A Much Spiced Nation

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4/17/2012 12:32:04 PM

 

Spices have always been an integral part of our food culture and commerce

Spices spruce up taste. In fact people in the Indian sub-continent have taste-buds different from those elsewhere in the world. Ours is a ‘spiced nation’ in all the nuances of the word. The traditional therapeutic systems of medicine proscribe consumption of what is called ‘Tamsik’—that which gives the body unwanted hot elements that trigger undue excitement and negative stimulation—food .

And so we like to add extra tinge of flavour in whatever we eat. Be it McDonald’s burger or Pizza Hut’s pizza, we have customised them to suit our taste buds. We like masala fries, masala noodles, masala corns, masala Maggie, masala dosa and so on. And to add this masaledaar aroma to various delicacies, we have a wide range of different masalas like –chat masala, garam masala, chana masala, chicken masala and so on. Even the tea is not spared and we add chai masala to that. Recently I found garam masala tea in the menu of a famous Coffee outlet.

Not that it’s something new; spices have always been an integral part of our culture and commerce. It were these spices only which brought Portuguese sailors and traders from many part of the world here who established their own empires in the southern region much before the East India Company invaded us. But seeing the highly spiced state of affairs, I feel, Vasco da Gama needs to visit India again—even if he has to rise from his grave! And I am sure this Vasco will find better business prospects in the vast variety of spices other than those coming from herbs.

Since we eat and drink so much of masala, it has become an integral part of our disposition and endurance. We are just not satisfied with seasoning in our food; rather need it in every facet of life. Leave apart the political, social, historical, mythological, demographic scenarios, our inter-personal relationship is hinted with spicy flavour giving a fillip, unique variety and ready acceptability to our gossip topics in particular.

One must not forget George Leonard’s words, ‘if you make spice the whole meal, you’ll be sick.’

Masala news is one such big indulgence, where gossips spice up the conversations and take over the real news. This is rather a national craze. The boost it gives to the TRPs of these channels making them hunt for such masaledaar khabar all the time. In the cut-throat competition, maybe the channels themselves serve their stuff with overly marinated spicy toppings and icings.

Politics also could not help being influenced by this masala fad, and so there are shoegates, slapgates, inkgates with sped up frequency. Seeing the swaying power of such scandalous incidences, film stars too joined the wagon. A SRK allegedly slaps Farah Khan’s husband, grabs the spotlight on all channels making them relegate all important issues for another day. Such incidents sets a trend to be followed by others—the ‘Khans’ lapping them up more than any other not-so-popular lesser mortals. And it becomes even more essential if it ‘times’ before their film’s release.

That’s not all. Films are major souk of masala feed, hence sizzling item numbers from Munni to Sheela, to Jalebi to Chameli stay as the mainstay for a box-office jackpot for the makers of the movies. Taking a cue from the masala-marinated sequences, even the TV channels have started adding besides pulp, some steam to their plots—yes you guessed it right—‘Bade ache lagte hain’ takes the cake, cooked by the redoubtable Ekta Kapoor.

With so much of masala floating around, everyone wants to have a taste of it turning out to being more salted, pickled and thus, sought after. Of course a bit of spice adds variety to the life, but one must not forget George Leonard’s words, ‘if you make spice the whole meal, you’ll be sick.’