Food Experience - Personal Essay

Food Experience

It was the final moments of a Hindu prayer ceremony and as the priest chanted the final mantras, my mind could not help but stray from the prayer area and into the kitchen, where for me, all the excitement existed. As I received my portion of Prasad (holy offerings), I quickly moved toward the eating area and with every step the aromas of the different foods awoken my taste buds. The bathroom sink was way off to the other side of the kitchen, so, in order to get a preview of what was going to be served, I deliberately went to the kitchen sick to wash my hands. The different smells and colors were enough to make a satisfied person greedy. As my eyes scanned over the variety of dishes that were prepared, I started imagining the taste of each one and how content my stomach would be after I really finished eating. I dried my hands in the towel as I kept sneaking glimpses of the buffet that was before me. I was given a poorine leaf as I proceeded to the eating area and honestly, now that I think back at this moment, it was more like I grabbed the leaf from the woman's hands; as opposed to graciously accepting it. If it is any consolidation, I did say thank you. Oh well, no sense in crying over spilled milk.

As everyone sat down, my anticipation grew because I already saw the trailer to the main event, so there was nothing that could ruin this moment for me. I thought the hosts were taking a long time to bring the food, but then from the corner of my eyes I started seeing bowls of different shapes and sizes coming closer and closer to me. I saw the steam emanating from the bowls and for some reason it seemed as though the steam from the different vegetables came and wrapped itself around my nose. My stomach began rumbling and in all that excitement I really hoped that no one heard it. Then the moment arrived; in came a spoonful of rice onto my big green poorine leaf, followed by dhaal (yellow chick pea's gravy) on top of the rice. My eyes opened brightly as I looked at the dhaal run through the creases and crevices of the spoonful of rice on my leaf and to add to the excitement going on in my leaf, some fried spinach and spicy mango amchaar (pickle) were added to the sides of the dhaal and rice. I seriously wanted to dive my spoon into what was before me, but I thought it would be better to wait until they were finish sharing everything. After all, no one else on the table was eating, so it was a matter of having patience and not embarrassing myself in public.

My leaf still had some green spots visible, so I knew for sure I was going to fill these empty spots with my favorite dish, which is always cooked at every Hindu function, channa and aloo (curry chick peas and potatoes). The guy came with the bowl and he leaned his arms forward and brought the bowl close to my leaf, I felt as though I was in food heaven. He scooped a spoonful of the golden yellow chick peas, which were