Date:30/12/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/12/30/stories/2008123053800500.htm

Tamil Nadu

A Sumptuous Spread

The final week of the year merges seamlessly with the first week of the New Year reminding us that there need not be any ‘cut-off point’ for enjoying life to the brim. And what is the best way to sip the elixir of life but to pamper the palate. This is also the only time in the year when we can sit on a rooftop restaurant at lunchtime and turn a simple meal into a gastronomical event.

One time-tested method of tucking in a heavy meal is to take in slow bites of food with sips of beer/ fruit juice/lassi in between. A pleasant conversation with friends and family members, a devil-may-care attitude towards frowning diet charts and the gentle sea breeze build up the right kind of ambience for a memorable meal.

A globe-trotter once remarked that when he can’t travel to international destinations for want of money he simply has exotic meals as compensation. It is less expensive and it transports him back to those places he enjoyed visiting. There is

an indelible link between the food of an area and its inhabitants. Food does not merely act as fuel to the body’s engine but it can also be a mood elevator. It reminds one of one’s mother and the care she bestowed on feeding him. Next to mother’s milk one’s native dietary habits are very precious.

when there is a sumptuous spread before us we think of the hard labour that has gone into it. It soothes us as we dip into different gravies, lap up the sauce with pieces of bread and bite off chunky pieces of meat and fish. The age-old belief is that whatever is done on the first day of the year will be repeated regularly throughout the year. A hearty meal in a cordial atmosphere replete with nostalgia is an excellent starter for the New Year’s Day.

We can push back from our memory the lasting impressions of hurriedly cooked meals on working days, the indifference of the office canteen and the hasty sandwiches gulped down while returning from office. To relish good food we need time and the right attitude. It is not always money that can help us experience this.

- Rita Nath Keshari