Food And Culture

We grow up eating the food of the culture we live in. It becomes a part of who we are. Many of us associate food with the warm feelings we used to get when we ate as a kid and good memories we had with our families. Food holds a very special and personal place in our hearts. Food which our parents used to cook for us often later becomes the comfort food we pursue as adults in times of frustration and stress.

On a much larger scale, food is an essential part of culture. Traditional recipes and food is passed down from one generation to the other. That shows how important food is to each and everyone one. It’s like a family heirloom that is passed down. It also functions as an expression of one’s cultural identity.

India has a variety of various foods that showcase the diverse culture we have in this country. The traditional food of India has been appreciated a lot for the use of herbs and spices. Indian cuisine is popular for various assortment of dishes. The cooking style in the country varies from which part of the country you’re in and is largely divided into South Indian, North Indian, West Indian and East Indian cuisine. And these are just the broad classifications, in India we have 29 states, each state has a different cuisine and there are sub classifications amongst them as well. India is very popular for its diverse multi-cuisine which is available in various restaurants and hotels.

The staple food in each different region of this vast country is different, some includes wheat, rice and pulses with chana (Bengal Gram), others eat rice with sambar, also idlis and dosas are very popular. In the north, food is usually cooked with mustard oil, in the south food is usually cooked with coconut oil. In newer times Indian palette has undergone a number of changes.

In the last few years, as a product of globalization, a lot of citizens have travelled to various parts of the world and vice versa. There has been a huge influx of people coming to India who belong from different nationalities. This has given way to Indianisation of various international cuisines. In today’s times, in metro cities one can find specialized restaurants and food joints of many international cuisines.

Indian Chinese cuisine is very different from the real Chinese cuisine. We eat chowmein and Manchurian in the name of Chinese food but real Chinese cuisine included snakes and various bugs which we Indians can’t even think about eating. We have Italian restaurants now, and Mexican and Spanish cuisines which are immensely popular.