Recently, I read an article on how breakfast looks around the world. More specifically, it spoke about what sort of breakfasts children eat from around the world. I do not particularly remember there being an Indian plate on that list. This made me feel a huge sense of relief.
Why?
Well, first of all, most children around the world eat very wholesome breakfasts. You can see low glycemic index carbs, healthy proteins, lots of fibre, colours, fruit and dairy. It kickstarts your day well. I do not quite know if children love those plates but I sure did. Except, of course, the American breakfast, which is appalling to say the least. Nobody in their right minds wants to eat a cold breakfast of cereals and milk. Sorry, America, but that just sucks.
The second reason why I felt relief was to see no Indian plate featured on that list. What would they have put? Poha and Upma and Idli-Vada piled on the same plate with Dhoklas, Handvo, Khamni, Sabudana Khichdi along with an Aloo Paratha, maybe Puri and Dum Aloo, Kachoris and Samosas along with a hot cuppa tea? Imagine how the world would look at us: heart attack on a plate. Most importantly, none of those things are eaten together. Each is a breakfast item in itself. And if you represent one, you will completely miss out on representing the other and god knows we do not like it when an individual region does not find mention. What are you trying to do, spike a war?!
We may be a diverse nation with diverse foods and diverse preferences. And we will defend to death an idli, even if we are North Indian, as long as we are sitting in a foreign location surrounded by judgemental foreigners. But bring us back home and the North Indians will judge you for eating fermented rice cakes for breakfast. The South Indians will call you uncivilised if they see you eat a parantha the size of a discus, lathered with fresh white butter. The North East folks will complain about lack of representation. And Gujju and Marwari folks will demand Jain style quiches and macarons at a fancy restaurant. And the Maharashtrians will make appalling dosas and upma and mostly banish you from their threshold if you complain about the crumbliness of the dosa. Or the dryness of the upma.
I am starting to have a severe problem with how we have managed to underline our differences far more than we want to highlight our similarities.
I am aware of modern weddings where the most popular dessert counters are pasta, chaat and desserts. Oh yes, an free booze. We are far more open to the idea of gourmet foods as part of our diets than adopting a regional cuisine. For example, if you are Bengali and married to a Tamilian, like I am, and you cook punjabi food or Kashmiri food or heck, even Maharashtrian food, you will be asked why. Go to a Malayali home and if they are, by some uncanny miracle, cooking Gujarati food, people will wonder what's happening. But hey, go to these homes and see pasta being overcooked and wraps being passed of as burritos? No questions asked.
This is a problem. We are willing to dismiss the produce and culinary tradition in our own backyard but ready to accept, with open arms, imports from the west.
Here's the thing: if you are reading this, I urge you to adopt a regional cuisine. I am not asking you to give up your gourmet meals. God knows I have more pasta lying around right now than jowar flour. But adopt a regional cuisine. It could be the cuisine of the spouse, the cuisine of the region you live in, the cuisine of a neighbouring state. But adopt something besides your own. Read about it, try some recipes, watch a few videos and make them a part of your diet.
Essentially, regional cuisines are local and support home economies. Your body is also more likely to accept them easily because it is familiar with local ingredients and growing conditions. And regional cuisines are wholesome, balanced and will nourish you while giving you a good break from your usual, familiar tastes and cooking techniques, culinary pairings. Did I forget to mention diversity? You will have a more expansive menu of choices to cook and eat from.
And if you are a food blogger, write about regional foods. Write about your grandma's recipes, cooking techniques, processes. Write about adopting a regional cuisine. Because the last thing we want is to overrepresent international culinary cultures that are already supported by their respective governments and tourism departments, corporates that stand to gain a lot by convincing you that olive oil is superior to peanut or sesame oils. Our government is not putting that same effort internationally to convince people that our regional produce is superior. Heck, they are not even trying to convince Indians that they should be eating local and homegrown produce. The onus is on us to ensure that a diverse, rich and ancient culinary tradition does not die out. I hope you are with me.
Interested in regional cuisines? Then head over to these blogs by my food bloggers pals that do allocate space to conversations about regional cuisines:
Euphorhea
Megha Deokule - AceFoodie
Anushruti's Divine Taste
Saee's MyJhola
Shanti on RiotOfFlavours
You may also want to follow Saransh Goila and Rushina Munshaw-Ghildiyal on their Twitter accounts. Saransh recently went on an Indori food trail and Rushina has started hosting workshops on regional Indian cuisines besides organising food talks on the history and archaeology of food. I am sure there are more blogs out there on regional cuisines so if you come across good ones, drop me a comment!
(Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
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