a blog about a lot of things

Food is usually linked to memory. This isn’t an original idea and to many people the food that I’ve chosen is barely memorable, just as most people won’t really be able to speak of great cheese sandwiches or fried eggs and not mean a specific meal instead of the entire selection of eggs or sandwiches. Dosa is a simple meal which can be ready in a matter of minutes. I usually explain it as a savoury crepe made of rice and lentil flour. It is served with sambar (a lentil and tamarind stew) and coconut chutney. The best dosa I’ve ever had is at Dosa Mahal in Toronto. It was the first time I’d had dosa in almost two years and that was probably why it remained in my mind as a representation of the best. It’s impossible to untangle the experience of food from the taste only. The taste is linked to history. It’s a common enough trope that even children’s movies like Ratatouille can use the idea that a simple dish which evokes memories of childhood will have deeper and almost spiritua...

I've had a conversation recently that went something along these lines. It was equally hilarious and annoying. Person: "Where are you from?" Me: "Toronto" Person: "You don't look Canadian. Say 'about'. " (Pronounced as "aboot") Me: "About" Person: "You don't sound Canadian either." Me: "Yeah, well, it isn't always like you see on TV. Plus I grew up in the Caribbean." Person: " Oh, you don't look Caribbean either." Me: "No one looks Caribbean. Mixed up place, the West Indies." Person; " I guess you could be Brazilian. That's close to Caribbean, right?" Me: " Kinda? Not really. I'm of Indian descent." Person: "So why are you in the Caribbean?" Me: " Colonialism. Everyone's everywhere." Person: "You've reached England from the colonies." Me:" I guess that could said."