As the plane descends into Bombay’s international airport, you are bombarded with a conucopia of smells. It’s the perfect mixture of sweet, spicy and unpleasant scents. And thanks to the high humidity, the scents are all the more palpable. The aroma of the different fruits, food being cooked in restaurants or from street vendors, the butcher shops, and neighbors cooking dinner for their family all combine to serve India’s rich and unique food culture. By the time we leave the airport and get to my family’s apartment, there is certainly a lot of food waiting for us. After eating airplane food for almost twenty four hours there is nothing like coming home to home cooked food. While there is great Indian food that I get to eat here, there is something about being in India that makes the experience more authentic. It tastes infinitely better and I tend to eat much more when I go there.


No matter where a person travels, the food tastes better there. It’s the atmosphere, it’s the fact that those culinary dishes were invented and perfected there. My Mom is the best cook there is - though most people probably say that about their Mom, and in general I find it harder to eat other people’s cooking. However, the women in my family in India are fantastic cooks - though I’ve never seen any of the males cook, and I’m always glad to have second, third and possibly even four servings though that’s pushing it a little. They always make a generous amount of food - enough food is made so that everyone can have multiple servings. There are always two or three vegetable dishes, roti a type of Indian flatbread, rice, and lentil soup or dahl. The table is laden different types of chutneys and spicy pickles to add even more spice and flavor to the already spicy food, homemade yogurt, and of course some kind of dessert or mithai. My favorite foods come in summer – mango season. The mangoes are super sweet, pretty large in size and just plain delicious. For breakfast, I eat one and try to drink a glass of milk. I don’t recommend the milk, if you’re used to the milk in America, the milk in India will be too sweet and odd tasting. Three times a day this is the typical meal we eat when we go to India and are with family. Even back home this is usually what we eat, but it tastes infinitely better there. I haven’t fully figured out why. Perhaps it’s the company there and that there’s just so much to eat and experience.


There is no doubt that food brings people together from all walks of life. There’s that saying “the family that eats together stays together”, which is particularly poignant for me. Whether I’m in Colorado, India or somewhere else my family makes it a point to sit down together and eat. Food tastes better when you’re in good company. And when it’s a new culinary experience, it can bring people even closer together. I’ve had all my roommates try Indian food and they love it. Although it’s rather expensive to do so, I tell them to go to India to get the true experience. In some places in India, generally in Southern India, you can get an entire meal served on a banana leaf. It certainly makes it easier to clean; after you eat you just discard the leaf. Eating food in an unconventional way is fun and often people can share and bond over those experiences. Whenever I travel somewhere, I think back on who was there and the food we enjoyed. Good food can make a trip so much better, and indeed, disappointing meals can be memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.


Many people, myself included, identify their culture with their traditional food. Whenever someone asks me about my culture, I never fail to mention the food. I tell themof the delicious blends of spices infused into every dish, of the innumerable different varieties, and of the sheer volume! In America it seems that the term “Indian food” is used generically, but this does not represent the range of dishes that comes from India. In truth, there is a variety of Indian food including: south Indian, Punjabi, Gujarati, etc. South Indian food, for example, is extremely spicy; one time I was in the south Indian state of Kerala and we were on a river cruise. The food on the boat was so spicy that just the aroma would make my tongue burn and eyes water. Punjabi food (what you usually are served in restaurants) is oily, fattening but very delicious. It’s probably my favorite kind of Indian cuisine. Naan is a typical food item and paneer is a homemade kind of cheese. Together, they make some of the best food I’ve ever had. Gujarati food is typically sweet. It’s what we usually eat at home, although my family does not make it very sweet. I’m not a fan of sweet tasting food. However, if someone is looking for a typical Gujarati cuisine and likes their food to be sweeter, look no further.


Evidently there is a wide range of Indian food and this difference mirrors the different cultures and ethnic groups within India. Food and culture go hand in hand. It is one of many ways in which culture is identified by. In fact, there are a variety of cultures, that when named, my first thought is of the its associated cuisine. Japan and sushi, Chinese and lo mein or orange chicken, Polish and kielbasa sausage…there are just a few cultures that are identifiable through their food. Indian food is, in my opinion, no exception. It’s delicious, it’s spicy, and it’s diverse. It’s my culture.