One need not be a foodie to look
out for food on television. With the national obsession with the cat-and-mouse games
played by the two national political parties avidly covered by the numerous
news channels and weepy, lachrymose soaps on other entertainment channels there
is very little choice left for a couch potato like me but to veer round to the
channels that can hold the attention. Movies are far too long and not quite the
cup of tea. The programmes on food are the ones that are generally short and crisp.
And, there are a number of them on various channels.
The Indian channels like Times
Now and TV 24x7 generally have only weekly slots which too can be cancelled
for more important and newsworthy shows. NDTV Good Times, Fox Traveller, Travel
& Living are some of the ones which schedule a number of half-hour slots
where a bit of a ‘whiff’ of the flavours of world cuisine can be had. Food
Safari, World Cafe Asia, Twist of Taste, Feast Bazaar, Nigella’s Feast and so
on are the ones that are eminently watchable of the programmes. Currently,
however, emphasis is on street food with programmes like “Street Food around
the World” and “Eat Street. A Street Food Festival – Celebration of Flavours is
also being currently telecast.
Although street food in India
offers such array tastes and flavours yet, unfortunately, it is fraught. So
many imponderables are associated with Indian street food. One can never be
sure of its purity and the quality of its ingredients. Adulteration of food
items is common and the cooked food can get contaminated in many
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| Typical Non-veg fare on the streets |
ways – by
exposure carriers of infection, dust and other contaminants. Even the cooking
medium and water that is used could well be contaminated. The cooks of all that
is purveyed on the streets of India generally care little for hygiene and added
to that is the pervasive insanitation. Occasionally, street food vendors even
set up shop openly displaying all that they offer surrounded by filth and
squalor. Worse, in India bare hands are extensively used in handling and
dishing out food items. No one knows whether the hands are properly washed or
sterilised.
In India systems are always put
in place but they are seldom functional. Food and beverages monitoring
establishments have been installed but somehow these outfits always fail the
people. All over the country they are kind of moribund and inactive with all
kinds of excuses for being dysfunctional. As their presence is not visible
people don’t take them seriously. Generally none has faith in the inspectorial
staff as they are taken mostly as bunches of corrupt officials. Mercifully,
some efforts at checking the food on the street and that dished out through
eateries recently commenced in Bhopal. A few checks carried out revealed
startling results. After reading the reports not many people would have the
gumption to consume any of the stuff available out on the streets or even in
some of the run-of-the-mill eateries. Obviously, a lot of work needs to be done
by them. Hopefully, they realise that on their commitment to duties depends the
good health and wellbeing of a very large number of people who consume street
food – some out of sheer necessity and others for pleasure. Besides if they
function properly, they would be doing a service to the healthcare system which
is being choked to death because of widespread food and water contamination.
It is indeed a pity that street
food in India is so risky for the health and well-being of people. Despite
that, however, it is popular. Not only it is cheap, it also provides a means of
self-employment to a very substantial
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| An Indian item being readied in a London joint |
section of the people, especially those
who are not able to find employments. Such delectable stuff is on offer on
the streets all over the country that one is always tempted to taste it.
Whether vegetarian or non-vegetarian, a snack or a meal, the stuff is tempting
– in appearance, taste and the aroma that it exudes.
No wonder Indian street food has
now travelled abroad. London, for example, hosts quite a few joints that serve
street food. In “Zaika India ka” hosted
on NDTV by the well-known anchor Vinod
Dua a large number of young white people were seen tucking in Indian food
sitting on London sidewalks in front of joints that dish out spicy Indian stuff.
What is more, the snacks of Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala are now crowding the
sidewalks of London. Pau bhaji, kathi
rolls and masala dosas are
progressively becoming firm favourites among Londoners. Kerb at King’s Cross
plays host to a number of international flavours where Dosa Deli serves crisp
dosas with a wide range of fillings. A joint called Horn Ok Please serves Paani puries and there also are vendors of samosas and chaat. At
Tooting High Street even the Bengali snack Jhaal
Muri is dished out from Jhaal Muri Express by an Englishman who learnt the
art of creating the perfect mix from the street vendors of Kolkata. He hawks
around the stuff in his colourful cart concentrating on areas where Indians
happen to be the dominant community.
Not exactly street food, but
Indian spiced-up items of chicken-tikka-masala,
paneer palak, samosas and numerous
others have become ubiquitous across the Atlantic in New York City dished out
at new breed of Indian restaurants that are neither Michelin-starred nor the
no-frills like eateries elsewhere in the city. The dosas
and peppery rasam right next to north
Indian joints doling out hot butter chicken, biryanis, rotis, aloo-papri chaat, keema naan, kati roll and so on.
With a mind-boggling array of affordable dishes to choose from offering sharp,
hot and fiery tastes from across most of India, Curry hill is a cheap-eaters’
paradise.
best of the “Indian fast
food”, however, is available at what is affectionately called “Curry Hill” at
Lexington Avenue on the east side of Manhattan. From hole-in-the-wall snack
shops south Indian rustle up oversized
US seem to have emerged as a
heaven for street food lovers. “Eat Street”, a programme telecast by Fox
Traveller every day, shows the popularity of street food all across USA from
San Diego to New York City. Specially designed vehicles parked at vantage
points serve the burgeoning clientele burgers with a variety of fillings and an
array of sauces. It is a quite a sight to see American men women and children
opening their jaws wide to sink their teeth into massive burgers filled with
all the goodies The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, a place made famous by Elvis
Presley, was once seen eating off a parked truck and was highly appreciative of
whatever he took a big bite of. From Hispanic to Indian, from paella to pies
and curried chicken and from nachos, tacos, tortillas, naans and Ethiopian flat bread - everything is available.
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| A Nonthaburi, Thailand, serving |
Bobby Chinn, a street food
presenter, in his programme “World Cafe – Asia” on Fox Traveller takes the
viewers through the streets of that capital of Street Food, Bangkok, to the
colourful and vibrant night markets of Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and
other South-East Asian cities where chop sticks keep busy with hordes of people
using them to shove in the amazingly rich fare with fantastic aromas and tastes
that are available right through the night. Chinn has ventured out to even the
Middle East to present some delectable barbecued stuff. Barry Vera, another
food anchor of Feast Bazaar eats his way through Morocco. The Food
Market of
Marrakesh is mind-blowing with an amazing range of snacks, complete meals and
drinks to go with them. Located inside a massive walled court yard in central
section of the old city it is a sight to see the food carts wheeled in to
convert it in a matter of minutes into a vibrant and thriving Market in the
evening that provides visitors culinary delights till late into the night.
Even if it is on the TV, seeing
people eat off the streets with such abandon sometimes makes one feel jealous.
Assured as they are of the quality of the stuff they consume, they have not a
care or worry and have absolute freedom from anxiety. No such freedom, however,
is available in this country to the discerning patrons of our mouth-watering
street food
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