Food For The Soul

Passion for food is something that’s universal. Everyone has a certain love for food that can’t be topped by anything else. Food isn’t just sustenance that people consume to fuel their body. No, food is something that feeds our hearts and souls too. A bite of your favourite meal or just the aroma of your mum’s cooking can act as an instant pick me up for so many people. 

It doesn’t matter where you go, the best way for people to bond is over a hot meal. If there is one common thing that people from different cultures across the globe are proud of and love to share, it is food.

From a young age, I’ve been lucky enough to be surrounded by the yummiest food a person could ask for. I have always been fortunate to be exposed to a variety of cuisines as both my parents are excellent cooks, my maternal grandmother too.

Most of my fond memories involve food. In fact, one of my happiest memories is of 8-year-old me eating a barbecue pork chop, that was bigger than my face— no exaggeration, on a ship in Shanghai. I don’t know what magic my father’s crew had while making it because I am yet to eat something that tastes like that again. At that moment, nothing else mattered, I was so content eating it that I even stained my favourite barbie top and never cared. It was so delicious that to this day I start salivating simply by thinking about it.

I remember being so excited to come down to Goa for a holiday, only so that I could get to devour my fraternal grandmother’s yummy cakes and sweets along with Maria’s, her house help’s, mouth-watering and finger-licking crab curry.

I find food fascinating. Every single living being has to consume food to survive, but we humans are the only ones who cook our food. Even the food that we eat raw, such as sushi, has been specially crafted and has levels of flavour. We could survive on plain boiled rice and beans but we choose to create dishes that are an amalgamation of spices and different ingredients that are perfectly balanced. People pour their love into the ingredients they have around them and cook the most wondrous meals. 

Food has always brought family, friends and neighbours together. I have always loved how neighbours would pack dhabbas filled with their special delicacies, especially during festivals, and them across to one another. I used to love Eid, Diwali and Parsi New Year because of the food and sweets we would get. And of course, my mother and grandmother would give back during Christmas and Easter. I love the idea of sharing food with people that matter to you and exposing them to different cuisines.

Food has the power to set the tone for every single occasion and mood. It plays such a big part in our lives that unconsciously we associated different seasons with quintessential food. For example, when it rains one can’t help but crave for some hot and freshly made Khanda Bhajiyas and Vada Pav accompanied by a steaming cup of Masala Chai. Or in the summer, a cooling bowl of sorbet and some kulfi and a variety of salads. Let’s not forget the body warming bowls of Chinese Soup or Masala Maggi in the winter.

I enjoy watching food videos, it is a somewhat guilty pleasure. The one thing I’ve noticed after viewing hours of different food content from around the globe is that there are so many different similarities. West African Puff Puff and East Indian Fugia, a Mexican Chimichanga and Chinese Springroll, Middle Easter Shawarma and Greek Gyros, a Yellow Thai curry and an Indian Coconut curry. Colonization and trade routes have influenced food around the world, making many dishes sisters from different misters. 

True foodies, who can afford to travel to different countries, plan special trips so that they can enjoy certain famous delicacies. Food is on the top of their sightseeing itinerary. As a foodie, you can’t visit Singapore and not try the Chilli Crab at Clark Quay or the street food at Marrakesh. Let’s not forget the delicious Baked Cheesecake of New York, the deep dish Chicago Pizza, Gumbo from New Orleans or leave Mumbai without having its Vada Pav. 

The beauty about being a foodie is that you don’t need to know your way around the kitchen, you just need to know where all the yummy food is kept. You can always order in and savour those fancy restaurant treats or if you’re lucky enough you might have a family member who loves to cook and spoil you rotten. Your love food doesn’t necessarily have to translate into cooking it but instead, it makes you want to sample everything edible. 

There’s a reason certain dishes are called soul food, and that’s because the right meal can one feel at home no matter which part of the globe they are in. So the next time you’re feeling glum and down, treat yourself to a feast, it’s bound to turn your frown upside down.

Written By Jessica Albuquerque.

A master of being a Jack of all Trades, A method in madness some may say. I’m just a girl on a never-ending journey, Standing on the precipice of my next big story.

Week 22, June 2021