On food, life, and the new year

Image source: mcmissouri.com

The new year is just a day away. It's in times like these that I turn into this person who is capable of some real introspection. This evening, as I sat in the warm comforts of my quilt, sipping on a delightful cup of latte, and doing my bit of the annual deep thinking, a sudden realization struck me- Deep inside me, in the core of of my soul, where the seed of my existence is supposed to reside, sits a sumptuous quarter pound burger.

A burger? Really? If you knew me well you wouldn't really be surprised. Let me explain. 

You see, my life pretty much revolves around food. Have you noticed my blog's URL? Its derived from the most palatable form of cooked egg (in my opinion) but interestingly has nothing to do with what I write here, and yet, I can't imagine my blog's address to be anything but this.

In fact, I often introduce food into my posts quite unwittingly like the one below from a post I wrote here

...Every time we pick a donut, what we are really buying is this big hole with a sort of boundary around it. It is absolutely disheartening to slowly work your way from the periphery of a seemingly delightful dessert , to arrive expectantly at the centre of it, which is , well, NOTHING. That's the highest level of trickery one could possibly imagine.

Or this one from a post on tomato ketchup:

...For me, the visual appeal of the ketchup precedes its taste. The sight of generous amounts of bright colored, viscous, ketchup on anything edible, or an empty plate, stimulates a feeling of gustatory delight even before I have actually consumed my food

Or this one , where my post talked about the merits of having meetings in a business partner's office

...I know most of us have free coffee in our respective offices too. But then you can’t have the same coffee every day! It is always good to have a coffee that tastes better for a change. And don’t forget the biscuits. You could also make the best of the situation by slipping a few in your pocket to have them in the comfort of your own cubicle later.

There are more examples but I guess I've made my point. Interestingly , this expression of my fascination for food is not limited to my blog. Here's a little entry I made into my diary on Oct 21, 2012 at precisely 7:38 pm while I was air borne: 

Just before I boarded this flight , I fed myself a sandwich, some pasta, and a glass of iced tea to wash it all down. This was of course after I had had my 4 pm coffee, served in the usual grudging manner, by yashpal ji from our office kitchen. Initially I was feeling rather full as I settled into my seat and prepared for the plane to take off. It's been 20 mins since I had that feeling first. The air hostesses are starting to look busy, and even as my stomach continues to send burps up my throat, my heart is doing this little dance of joy; it knows that it's time for dinner. Yay!

I checked my Facebook updates for the last one year and surprise, surprise ! What do we have there? Food of course! Sample these :

" yumma - yumma, yumma-yumma"
" feeling egg-static!"
" burp..."
" the hunger pangs"
"hunger waali bhookh"

My twitter bio describes me as a Raconteur, foodie, and a die hard optimist. I am considering modifying it to read - a food raconteur who is always optimistic about getting good stuff to eat.

I have also been doing quite a bit of photography over the last one year here's what I found when I looked through my pictures:

Almost half of the pictures that I click were of food items:

Roughly, 25% of the pictures were of people who were having food: 

and I am sure that the remaining 25% were clicked when there was food in the vicinity.

In a nutshell, it wouldn't be wrong to say that I owe my biological and social existence to food. But then, why specifically a burger?

A burger, my friend, is the most all encompassing manifestation of food that one could imagine. The joy of biting through layers of fresh lettuce, crunchy onions, juicy tomatoes, and a succulent patty with just the right amount of intervention from soft, dripping cheese, and calorie rich sauces can bring Nirvana to you. 

Have you ever held a burger? I'd say its most complete thing I have ever had to hold. The excitement and thrill of keeping it intact, and not letting it spill out even as you lift it up from your plate to take a big bite of bliss, is unparalleled, I swear.

If the burger were a human, (s)he would be a very virtuous one. Think about it- A burger  accommodates whatever comes its way. You can add layer after layer and keep going up, as high as you'd like to without ever being concerned about its capacity, and then, once you think you've loaded it to your liking, just place the top to bring it to life. It is probably the most generous food you could come across.

Finally, I tried imagining a few other things as my core: 

• A pizza
• A sandwich
• A hotdog
• Tandoori Chicken
• Shahi Paneer
• Biryani
• Masala Dosa

But none of them elicited contentment and joy the way a burger did.

I don't see much of this changing in the new year. My only resolution then is to make this  burger a couple of notches higher in the year to come. Heck, if I am going to be a burger inside, I'd rather be a large one!

Happy New Year everyone!

I love ketchup; here's why

There's an ongoing war between those who love ketchup, and those who hate it. Whether ketchup democratizes taste or makes everything taste reassuringly predictable, is a point that doesn't look like getting resolved. 

I am a ketchup lover, but to me, it's not about the taste. I would rather take the ketchup out of this whole 'taste' domain and replace it within a framework of 'enjoyment'. The question, thus is : Is ketchup really enjoyable ?

I think, it really, really is.

First,  the sheer act of getting the ketchup out of its container delights me. From thumping the bottoms of glass bottles, to squeezing the pichkus, doling out ketchup is an experience that is immensely satisfying in itself. The soft, red blobs of ketchup, offer instant gratification for the marginal effort that I put into getting them out. Factor in the countless memories associated with funny, ketchup serving accidents, and my bottle opens up this wonderful world of nostalgia, where my senses are sprinkled with subliminal happiness, though I might not consciously acknowledge it every time.

For me, the visual appeal of the ketchup precedes its taste. The sight of generous amounts of bright colored, viscous,  ketchup on anything edible, or an empty plate, stimulates a feeling of gustatory delight even before I  have actually consumed my food. This might have to do with red being a more palatable color, for it is unlikely that a purple colored ketchup would excite me as much.  The experience of consumption starts much before the actual consumption itself, and in case of ketchup, its red color and viscous consistency play a big role in making this experience pleasurable, without it's taste even coming into the picture.

I also link ketchup to indulgence. Despite its modest calorific value (as compared to mayonnaise, or thousand island, or any other topping sauce), ketchup offers me the satisfaction of indulging, without associating it with guilt. This de-linking of indulgence and guilt is a quality almost unique to ketchup, one that makes it a favorite of the health conscious and health agnostics alike. Interestingly, this also makes it my steady companion in good times, where the idea of fun is attached to excesses ( liquor, binging, movie marathons, staying up late, etc.) I don't just add ketchup to my food, at times, I splurge it, with no regrets, to celebrate the moment.

I don't mind adding other ingredients and condiments to my food to make it taste better, but nothing makes food quite as enjoyable as ketchup. Whether as a condiment, or a key ingredient, I look at ketchup as pretty much the most amazing man-made food item the world has seen so far. Naysayers have made a few good attempts in the past ( think -  mustard, mayonnaise) but it’s unlikely that they'd ever ketch-up !

 Long live the ketchup.

P.S: Found this tshirt design on wackyplanet.com. Ordering one for myself.

Image Source for " I love Ketchup" : www.redbubble.com

Update: I came across this post by a friend and fellow ketchup lover. She talks about the 'taste' of ketchup, and presents an interesting perspective on why she loves it. Fun read :D