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| Lunch today |
‘Hello. Is this Kalyan?’
‘Yes.
‘M (never heard of him) is launching a store this afternoon. Can you come?’
‘No.’
‘Where in Delhi do you live?’
‘I live in Mumbai.’
‘Do you have any representatives in Delhi?’
‘No.’
Technically my mom, who is 74, is there now. As is my niece, who is 6. I doubt if my brother and sister in law could run at the drop of a hat to go for whatever this was.
The conversation from this morning played on my mind when I sat down for lunch. 2 jowar rotis, cabbage bhaaji, green moong dal, dahi and onion pickle.
The meal was cooked by #kayteecooks. ‘Koi patta nehi,’ I told her while giving her the recipe for the torka. To emphasise the fact that curry leaves and coriander leaves do not go into every Bengali dish. The torka dal of Bengal has Calcutta Punjabi dhaaba origins of course. ‘Jitne adrak, uska adha lasan.’ Another cardinal rule. Garlic added should be half that of ginger.
For the inquisitive ones out there, #kayteecooks is Kalpana tai. Our (now not so) new morning cook. For those asking ‘where is Banu,’ she comes to work after lunch hours. I think this is a reasonable amount of information to give out on our kitchen cabinet to keep you satisfied. Not matters of state after all.
Well, here is the thing. I began my food writing life as a blogger in October 2007. As in the case with all others bloggers then, I was a diaryist and an amateur. Writing about things from my life. With food as an anchor.
Things have changed 14 years down the line. To start with, my diet has changed as I have aged with sweet little nothings such as blood sugar and triglyceride counts, weight levels, etc, becoming important. My appetite levels have changed too. What I eat today, or should eat, has changed drastically since back in the day. Which explains why you find more posts on home food, vegetables, millets, fruits etc on my feed and less of eating out (can’t blame it only on the pandemic), meats, fried stuff, desserts, alcohol etc.
At times I feel the expectations from me, as the misguided phone call this morning shows, have changed too. As a professional food writer/ columnist/ author etc etc, I am expected to cover a wide variety of subjects. It does not matter whether they reflect my personal tastes or choices.
Which is a fair expectation if you are a reporter. It is not that those who wrote in the glossies of yore could personally afford staying in luxury hotels across the world, quaffing champagne, caviar and seasonal truffles. The publications that employed them would arrange these and back then they would be called deals and not barter as they are today. Nor would those anchoring TV shows actually eat all the food shown in front of them. Every profession or industry has its acceptable cheat sheets. This would be that of food media.
I have a couple of personal problems with this.
Firstly, tasting a wee bit of food (or not even that) and writing about it, or posing with it, leads to food wastage which bothers me. Though I tell myself that there would be some amount of wastage in any industry when it comes to product development or promotion. It’s a reality of life.
My second issue, and bigger issue, is that I have no control when I come across something that I like. Case in point was our recent staycation where I ate both egg rolls which came when I ordered a plate, or the entire luchi alur chorchori which had come with the pohe and vada pav breakfast I ordered, or the massive portion of double cooked belly which came on day 1.
Which explains why I might have said no to you if you are someone who has invited me to a restaurant meal or want to send mithai, ice creams or chocolates for Diwali, or some deliciously meaty curry or kebab ensemble.
It is not you. It is me.
Thanks for reading.
