Saturday, August 4, 2007

The first lunch

The first lunch ... a wonderful one

There was something different outright in the lunch Ramya cooked this afternoon (10/25/2006). It was 'good' food. Nevertheless, it dawned on me, shortly, that this was unlike any lunch I had. My food is almost always about how salty and spicy it is. This was not about that. This was about the completeness of everything that's part of the lunch. I had to, but, notice how well the Pudina and the beans were a major part of the Pulao. How tender the rice was. These are details I always miss. How can I satisfactorily appreciate this, in words?

Somewhere along the way, the best part of the lunch revealed itself. It was the spice itself, which proved elusive at the beginning. The spice was so delicately present all over that, it baffled me how I missed it in the first place!

If the food was so well made, how good must the person who cooked it be? Underneath the excitement of cooking that "first lunch", there was a subtle calmness which showed as the graceful way the vegetables were cut or the way everything came together. How, there was no trace that something was ever being prepared, to be cooked. The place was exactly the way it started out as. Really confirms for me that, the food we eat is a reflection of the person who made it. Now I know was 'different', was the experience of eating food prepared with love and care.

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