03rd June 2013 08:57 AM newindianexpress.com
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| James Oseland in Thalassery in last May |
For James Oseland, a food writer from the US, Thalassery is a home
away from home. He has been returning to this coastal town again and
again for the past 15 years and cherishing a strong bond with his
friendship circle here comprising hotel workers, teachers, drivers and
journalists.
He mingles with common men, savouring ethnic
Malabari delicacies prepared in their home kitchens. “Food is the best
way to peep into a culture and its sociological and anthropological
traits. Beyond political and economic aspects, it tells something
genuine about the mindset of a society,” says Oseland. During the last
week of May, he strolled around villages in Thalassery and whoever
wanted to have a chat, Oseland was ready to dwell on their queries.
Replies were instant to questions of locals about Hollywood films, human
relationships, religion, food and sexuality in the US.
“We barely knew English when he came here for the first time. But now, because of our enthusiastic communications with him, we are much confident to converse in English,” quipped his village friends. Oseland visited Thalassery for the first time at the invitation of a pilgrim group, including Vijayan and Balakrishnan, who met him at Palani. Now, Oseland’s friends here range from M P Radhakrishnan, an intellectual, to Vijayan Swami of Pinarayi, who earns his living from yoga and flute classes.
Though Oseland went through a turbulent adolescence mired in poverty, his father, who was a skilled cook, instilled in him the flavour for food writing that helped him later to become the editor-in-chief of the US food magazine ‘Saveur’. Now his life is spent touring continents and learning the culinary art of people of various ethnicities. “There is an increased awareness about healthy food habits in the US and people are increasingly giving up factory food. So many strong pockets have emerged in cities as New York and Washington where people rigorously practise organic food habits. They have realised the harmful effects of poisonous packed food which was much in trend in my childhood and youth,” said Oseland.
When asked about the mushrooming mulch-cuisine restaurants in India, he replied with a smile that they serve only Indian food. They are a kind of tasty junk food which of course is enjoyable, he said. Mexican novel ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ the plot of which revolves around food is the literary work Oseland cherishes the most. The food writer is now busy writing a memoir ‘Jimmy Neurosis’, narrating his nomadic life in search of food varieties and also his turbulent youth. During his latest visit, quite unexpectedly, a new topic struck him- ‘toddy and toddy tapping of Pinarayi village’.
“We barely knew English when he came here for the first time. But now, because of our enthusiastic communications with him, we are much confident to converse in English,” quipped his village friends. Oseland visited Thalassery for the first time at the invitation of a pilgrim group, including Vijayan and Balakrishnan, who met him at Palani. Now, Oseland’s friends here range from M P Radhakrishnan, an intellectual, to Vijayan Swami of Pinarayi, who earns his living from yoga and flute classes.
Though Oseland went through a turbulent adolescence mired in poverty, his father, who was a skilled cook, instilled in him the flavour for food writing that helped him later to become the editor-in-chief of the US food magazine ‘Saveur’. Now his life is spent touring continents and learning the culinary art of people of various ethnicities. “There is an increased awareness about healthy food habits in the US and people are increasingly giving up factory food. So many strong pockets have emerged in cities as New York and Washington where people rigorously practise organic food habits. They have realised the harmful effects of poisonous packed food which was much in trend in my childhood and youth,” said Oseland.
When asked about the mushrooming mulch-cuisine restaurants in India, he replied with a smile that they serve only Indian food. They are a kind of tasty junk food which of course is enjoyable, he said. Mexican novel ‘Like Water for Chocolate’ the plot of which revolves around food is the literary work Oseland cherishes the most. The food writer is now busy writing a memoir ‘Jimmy Neurosis’, narrating his nomadic life in search of food varieties and also his turbulent youth. During his latest visit, quite unexpectedly, a new topic struck him- ‘toddy and toddy tapping of Pinarayi village’.
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