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July 8, 2004
Sour tooth
Culinary columns all assume that most people eat everything, fish, fowl or red herring. But actually most don’t. There are difficult eaters, and there are eaters who have marked preferences. May I give my own example and guide food column writers?
Humans, being omnivores, have a vast range of food to choose from. We are told by our elders that all types of food must be eaten. But this is easier said than done. How can anyone like all types of food?
I can be described as a ‘nakerchilla pilla’. This is a fact of which I am neither proud nor ashamed. My favourite of all dishes are pulses. For me, dinner and lunch are incomplete if pulses are not on the table. Some people are described as vegetarians, others as non-vegetarians, while I have been described by my family as a ‘dulairian’. When the dish is freshly cooked I like to drink one or two mugs of it.
I like to eat a lot of spices. Some people say spices must be avoided at all costs. This is the case with my brother who is dead against the use of spices. He is so opposed to them that he even advises his patients to eat as few spices as possible. For me dishes without spices are just unpalatable. Even then I like to add chutneys and chat masala to make the food more spicy.
I am a big eater of meat. I like to eat beef and chicken. Of beef, my favourite is minced meat with peas. This is usually cooked in my home as a treat for me. When it comes to chicken, curries are more acceptable to me. I can eat roast and fried chicken but with not as much zeal as in case of curries. In case of seafood I only eat fishes and prawns. It is only now that I have started eating prawns as I used to get frightened by the sight of them. I do not like any other seafood as the sight of most is enough to give me endless chills.
Till a few years ago I did not like to eat soups. The reason behind my not liking soups was that they were too watery and this fluidity gave me a nauseating feeling. Quite by accident I started to eat them, much to the relief of my family for whom meals taken at restaurants would be incomplete without soup.
I’ve always had arguments with other people as to why I don’t eat sweets after a meal. To me that’s an offence to my tongue. I simply do not like eating sweet things. Instead, I like eating sour foods. I say people should accept my eating habits but they continue to act as if I am committing a cardinal sin. When it comes to eating sweet dishes made from milk, I eat just a few. These include gulab jamun, burfi and vermicelli.
Most people like to eat food derived from milk, something which I particularly dislike. The very sight and smell of yogurt, lassi and fruit mixed with cream make me nauseous. During my childhood, one of my paternal uncles always tried to make me eat yogurt. Most of the time I would flatly refuse but at times this was not possible and I would have yogurt in my mouth not knowing what to do with it.
Amongst my favourite taste enhancers are pickles. Mango pickles are my favourite. Their spicy sour taste really suits my taste buds. The other pickle I like is that of lemons. Once again it is the sour taste that endears these pickles to me.
Of jams, jellies and marmalades I like jams and jellies only. But that too the ones my mother prepares. Of the market products, I find that too much gelatin and sugar is added, rendering the product too sweet and not having a natural taste. I dislike marmalades because the bits of fruits in it scare me for some reason unknown to me.
In case of fruits, the reason behind the choice is again whether it is sweet or sour. I find too much sweet fruits like chikoo, mango and leechee unedible. On the other hand, I find oranges, apples, peaches, plums, grapes and strawberries delightful.
Of course without a balanced diet one remains undernourished. Still due to one reason or another people dislike some types of food. I thank myself that I am not one of those people who are complete herbivores or carnivores. Such a diet could have adversely affected my health.
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