Hot Off the Stove!

Editor's Note

The smell of ghee wafting out of the kitchen as my nani works deftly with her fingers that wrinkle more and more every time that I see her. The warmth of the mug against my small hands on a cold winter day, when my mother brings hot chocolate straight to the bed. Grating cheese for the pasta my father makes after watching another video of that one French chef, wiping his hands on an apron. The post-school afternoon instant noodles with my sister while watching another episode of the show we like.

Food is different for everyone. For some, it’s purely sustenance and nutrition; some people’s lives revolve around it. Some are labelled ‘foodies’ or ‘picky’, some fuss over proteins and carbs; some have come to think of it as an enemy. To me, food is life. Not ‘life’ as in I cannot live without it or that I love making food — food is a storyteller. It narrates for us the stories of a million lifetimes.

Different dishes, where they come from, what ingredients they use, who traded with whom all those centuries ago, how many versions of the same dish have been created and in which manners, how the dishes we make are dependent on geography — the answer to all of these questions is food.

Did a teenage girl in the 70s in America make the same brownies I bake today? Did a peasant in feudal France work his blood, sweat, and tears off to bring his family the same bread I so easily buy from the market? Did an old grandmother in Lahore prepare the same red-tinted glasses of Rooh Afza for the children playing outside in the summer that I enjoy in the scorching heat of Delhi? Who worked hard to grow and care for the vegetables that I would choose last from a table full of dishes?

Dear reader, let us begin this journey of a millions lives, hot off the stove. Remember the feelings they bring out in you, try out the recipes, savour the flavours; but importantly, tell your own stories. Learn how to make achaar from your grandmother, prepare chai for your family one day, learn to pick the good fruits in the market with your father. Tell the story to your food, and let your food tell the story to the world.

- Noor Mubayi (XII-B)

Board Advisor