India – Part Two: Culture Shock and Culinary Aims

Anytime you travel to another country, especially one so different than your own, you prepare yourself for culture shock. You think about the food you’ll be eating there and the food you’ll miss from home. Or you mentally prepare for the living conditions of another nation and the barrier of a completely different language. Even the currency conversion is an adjustment, but you manage. You understand that the way you relate to people will be entirely different in this foreign world.

What you don’t expect is that even your non-verbal communication will be different. The assumptions that you base conversations on, and the mannerisms you use to accompany “yes,” “no,” or “I’m kind of anxious and we need to go,” are completely different and ultimately integral to communication. I was in India for about a week before this realization had fully formed in my mind. I had read before that mannerisms differ depending on where you are, most particularly that nodding doesn’t mean yes and shaking the head does not always mean no. And, occasionally, the differentiation between the shake and the nod is tentative at best.

It was funny to see something I’d heard of so often played out in real life. I first noticed it with the waiters as we sat down to our first meal—they would tilt their head with a small bow of ascent and step away from the table.  I didn’t think anything of it; until the next day when we attempted to order breakfast in the evening and it took three tries. Then I began to realize, this was not a bow of ascent or a nod, but a polite backing away from a conversation. And evening meals are meant to be leisurely. It actually took the full two weeks for us to learn that we should order our evening breakfast (because we still worked on American time) an hour before we actually needed to leave but warn the waiter that we needed to leave in 15 and, yes, we would like the check now too please. If not, the food would never come. American expediency does not translate.

A traffic ticket as seen from the front of our car. Odd being that there don't seem to be any traffic laws. 

Almost everything is approached leisurely—everything except traffic that is. There is a high level of energy, akin to New York. But unlike the Big Apple, energy here is spent on celebrating life, loved ones and food, which is, in itself, its own form of love. In fact, it’s hard to say no to the food. In part, the food is good. Almost everything is slow-cooked and seasoned well and so delicious. On top of that, saying no to food is just not done. I can’t count the number of times I had to explain that I did not need a third helping and the one dessert would be just fine. One of my traveling companions joked that I wouldn’t eat for a week after we returned home. If I hadn't missed hamburgers so much that prediction would have been dead on.

Now, having been back for a little over a month, I’m missing the tandoori and curry and naan that I noshed on throughout our time in India. I brought back spices and hope to recreate my favorite dishes. 

Clockwise from Top: Masala Chai Spice, Black Himalayan Rock Salt, Nutmeg, Cinnamon Sticks, and Tandoori Spice

As we move into fall and the holidays, I’m hoping to put those spices and my culinary skills to work. In fact, this week, I’m hoping to make some butter chicken and authentic masala chai. Although it is not in my nature to measure while I cook, I promise to keep careful notes and report back next week on my success or failure. I promise pictures either way, and recipes if I succeed.

If you’re in Dallas, I have a taste testing position open. Comment below and you may get invited to this adventurous dinner!