THE MEAL DEAL

Irrespective of one’s lineage, there is usually a certain ‘food’, the taste or smell of which evokes a feeling of nostalgia. Whether it’s ‘Puri-Bhaji‘,’Nihari’ or hot ‘Naans’ from the local restaurant in your home town where you grew up, or a meal cooked by someone dear. These foods are special not only because of their taste but because of the stories that we associate with them. The sharing of meals provides us an opportunity to share these stories and in the process develop new ones.

Food is essential for life, but the power of food is beyond its physical purposes.  Man’s quest for food stretches back to the dawn of time. Earlier in our evolutionary journey food equated to survival, however as we’ve evolved, learned how to make tools, grow food and started using fire for cooking, our relationship with food transformed.

While animals ‘feed’, we humans ‘eat’. Eating is distinguished from feeding by the way humans use food. We gather and hunt, we raise livestock, we cultivate plants, we cook, we mix and combine foods. We have rules on how food is consumed and how a meal is served and shared. What we eat and how we select to eat it, prepare it and serve it; are profoundly influenced by our culture.The French Writer of “The Physiology of Taste”, Jean Brillat-Savarinonce,once said “Tell me what you eat: I will tell you what you are”.

Food personifies our heritage and ethnicity. Like other cultural traits, food habits are not inherited but are learnt through generations. When people migrate across borders they bring the traditional cooking methods and taste to the new location and at times even relinquish customary taste and methods and adopt the recipes to suit the new environment and in turn evolve new tastes and flavors.

RECIPES WITH LOVE

The mother and daughter use recipe writing as an opportunity to bond and learn. While the mother used ‘andaaza’( loosely translated as estimation) to guide her measurements with a handful of this and a twitch of that, the millennial daughter takes the opportunity to measure the contents and types it all up on her computer.

Food, family and recipe go hand in hand.Remembering, collecting, recording and passing down the recipe are a wonderful way to honor and acknowledge family traditions. A good recipe helps us to learn about different cultures and food history. Recipes not only allow us to create meals that provide pleasant experience but also give us opportunity to be innovative and make our mark on dishes that we cherish.

Sharing of recipe is intimate and generous act. Gifts and presents can be replaced and forgotten but sharing a recipe or receiving a warm meal from someone is etched in our hearts and minds forever.

FOOD AND SUSTAINABILITY

The son in the family who are traditionally meat eaters turns ‘vegan’, this is difficult for his folks to ‘digest’ as they worry for his health. While this ‘change’ is difficult to comprehend by the parents, the fact is, our younger generation are more cognizant about the environment then we were and would like to do their part in saving our fragile eco-system by eating sustainably. The older generation has to remember that cultural traits change with time, and while the new trends may be unnerving for us, this can be the inception of a course correction in the evolution of the society.

Over centuries, the indigenous Australian had learnt to cultivate the land and develop crops that suited the harsh environment of the continent. When Europeans first arrived they observed fields of bright yellow perennial flower, the Murnong. The Murnong or yam daisy is a dandelion-like plant with a bright yellow flower and energy-packed tuber, and was a staple food for Aboriginal people across south-eastern Australia and unfortunately was also amongst the first plant to be almost entirely wiped out by the settlers' sheep.

The intent here is not to reinvigorate the invasion/survival debate, but to flag that the food choices that we make impact our carbon footprint as the activities associated with production, packaging and transportation of food result in greenhouse gas emissions. As consumers, we can and we should do our part and adopt a culture of sustainable livelihood that protect diversity of plant and animals and provide social benefits.

THE STIR FRY

Imagine Melbourne devoid of Chinese, Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Korean, Indian (to name a few) cuisines. Nightmarish isn’t it! Australian culinary habits have come a long way from the days of steak, pies and peas as we continue to ‘blend and mash and merge dishes’ and evolve our palates.

Whether we describe Australian society as a ‘stir-fry’ (combined but distinct ingredients) or a ‘masala’- (blend of spices)-cultural multiplicity is a modern day reality. In Victoria, 28.4 percent people were born overseas, 49.1 percent were born overseas or have at least one parent that was born overseas and 26.0 percent spoke 260 languages other than English at home.

Use of food metaphors might be an over simplification of the discourse on multiculturalism, but the fact remains that cuisine plays an important role around the questions of national identity and nation building.

Food is a universal experience and can be used to open up our eyes and palates in a pleasant way; the challenge is to develop a recipe that utilizes the knowledge, experience and skills that diversity brings to make up a ‘stew’ that  holds the society together and is functional and provides the maximum benefits.

SHARING MEALS

Food is the ultimate social agent. Traditionally, mealtimes have been events when the whole family or the community would come together. Eating as a group has been as much about enjoying company and comradeship as it is about the cuisine. Food functions as a socializing instrument and facilitates communication and understanding between cultures, societies, and the groups to which we belong by providing opportunity to share narratives and stories. The act of sharing a meal indicates acceptance, compatibility and friendship.

BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER

The sharing of food is as old as society itself. The 2019 Australia Day art activity ‘Breaking Bread Together’ was aimed to highlight the benefits and strength of diversity and focused on the amazing ability of a meal to build bridges between communities through sharing of foods and recipes.

The brightly colored backdrop with various food related items represents the environment and its contribution to our sustenance. The contour drawing  encapsulate ‘food’ as individual component as well as food as a ‘system’ and depicts the processes and infrastructure involved in food production. The intent is to acknowledge the hard work of the people behind the scenes; our farmers and producers and their contribution in the food cycle.

The word ‘food’ written in various languages and the names of cuisines from around the world exemplifies the gathering of cultures to share meals. Plates made from bio-degradable and naturally fallen palm leaves and wooden cutlery with participant’s favorite food names and signatures signify our quest for sustainability and the coming together of people..

Over the years, as I have matured and assimilated in the community of my chosen homeland; I have become more aware and appreciative of the controversy around Australia Day. Whether we call it Australia Day, Invasion day, Foundation day, Survival day this day does give us an opportunity to celebrate what is great in our country and re-focus our efforts on what needs to be improved. We cannot deny history, or change the past.  But we can help shape the future and ensure that we do not get obscured by politics of color, race or ethnicity.

We are all different with different backgrounds and approaches to life, the trick is to find the common threads that can bind us together and help us find a path that is inclusive and facilitate the channeling of our energies for the betterment of the country. ‘Breaking Bread Together’ aims to do exactly that, and remind us that just as variety in food enriches our palate, the country’s diversity has made us stronger, richer and more appealing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to take this opportunity to thank CHARM and the management of BallaBalla Center for supporting this activity and acknowledge all family and friends that have taken time out to share their recipes and participate in this activity. Thank You.

During the course of developing this piece and researching the subject I came across a lot of materials that have been written on the subject by people who are more knowledgeable then me.In my meanderings above I have tried my best to acknowledge the fruits that I have picked by quotation marks.

The discourse may not be new, but I have tried to bring some new flavors to the table and make the dish a bit more palatable.

Bon Appetit.