Dining In
After finishing the phone conferences and online meetings for the day, we went out for a walk around the neighborhood. We had not been able to venture outside for the past couple of days due to heavy rains. So, the fresh air was a welcome change. I trailed behind the rest of the family, pausing to admire the spring blooms in neighbors' yards. We had barely gone around the block when my family launched into an animated conversation. It started with the relatively innocuous question, "So, what are we having for dinner today?" but like a runaway train going recklessly off the rails, the conversation evolved into an epic wish list of favorite food items.
Oh, can you make mangsho, today?
What will we have it with? The homemade parathas you made the other day?
Yes! Yes! Let's have that.
But, what dessert will we have? We have to have something sweet. Can you make the payesh? Not the white one with sugar, the other one...
You know, luchi also tastes good with mangsho.
Na, na luchi tastes better with torkari, like potatoes and stuff, right, Ma?
Can we have luchi tomorrow for lunch...we don't need breakfast. We wake up late, anyway.
We have the cauliflower florets in the fridge. I can cut them into smaller pieces for the torkari.
When can you make the lamb chops you make for Thanksgiving? I love those!
On and on they went...without much input from me. I was fascinated by the twists and turns and flights of fancy in this collective stream of consciousness about food. What a family of gluttons I have raised! However, thinking about food and planning future meals while you are in the middle of another meal, is a very Bengali trait. We Bengalis love to eat. Food is the centerpiece of our daily humdrum existence as well as our special occasions. A good meal is the most gratifying reward a Bengali can ask for at the end of a long day. For us, religious celebrations are often excuses for getting together with friends and feasting. Trip-planning for Bengalis is really planning what food is going to be consumed/tried during the trip. Our palates are pretty eclectic...we are not limited by common dietary restrictions and uninhibited about trying new cuisines. Bengalis are shorbobhook-s (omnivores) faced with the dilemma of what to eat for dinner when there are so many options to choose from. So, you see, when it comes to fantasizing about food, my family is not that unique. The habit is in our genes.
Whether you are a Bengali or not, cooking and eating at home has taken on a new significance in the age of the Corona virus lockdown. In the absence of outside activities to distract us, preparing a home-cooked meal, a seemingly routine chore, seems to have become the high point of the day. Even people who do not cook on a regular basis, are turning on their stoves and warming up their ovens to hustle up a meal. Across the world, grocery delivery services are struggling to keep up with increased demand, while food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats are seeing a significant decline in orders. This seems to indicate that more people are ordering fresh groceries and cooking their own meals instead of ordering take-out. How can we explain this shift in cooking and eating habits?
It could be that having more time at home is leading people to cook meals themselves rather than ordering out. It could also be that people are worried about the risk of outside human contact involved in getting food delivered from a restaurant. Another likely reason could be consumers cutting back expenses in anticipation of an economic slowdown and potential job losses. Besides being healthier, cooking at home also happens to be more cost-effective than ordering out. Regardless of the reason, more people are now in the kitchen cooking fresh meals, and that, in my opinion, is not necessarily a bad thing. Except, of course, if you happen to work in the restaurant industry. That sector has been one of the hardest hit by the lockdown. Even though restaurants have permission to remain open for takeout and delivery orders during the shelter in place, many have been forced to close down due to lack of business. Restaurant workers are a vast majority of the 6.6 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits.
We tend to cook at home regularly, so not ordering out has not been a major departure from our usual routine. The only outside food the kids have mentioned missing is Chinese fast food from Panda Express. The noodles and kungpao chicken I made the other night has temporarily whetted that craving. Some have taken home-cooking to a whole new level though. Take for example, our neighbors down the street. In addition to cooking at home, they have been baking fresh bread on a regular basis. We are the lucky beneficiaries of their efforts in the kitchen. Every now and then, there is a knock at the door and a loaf of bread is passed on while maintaining the recommended social distancing.
Needless to say, the freshly baked bread is amazing... soft and fluffy with a thin crust. A lightly-toasted slice with a dab of butter or marmalade makes for a scrumptious breakfast.
Here is to nice neighbors and to cooking at home!
Oh, can you make mangsho, today?
What will we have it with? The homemade parathas you made the other day?
Yes! Yes! Let's have that.
But, what dessert will we have? We have to have something sweet. Can you make the payesh? Not the white one with sugar, the other one...
You know, luchi also tastes good with mangsho.
Na, na luchi tastes better with torkari, like potatoes and stuff, right, Ma?
Can we have luchi tomorrow for lunch...we don't need breakfast. We wake up late, anyway.
We have the cauliflower florets in the fridge. I can cut them into smaller pieces for the torkari.
When can you make the lamb chops you make for Thanksgiving? I love those!
On and on they went...without much input from me. I was fascinated by the twists and turns and flights of fancy in this collective stream of consciousness about food. What a family of gluttons I have raised! However, thinking about food and planning future meals while you are in the middle of another meal, is a very Bengali trait. We Bengalis love to eat. Food is the centerpiece of our daily humdrum existence as well as our special occasions. A good meal is the most gratifying reward a Bengali can ask for at the end of a long day. For us, religious celebrations are often excuses for getting together with friends and feasting. Trip-planning for Bengalis is really planning what food is going to be consumed/tried during the trip. Our palates are pretty eclectic...we are not limited by common dietary restrictions and uninhibited about trying new cuisines. Bengalis are shorbobhook-s (omnivores) faced with the dilemma of what to eat for dinner when there are so many options to choose from. So, you see, when it comes to fantasizing about food, my family is not that unique. The habit is in our genes.
Whether you are a Bengali or not, cooking and eating at home has taken on a new significance in the age of the Corona virus lockdown. In the absence of outside activities to distract us, preparing a home-cooked meal, a seemingly routine chore, seems to have become the high point of the day. Even people who do not cook on a regular basis, are turning on their stoves and warming up their ovens to hustle up a meal. Across the world, grocery delivery services are struggling to keep up with increased demand, while food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats are seeing a significant decline in orders. This seems to indicate that more people are ordering fresh groceries and cooking their own meals instead of ordering take-out. How can we explain this shift in cooking and eating habits?
It could be that having more time at home is leading people to cook meals themselves rather than ordering out. It could also be that people are worried about the risk of outside human contact involved in getting food delivered from a restaurant. Another likely reason could be consumers cutting back expenses in anticipation of an economic slowdown and potential job losses. Besides being healthier, cooking at home also happens to be more cost-effective than ordering out. Regardless of the reason, more people are now in the kitchen cooking fresh meals, and that, in my opinion, is not necessarily a bad thing. Except, of course, if you happen to work in the restaurant industry. That sector has been one of the hardest hit by the lockdown. Even though restaurants have permission to remain open for takeout and delivery orders during the shelter in place, many have been forced to close down due to lack of business. Restaurant workers are a vast majority of the 6.6 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits.
We tend to cook at home regularly, so not ordering out has not been a major departure from our usual routine. The only outside food the kids have mentioned missing is Chinese fast food from Panda Express. The noodles and kungpao chicken I made the other night has temporarily whetted that craving. Some have taken home-cooking to a whole new level though. Take for example, our neighbors down the street. In addition to cooking at home, they have been baking fresh bread on a regular basis. We are the lucky beneficiaries of their efforts in the kitchen. Every now and then, there is a knock at the door and a loaf of bread is passed on while maintaining the recommended social distancing.
Needless to say, the freshly baked bread is amazing... soft and fluffy with a thin crust. A lightly-toasted slice with a dab of butter or marmalade makes for a scrumptious breakfast.
Here is to nice neighbors and to cooking at home!
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