By Ben Bestor
Prior to my arrival in India, I was really looking forward to six weeks of Indian food. I consider myself a worldly eater having enjoyed a diverse array of dishes ranging from Cambodian to Cuban, Egyptian to Italian, central African to Indian. In fact, I try eating “international” dishes on a regular basis. Back home in Cleveland, I occasionally dine at Indian restaurants, enjoying classics such as chicken biryani, rogan josh and naan. The night before my departure flight, for example, I dined at a local Indian restaurant in preparation of my trip, an excellent meal to be sure, further psyching me up for the culinary experiences I would soon encounter in a real Indian context.
As far as food goes, the first few days in Bangalore proved to be fantastic. For many of us, it was our first real taste of India, and a spicy one at that. I don’t just mean “wow-my-mouth-is-on-fire” spicy, though the sensation is common enough, but food that is chock-full of spice. Ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, turmeric, tamarind, red and green chilies, nutmeg, cumin, saffron, poppy seed, garlic, cloves, peppercorn, fenugreek, mint, mustard seed, fennel seed, dill, aniseed, bay leaf, sesame seed. The list goes on. We indulged without reservation. For some of us, it proved a mistake. Perhaps we could not stomach the intensity of the food or maybe we just ate something bad. Whatever it was, a number of us got really sick during the first few days.
Fortunately, the worst now seems to be behind us. We’ve all seemingly recovered from our initial food shock. Now that our bodies are beginning to adjust, we feel freer to try food that would not necessarily have been advisable to eat within our first week. On our way back home from work the other day, Professor Moledina, Gitika, Marianne and I tried steamed peanuts from a street vendor. A popular vendor snack is guava covered in a salty chili powder, something we all ate. It was pretty good, though I prefer my fruit untouched and unadulterated. Aside from steamed/roasted peanuts and guava, other common vendor food items include popcorn, sugarcane juice, coconut milk, a wide variety of fruits, tea and coffee and fried potato chips (known as crisps in India).
At different points throughout my time here, however, I have sought temporary respite from Indian food. As a center of relative cosmopolitanism, Bangalore offers one a variety of food types extending beyond Indian borders. Thai and Chinese restaurants are fairly easy to come across. An Italian restaurant has been recommended to me. Last week, six of us ate at Spiga, a “Mexican” restaurant, though its menu included no more than two or three truly authentic Mexican dishes. If you count McDonald’s, Subway and, surprisingly enough, Taco Bell, then there is even an American presence here in Bangalore. Yet, for all of the different options available to me, I have not yet been able to escape India’s influence.
On the whole, the vast majority of dishes I have eaten have been vegetarian. When you do find dishes containing meat, chicken and lamb seem to be the meats of choice. Due to Hindu culture, beef is a definite no-go. I have not yet seen pork products; I am told it is extremely uncommon because of the large Muslim population. The Subway sandwich I ate last week was made with chicken “turkey” and lamb- salami and pepperoni. Pesto sauce is not the same classic Italian sauce I’ve known it to be, but a strange Indian-style spin-off characterized by heavy spices. Breakfast cereal is eaten with hot milk. Tea and coffee are always served with milk and sugar. Whether it’s Chinese, Lebanese, Mexican or American, all food is distinctly Indianized. Even the mighty Big Mac, the iconic McDonald’s cheeseburger, is shaped by Indian influence; it has been substituted by the Chicken Maharaja Mac. So, not even the globalized golden arches of McDonald’s remain untouched by this Indianization.
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Yet, there is something charming about this. Food foreign to this country has been adapted to suit local tastes. And it makes me wonder about the true authenticity of international dishes prepared back home or outside of their respective native countries in general: Is Italian food truly Italian?; Thai truly Thai?; Greek truly Greek?; Dominican truly Dominican? It is hard to say with absolute certainty, but after comparing the different international dishes here to those back home, it seems to me that every culture tweaks different foods to its own specific tastes. And is this a bad thing? Well, that’s something for you to decide for yourself.
