I have always been a pretty competitive person, which for the most part is fine, when indulged at healthy levels. But since coming to India, one of the main ways that trait has exhibited itself is in my treatment of food. Perhaps I am getting a little ahead of myself though, so I'll just start by talking about the food in general. It is absolutely fantastic, though this is coming from a person who already had a pretty lengthy love affair with Indian food going on. Of course, the stuff you get in the States doesn't even compare, so naturally I was just overjoyed when I got here, and began my sampling adventure.
The Indian food that you find in the U.S. is almost exclusively North Indian food, so when I got here I was introduced to a lot of unfamiliar dishes. A traditional Maharashtrian meal will generally consist of a subzi (vegetable dish) or two, chapatis (flat breads), daal (lentil soup), and dahi (yoghurt). There is obviously a lot of variation from there, which is of course what I get so excited about, since I am not one to pass up any opportunity to try something new. I have also gotten to try South Indian and authentic North Indian food, both of which come with their own sets of tradition on which to build variety.
In coming to India there were two elements of the food that I was most excited about- chai and spice. This is where my competitive nature started to come into play, because for the most part it is assumed that I am unfamiliar with both of these things. I have been making my own chai for a while now, trying to get as close as possible to authentic flavours. Of course, it was nothing like the chai that you find here, but it at least gave me a taste for it, making me slightly more familiar with what I could expect. When I got here however, I received a lot of confused looks or surprised laughter when I said I was familiar with masala chai, and even enjoyed it. Even saying that I liked tea in general has earned me some strange looks, as it is assumed that foreigners don't enjoy the stuff, and should they have any it would be strictly black tea. So this little internal sound of protest goes off in me, eager to prove that I do indeed appreciate a good cup of tea.
My need to prove myself is even more apparent when it comes to spicy food, however. As a white visitor to India, it is almost always assumed that any fire should be strictly avoided in your food. But I have been adorning my meals with any peppers or hot sauce I can find for years now, so this obviously isn't the case. Try as I might to be reasonable, it becomes a bit of a challenge for me, when something at the table is dragged away in a well meaning protection of my taste buds. If a waiter suggests we order something else because it will be too hot for me, that is clearly what I must have. In fact, and I don't know if this is subconscious or not, I think I enjoy my food far more if I have just been told that it will be too spicy for me. I find myself full of smiles, makig all sorts of yummy noises, and of course there must be complete ostracism of that water glass. I haven't had anything yet that I found too spicy, but hopefully my need to prove my capabilities in the realm of spicy foods won't get me into trouble anytime soon. For now, I will just continue thoroughly enjoying every food adventure I am presented with.
The Indian food that you find in the U.S. is almost exclusively North Indian food, so when I got here I was introduced to a lot of unfamiliar dishes. A traditional Maharashtrian meal will generally consist of a subzi (vegetable dish) or two, chapatis (flat breads), daal (lentil soup), and dahi (yoghurt). There is obviously a lot of variation from there, which is of course what I get so excited about, since I am not one to pass up any opportunity to try something new. I have also gotten to try South Indian and authentic North Indian food, both of which come with their own sets of tradition on which to build variety.
In coming to India there were two elements of the food that I was most excited about- chai and spice. This is where my competitive nature started to come into play, because for the most part it is assumed that I am unfamiliar with both of these things. I have been making my own chai for a while now, trying to get as close as possible to authentic flavours. Of course, it was nothing like the chai that you find here, but it at least gave me a taste for it, making me slightly more familiar with what I could expect. When I got here however, I received a lot of confused looks or surprised laughter when I said I was familiar with masala chai, and even enjoyed it. Even saying that I liked tea in general has earned me some strange looks, as it is assumed that foreigners don't enjoy the stuff, and should they have any it would be strictly black tea. So this little internal sound of protest goes off in me, eager to prove that I do indeed appreciate a good cup of tea.
My need to prove myself is even more apparent when it comes to spicy food, however. As a white visitor to India, it is almost always assumed that any fire should be strictly avoided in your food. But I have been adorning my meals with any peppers or hot sauce I can find for years now, so this obviously isn't the case. Try as I might to be reasonable, it becomes a bit of a challenge for me, when something at the table is dragged away in a well meaning protection of my taste buds. If a waiter suggests we order something else because it will be too hot for me, that is clearly what I must have. In fact, and I don't know if this is subconscious or not, I think I enjoy my food far more if I have just been told that it will be too spicy for me. I find myself full of smiles, makig all sorts of yummy noises, and of course there must be complete ostracism of that water glass. I haven't had anything yet that I found too spicy, but hopefully my need to prove my capabilities in the realm of spicy foods won't get me into trouble anytime soon. For now, I will just continue thoroughly enjoying every food adventure I am presented with.
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