Posts tagged India

One of my favourite activities is to people-watch, that too, at cafés and eateries. We are what we eat, after all, but over the years, I believe I’d add “and how we eat” to that sentence.

Through all my travels – and there are many more to be done! – I’ve come to appreciate, cherish and treasure the plethora of sensuality that is Indian cuisine. Growing up in a home that thought as much as it lived, food was not just a fact of life – it was something to be learnt, discovered, achieved with skill and appreciated with gratitude. Even simple meals were a celebration in themselves – with all the trappings of a well-laid table to good conversation. Many a meal has lingered past the one-hour mark with discussions about spices and recipes and culinary influences. Therefore, to me, watching and digesting food are not just physical activities.

Obviously, when I headed to Italy, then, I was quite keen on the cuisine and their culinary ideas. After all, it is one of the oldest formal cuisines in the Western world and no, it did not disappoint me. Northern Italy is more Germanic than Neapolitan or Tuscan. Turin, the seat of the Duchy of Savoy, Milan, Como – all Alpine. It follows then, that so it the food. The infamy of long-drawn Italian meals is a delight to the observer – meals can last for up to three hours! To this day, it is perfectly acceptable to begin meals with an aperitif, moving on to anti-pasti. If you are Italian, you’ll most definitely do justice to anything that follows. If, however, you are not, this is the time to loosen your belt a couple of notches – trust me – you’ll need the extra space. Pasta and the main course follow. Then of course, there is the dolce - dessert – and coffee. Bitter, strong, fresh and knock-your-socks-off caffeinated! All this must be accompanied by voluble and animated conversation that runs the entire gamut of topics – not to forget frantic gesticulation! I have a theory for this – this physical activity keeps the calories in check and makes room for the grande finale – il gelato – the ice cream. There’s one thing Italy will always win the crown for – their ice creams. If you’re every lucky enough to find yourself in La Italia, treat yourself to a couple of slurps of heaven – it goes by the name of rum-and-raisin gelato.

Italians consider meals an occasion that borders on the sacred. It’s not just the food, it’s the whole act of being together that counts.

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