We were sipping Iced Tea at one of those organic cafe’s and I was unsure if He was right for me- it was only when he asked me out for Rasam that I thought “HE IS THE ONE”. Had he suggested kale chips with an avocado dip and quinoa salad- we would not have had a second date.
I am trying to say that I am not comfortable with fancy flair when none is needed- especially when it comes to basic food. Don’t get me wrong I love what many chefs do, the micro chemistry magic they do with their molecular gastronomy- the wafer that look like a banana and the bread that has trapped the soul of beet root and dill…its very … fascinating. Yes! I said fascinating ( that is what we say when we want to say ‘This screwed up logic needs a therapist but we can’t say it so we say fascinating). However, most of the chefs that use local produce to create new things are innovating but there is a new breed of super expensive foods that may lack taste but don’t lack tact.
Pumped by some invisible marketing machine, foods seems to have a short time at the super food shelf. I am amazed that almost all ingredients that have been easily available and traditionally consumed for decades have been shunned for being bad carbs, unhealthy fats, unnecessary sugar. Instead we have difficult to pronounce, never -before-seen products that seem to be the only savior from everything form cancer to constipation. Suddenly, the only way to be healthy is to eat Chia seeds with Palm fruit oil and a grain that you can not pronounce! I understand that we have globalized our food plate and we can choose nutrition from all over the world but is that why we are consuming too many New things?
There must be a correlation of the super expensive, wholefood, organic cafes and the number of Instagram accounts because I don’t think that there are as many photos of people as there are photos of sliced avocado over salad. Few days ago I Read an article that talked of the evils of hipster cafes “I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more… But how can young people afford to eat like this? Twenty-two dollars several times a week could go towards a deposit on a house. ”
I used to love my Grande Starbucks( why Short, Tall, Grande, Venti and Trenta just say S,M,L,XL,ADDICT) but then I counted that I was spending at least AED 20 a day on almost everyday- which was AED 600 a month and that converted a return ticket from Dubai to India/Thailand/Georgia/Oman and many other wonderful places that I wanted to go to but never had the money to. So I decided to quit, I bought two tumblers (Grande and Venti)and made my own coffe/tea and carried it with me. To answer the question that you must have thought of- No, I am not writing from Thailand. But I did save money and I am drinking lot less coffee.
Vrinews 