Brexit will have far-reaching implications on what the Brits eat now. The absorption and evolution of cuisines to birth composite cultures is fascinating.
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The Brexit fallout had many amusing reactions on social media. One of the best memes that appealed to me was the picture of food to define the choices and/or implications of United Kingdom deciding to leave European Union. In one swift shot, the frame captured all kinds of European cuisine complete with wines, platter of fresh fruit and cheese, chorizo sausages, Danish pastry, coffee and breads pushed to one side of the table and a lonely and sad looking tin of baked beans and sauce pushed to the far end on the other side. What a brilliant way to sum up the complexities of a region by using food as an analogy!
The cultural ramifications of cuisines, the food and beverage industry and ultimately UK's economy have been aptly discussed in a recent article in The New Yorker. The June 28 article by Bee Wilson, "What Brexit Means for British Food," highlights the losses that the country may face as far as imports and exports of crucial food items is concerned. For the first time since the World War II, says the article, Britain will face an uncertainty in feeding its people. The article mentions studies which show that twenty seven percent of all food consumed in the United Kingdom comes from the European Union. Britain is also dependent on forty percent of its fresh produce imported from EU. The article also cites June 24 tweets by Tim Lang, a professor at City University and a leading U.K. food-policy expert: “EU shock. Very sad. Food Plan B now needed. Will the people who voted Brexit be prepared to dig for Britain, work in picking fields and factories for low pay?”
Who would have thought a political vote might not just change a country's borders, but its cuisine? Brexit is a classic example of how food transcends borders. The history and culture of any country can be dissected quite efficiently by its food. Don't be surprised when you discover that today's staples have been brought home by "invaders". The ubiquitous samosa, the gulab jamun and jalebi all have middle-eastern origins. Rajma chawal, a staple in northern India, didn't become so till traders brought the kidney bean to India from Mexico. Potato, tomato and chilli were brought to India by the Portuguese. Tea, as we know today, is an introduced crop that made its way to elite Indian households only around early 1900s. If there is unity in diversity, nothing describes the concept better than food. The absorption and evolution of cuisines to birth composite cultures is fascinating.
The complexities of Indian cuisine and preferences of India's hugely diverse population came into mainstream dialogue after the unforgivable lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq near Delhi on the assumption that he had stored beef in his refrigerator. The question of beef consumption, by the way, has been discussed since Mughal times and it was banned under several Mughal rulers. An attempt to understand a region's food can also throw light on seemingly unassociated social and political dialogues. At a time when food is used for divisive motives, it is good to remember hundreds of other instances where food brings together people of varied ideas and ideologies on one table.
Moving on from the political to the personal, food forms deepest personal associations. Every time one discusses food with friends, family or strangers, the talks bring up an untapped realm of nostalgia. It is not just recipes that are divulged. In discussing food, one tends to give away a fair deal about their culture, family, happiness and hopes. Helpful tips are thrown in, memories are raked up and a sense of camaraderie evolves effortlessly. In a country as diverse as ours, where there is a treasure mine of flavours waiting to be explored, it would be a shame if we don't try recipes from other regions. Internet has hugely facilitated experiments in kitchen to adapt to ingredients and flavours from all parts of India.
More than anything else, cooking and sharing binds people like nothing else can. Many films have catalogued the contribution of cooking in shaping wholesome human nature. Films like Babette's Feast, Chocolat, Eat Drink Man Woman, I am Love, Julie & Julia blend the delight of culinary art with dramatic storytelling. Popular food shows depict the intensity of emotions and expectations hinged on good cooking. But, even if one doesn't intend to be a master chef, giving food its due gratitude and indulging in the joy of cooking is well worth it.
Sometimes, the kitchen is the best refuge.
Over the last decade, some food blogs have been my best companions. A Delhi-based blogger sometimes blogged about recipes that were her daughter's favourite. The daughter has since passed after battling a congenital disease, but some recipes still keep showing up in her memory. The blog was an example of patient struggle towards the inevitable and how one sought peace in cooking and sharing while going through personal difficulties.
Personally, food comes to rescue at times when the downpour of daily news seem to get out of hand for their unfair, frustrating tendencies of violence and connivance. The mind needs a break. There is only so much one can emote. It might be a journalist syndrome, but the consequences of local, national and international events over which you have no immediate control push you back in a sphere of pessimistic aloofness. That is the time one goes to the kitchen, meditating an evening meal from the handful of vegetables and ingredients at hand. Do not underestimate the power of stepping into the kitchen and the magic of a simple, home cooked meal.
