What's Cooking!!

Is food only about just taste, or looks or is it a lot more? I am convinced it is the aroma which gets the gastronomic juices active.  While on the UN Peacekeeping mission in Cote d'Ivoire, I had a colleague from Yemen, who was a culinary expert and he really enjoyed wielding the ladle as also relished gourmet food. He used to say that one doesn't eat with his mouth alone, but also with our eyes and nose as well.  Unless the food looks delicious and its aromatic flavours arouse interest,  food on the table is not palatable. The taste buds and the olfactory nerves come alive when delicious yummy dishes are served, reminding each one of us of our mothers. Mother's recipes are our favourite because she knew which spices are to be put in what proportion and when exactly was the precise moment when each one of them was to be added to the cauldron. The spices were pure, unadulterated and ground by hand and mixed. Alas for today's breakneck generation, time is a luxury which they can't afford and mothers can't be with you all your life, much as you would want them to. So the advent of Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) and the food delivery services such as Zomato and Swiggy are swinging.

We were extremely lucky,  like all mothers, my mother too  is an excellent cook and despite her advancing age still serves us dishes which are finger licking tasty, relished and enjoyed. My spouse has taken off from where she handed me over in ensuring that the Dining Table is always full of exotic  fare that she painstakingly prepares for all of us. After all “the route to a man’s heart goes through his stomach” so goes the saying. Having acquired a taste of global cuisine over the years, her task has become even more demanding as even the kids savour Thai, Italian, Lebanese preparations apart from the usual Chinese, South

Indian and our traditional fare. Rashtriya Indian Military College Dehradun my Alma Mater also has a very rich tradition of serving Continental and Indian dishes to the cadets. Rimcollians cutting across regional state and cultural boundaries swear by Scotch Eggs and Coffee Mould, which are a specialty and mandatory in any menu where Rimcollians are present. We all have savoured it in school and later when ever we organise a  get together. Though in NDA and IMA food was just about palatable but since we were perpetually hungry, we couldn’t care less as to what was on the table, as long as it was in abundant quantity. The only exception here was the Tipsy pudding which was served in the Camps after the Campfire and I can guarantee there is nothing in the world which can match that delicacy. There was plenty to eat and the pack of hungry wolves that we were, we gobbled every morsel, I doubt that the masalchi had anything left to do once we had cleaned out the bowls.

I am told  cooking is a stress buster, may be but for some of us who are culinarily challenged, it is quite a task. Even simple tasks of brewing a cup of tea or scrambling an egg leaves us with eggs on our face literally. Partly I think the Army also must share the blame, as we were never actually required to cook our food. Wherever we went, there were messes in place to look after our needs, at home it was the mothers and sisters and later the wives who ran the kitchen and ensured we stayed out of harms way. Even on patrols the men wouldn't let you anywhere near and serve you the most delicious meals always. Yes I did get an opportunity when I was in Cote d'Ivoire as a Military Observer. The MilObs as we were referred to, had to fend for ourselves unlike the contingents who moved like the Mughal Army with the complete retinue of staff. We had to make our own arrangements for food, water, accommodation and even security.  My mother and my better half did teach the ABC of cooking I.e. Atta, Besan and Condiments but since I have always been a shammer, I just picked up the bare minimum and even that I manage to train the maid who we had hired as domestic help. She served us hot Indian meals comprising the usual Rice, Dal, salads and vegetables. I have never been fussy about food though I relish good food but can manage with the routine stuff provided it was served hot. So I gave up eating chapatis, happy with French breads (Cote d’Ivoire being a French Colony). The only thing which I enjoyed cooking up apart from these blogs was French Toast on Sundays for my kids. So my recipes are essentially verbose rather than with the herbs.