and crazily unpredictable, I have decided to be grateful for what I eat and make a bucket list of food I would likely to explore in the future, both in-country and abroad. Having written all of this, I have put on quite some pounds in weight, well no better time than The New Year eve to take unkept resolutions on shredding fat.
Anyways Bon Appetit !!
