Yummy (No, not the Song) – Shreya Singh

Food is the substantial basis of life: shocker.

If given a rather Gen-Z twist to this mainstream definition, food can be defined as the sole reason why certain people attend parties and/or weddings. I was brought up vegetarian, something I’ll always be grateful to my parents for. I’m someone who is against the practice of eating living beings who wanted to live or certainly did not want to end up on someone’s plate. So, for me, taste is completely within the realm of ethics. Let me give an overview of what I’m going to be covering in this piece — my ideal food and where to find it, how my food depends on my mood and why I know I should stop ordering food so often.

So, I think my go-to food (after 35 minutes of rigorous thinking…) is “a ragout of boiled, mashed and slow simmered vegetables, spiked with a tantalising array of spices and served to be lapped up with crusty pan-fried bread, a dash of lemon and a lashing of sweet red onions. It is the most explosive of vegetarian flavours revealing themselves on your palate” — a.k.a Pav Bhaji (dad joke alert, too late). You may not have wondered, but I would gladly tell you why this is my ideal food. Firstly, when you’ve had enough junk food and you are kind of in the zone still, this meets all the standards. Secondly, when you’re having it, no one can tell you to stop ordering food from outside. Yet.

Also, if you’re wondering where I get my pav bhaji from, my mom makes it, usually. And I find all pav bhajis the same, so you could look up any recipe on YouTube, I guess.

Imagine (here: remember when) attending 6 hours of online classes and missing breakfast because you legit woke up 10 minutes after your first class had begun. Everyday. At that point, even a leftover bread would feel like heaven.

But everyone wants to go to heaven, and no one wants to die.

So, your lazy self stays hungry for 2 more hours (also because you do not want to prove your mom right on “why you should wake up at 5 am”).

At this point, I would like to have nothing less than exotic South Indian cuisine. But since this is real life, I would settle for a well-served plate of dal and rice. It’s usually normally served on the daily.

During this lockdown period, I’ve found myself ordering a lot (not a lot, actually) from Zomato to compensate for the initial 7 months — at least that’s what I tell myself. So, I’ve put a hold on that for some time, for good. I’ll just wait for someone’s wedding.

This was just an outline of my idea of food. I’m very grateful for getting food each day and for not having to go to sleep empty stomach. This is the one thing a lot of us often forget to say out loud. Say it.

 

– Shreya Singh, Amity International School, Mayur Vihar

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