When
I say food as a meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner in my hometown that means
a freshly cooked meal. Except condiments like pickles (Aachaar) which is
preserved with salt, oil and spices. We also have stored dried food such Papad
(also known as Papadum), which you later deep fry in oil to eat. But the main
meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner are always freshly cooked. If there is
leftover, maybe you can eat in your next meal or feed to the cattle or stray
animals around. If there is a guest at home, you always serve freshly cooked
meal to the guest.
Meals are usually Daal, Sabjee
(Cooked vegetables) or Saag (Cooked spinach or other leafy greens), Rice and
Roti (Flatbread). Seasonal fruits and vegetables will be always in demand since
are easily available and economical to buy. The whole concept of the food there
is largely based on the principals of Ayurveda. Most of the meals are Sattvic
in nature. What I am trying to say that there was no concept of preserving
the food.
I had never seen cooked food
packed in a tin or in a plastic box. First time I saw a tinned Baked Beans in a
supermarket of Toronto (Canada). There was picture of cooked beans at the tin
container. I though container has raw beans which you can cook like the
picture. I was wondering why raw beans are stored in a tin
container. It can be sold in plastic bag, paper bag or in loose.
Later I came to know that tin
container has cooked food inside. It was a shocker for me. Don’t get me wrong.
I am not criticising the baked beans in a tin container. It was simply a new
concept for me. Something new which I had never seen. I wasn’t familiar with
the concept of preserving cooked food in such mechanism. I wasn’t very keen to
try this food. But I was curious how it tastes like. I tried it once and I
didn’t like it. That was the first and probably the last time I ate baked beans
from the tin container.
One day I was talking to my flat
mate who was student of Sustainable Agriculture. He is from USA. He was telling
me about the food culture in USA. He told me that in his country they have a
frozen meal. Which is basically a cooked meal frozen in a plastic container and
to eat this meal all you have to do is make few holes at the top, put it in
microwave and within few minutes your food is ready. I was like really! I have
never tried this frozen meal. Maybe one day when I got no other option.
If you want to know about my
personal preference of food that would be something produced locally, seasonal
and fresh. But that doesn’t mean I follow the same all the time. Sometimes I
can’t resist for myself for a treat J
Thank you for reading. Enjoy your
meal.
