A couple of weeks back it was pretty cold in Bangalore. There used to be a bit of wind throughout the day, adding to the cold. The floor in my home - all granite, had gotten pretty cold, making me curl up my feet under me when I sat on the sofa. I was munching on some spicy snack and gulping down piping hot filter coffee, saying to myself: "This is the ideal weather to eat hot and spicy food like pakodas, bhajjis and so on".
I don't know what is it about the cold weather that makes people go after spicy foods. As I started thinking about it, I realized that this is not a universal phenomenon. In fact, just the contrary is probably true. Think of places which are well known for spicy foods and chances are, they are some of the hottest places on earth. Mexico, India, Thailand. Even within India, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan. On the other hand, most people in cold climate, like Europeans, prefer non-spicy foods. Even within India, Kashmiri food is pretty sweet, isn't it? Of course, there are exceptions to these rules. Especially in India, where there are exceptions to pretty much every rule. However, I can surely say, in general, cold places are not well known for spicy foods. So what is the relation between the weather and food habits? I did some googling, but could not spot anything obvious quickly.
If you know, please do let me know.
Its almost as if we are too used to the 'hot' weather and cannot tolerate a deviation from the same. That's our natural state, kind of.
ReplyDeleteSo, when the weather gets cold, we are actually 'uncomfortable'. Since we can't do much with the weather, we wear warm clothes and eat hot food trying to 'restore' normalcy, at least in our body.
Make any sense?
My Friend wanderlust had the following answer: "it's because in hot climates, food spoils easily unless you preserve it with spices. check it out... the more away from the equator you go, the blander the food.”"
ReplyDeleteI think this makes sense.