Food is not just about our physical health. Food is a thing that elicits emotions from humans across the globe. The gratitude we feel towards the hands that put warm food on our plate, the bonding that happens over dinner table chatter, the exchange of delicacy filled boxes on festivals, the hunger that unites us, the nostalgia that comes attached with what we consume- food is at the centre of many many things we do. The need for food is universal. When our most fundamental need, the one to feed our bellies is the same, how different can we really be from each other? The sun, the wind, the soil, this earth makes all of us. Food connects us to each other in more ways than one, surely, it warrants more attention?
I’ll tell you something that is widely true yet seldom acknowledged. See if it applies to you as well. a lot of eating is not about taste. Yes, you read that right. a lot of what we eat isn’t based solely on how good it tastes. Eating is a very emotional thing, a lot of it is about nostalgia. Just as we associate certain smells with events and phases in our life, so we do with food. Because a certain food item reminds us of a time in the past when we were happier, more care free, and felt safe, we try to recreate those feelings by trying to replicate the familiarity of the food consumed during that time. THe old neural systems are activated when we eat that imli, or khichdi prepared a certain way or a delicacy. I’m sure however that you see the flaw in doing such a thing.
