All About Food

This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Conversations in a Cab

Engagement
All About Food
Create

We haven’t said much about our cab rides in a while. Well, as I said in my previous post, getting into a meaningful conversation needs that spark, that openness from both ends and sometimes everything doesn’t come into place together.

Guess what! After quite some time searching for that spark, today I found it. We were beginning to wonder whether we will have any more stories to share with you. But no, life always presents opportunities if you keep your eyes open.

I had a mid-term examination today and I was running late. Expecting a short and uneventful ride I requested an Uber. I think for the first time ever in the US, the driver cancelled my ride and Uber asked me to request again. My next request was assigned to Forest – like in Forest Whitaker, not Forrest Gump! Oh how much I would have liked to say “Drive! Forrest. Drive!”.

Forest came in a beautiful light blue sedan and as I was walking to the car from my doorstep, I saw him moving around the car and opening all the exits one after the other. As I moved closer, I could see him – a man in his seventies, white hair and moustache with a pair of glasses on. He immediately greeted me and I could feel the positive energy, enthusiasm and goodwill in him – just from that short exchange. He said he had a tall passenger for his previous ride and so he had to re-adjust all his seats.

As he reversed the car to start the trip, we had a short exchange about the correct way to pronounce my name. He asked me at least a few times and was very eager to get it right. I liked how effortless and soothing his words were and I could already sense something interesting coming up in the next few minutes.

He asked me about my academics and how things are going. He correctly guessed my major which I think is not too difficult to predict considering the current demographic of the United States. He went on to talk about his son-in-law who graduated from Johns Hopkins with a masters degree in computer systems and now has a satisfying job at NASA. He was curious to know about my plans after graduating – whether I would want to return to my country or stay here.

One other thing that happened in the meanwhile was that he also guessed that I’m from India. Forest then asked me “Which part of India?”. I replied “East. From Bengal”.

He said “I love Indian culture and Indian food. I would like to visit India someday. I haven’t met a single American who doesn’t like Indian food.” All this while, I was thinking about our dinner at Chutney (http://chutneymd.com/) last weekend. I remember Oindrila remarking about the presence of people from different countries of origin at all the tables. We were possibly the only Indians there. And if you haven’t yet tried Chutney out, please do. Being an Indian myself, some of my friends ask me about the authenticity of Indian food in US restaurants and I would say I highly recommend Chutney if you want authentic Indian.

What Forest said next has kept me thinking since morning and was the single most important push for writing something after a long time. He said “I think that is why the Anglo-Saxons colonized your country. They fell in love with your food.” We shared a round of laughter. My trip ended soon after and we parted ways after a warm and firm handshake.

I wondered how true his statement might be and I did some digging myself. It seems that “Britain did indeed get the hots for Indian curry”.

The first British cookery book containing an Indian recipe was ‘The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy’ by Hannah Glasse. The first edition, published in 1747, had three recipes of Indian pilau. Later editions included recipes for fowl or rabbit curry and Indian pickle.

The lucrative spice trade prompted various European powers to establish their presence in India, either through trading companies or colonisation.
A 19th Century account records the British in India eating curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Curry became so popular, an 1852 cookbook stated “few dinners are thought complete unless one is on the table”.

However, the bloody revolt of 1857 changed the British attitude towards India. Englishmen were banned from wearing Indian clothes; recently educated public officials disparaged old company men who had gone native. Curry too ‘lost caste’ and became less popular in fashionable tables but was still served in army mess halls, clubs and in the homes of common civilians, mainly during lunch. “At the beginning of the 20th Century, curry was not very popular,” says Dr Lizzie Collingham, author of Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors. “It was not well-to-do to have a house that smells of curry.” Instead, the British diet was dominated by red meat, accompanied by home-grown vegetables such as cabbage and potatoes.

After 1971, there was an influx of Bangladeshis following the war in their homeland, particularly to London’s rundown East End. Many entered the catering trade, and today they dominate the curry industry.

The UK now celebrates National Curry Week every October. Although curry is an Indian dish modified for British tastes, it’s so popular that it contributes more than £5bn to the British economy. Hence it was hardly surprising when in 2001, Britain’s foreign secretary Robin Cook referred to Chicken Tikka Masala as a “true British national dish”.

Today there are more Indian restaurants in Greater London than in Delhi and Mumbai combined (Fact check required).

Though I have chosen to leave my country to get a good education, I still see how my culture fills gaps in the lives of people all around the world and it makes me answer with ever more fervour the next time someone asks me “Are you from India?”.

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