Bizarre yet true Episode 2: The Gut Feeling
My previous blog was dated on May 13. Here I am, with episode two of my new series, exactly one month after the last episode. First, a quick recap. In this blog series, I take some strange topics still pertaining to food and express my thoughts, anecdotes and some web research.
Here we go. (By the way... We are celebrating Two Years of Kitchen Chronicles with Chef Abhinandan... I had rebooted in June 2017)
"Gastronomy is the science of pain."
-Anthony Bourdain
When a young one acts in ways like his or her parent used to, we say that it is in the genes. Do genetics really determine our behaviour? Commenting on this would be appropriate only after years of study in Mendeleev and his science. Philosophers as early as 2000 years ago of Greek and Roman descent like Aristotle and Seneca the younger and Modern humanitarians like His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama try to imply that we, humans, by nature are instinctive. Meanwhile, we are social, political and cooperative beings altogether.
Apart from history and archaeology, literature is another unprejudiced witness of our heart-gut-brain relationship. Idioms and phrases like gut-wrenching and trusting one’s guts are informally popular.
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| Food in Community Kitchens |
Concepts of community kitchen and service such as the widely practiced Sikh Langar originated with Guru Nanak in the 1500s. Sitting together on the floor and plunging into the hot food is a unique experience. Also, practices of Maha-prasads, Bhogs and Bhandaras represent the real Indian mannerisms. Bringing people together for celebration and service under the disguise of free food touches my heart (also my hungry tummy). This is the true meaning of religion (I firmly believe with no external influence on me).
Many more instances exist where food goes hand in hand with emotions. Are Indians naive? Do we lack judgement? I would deny it even though arranged-marriages are decided whether the tea is good or not.
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| A Dish very dear to me heart. Why? This story is for another day |
Nostalgia of food is another way to connect. My favorite olfactory memories are the bengali fish jhol, khichdi and freshly baked breads, my craving begins and ends with a bigger belly. Grandma’s and Mom’s food is another nostalgic craving for those who stay away from their families.
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| The Ratatouille scene. (Credits Pixar and thanks a ton, Steve Jobs) |
The animated Disney’s Ratatouille showed us in the climax, the prideful food critic takes a bite of the ratatouille presented (yes, it is a traditional french stew dish and not a pun at all) before him and gets transported to a childhood memory of eating the same dish in his mother’s kitchen. That image resonates with everyone, for good reason.
Emotional eating is the extreme form of what I have been communicating till now. It is not that serious issue but eating when you are angry, stressed, dejected can result into an abnormal weight-gain.
So learn to control your guts. It may take some time but probably reward you with a longer life in the living realm.
{I have always wanted to write something like this ever since I began food blogging. I agree with all responsibility that this blog cannot contain the regular humour but it might remind you of something of greater importance to you which is… your family.}
