Influences

I am what I am because of the many influences I've had in my life - be it the people, the places the experiences, the food. Knowingly or unknowingly, I am a product of these many influences.

One such influence came to mind during breakfast today. While we were at breakfast - the regular eggs, toast, butter/cheese routine, I suddenly had a craving for my special treat to go with my toast. And what could that be? Hot toast topped with cold chunky peanut butter which is further topped with refrigerated whole blueberry/mixed berry/strawberry/wild cherry conserve. That's when my influences came to my mind and I shared it with R.

What could those influences be????

I've been a small town girl, a girl from the small towns of India. We never did have access to any of the fancy foods / labels. In fact I never knew many things existed, until I grew older, moved to cities and yes, the economy opened up (allowing for import). When I was young we never called peanuts 'peanuts', we called them groundnuts. I was exposed to many forms of groundnuts.

• The first, roasted dry in their shell. The shell would brown, turn really crisp. It was then very easy to crack them open just by pressing them between the thumb and the index finger. And, inside would be two warm and crunchy nuts!! It tastes delicious. The only thing you end up having more waste than what you eat!
• The second, shelled groundnuts which would be shallow fried in oil until they were nice and brown. They are then taken off the fire and the magic ingredients added to them - finely chopped onions, finely chopped green chillies, salt and a squeeze of lime. It tastes yummmm!!!
• The third, boiled with turmeric and salt with their shells on. The result - juicy groundnuts!!

When I was 18, I lived with a very good friend of mine in the big Indian metropolis called Bombay (It's now called Mumbai). It was in Gina's house that I was introduced to another form of groundnut, which was 'peanut butter'. Wow! This was something new, and it came in two forms - chunky and creamy. I fell in love with chunky peanut butter! It had so much substance, so much flavour, a very different texture. It wasn't like anything I had eaten before! An influence in my life - chunky peanut butter, courtesy Gina.

I've always liked my toast to be topped with salted table butter on which a layer of mixed fruit jam would be spread. But I never did find anything to go with peanut butter, until many many years later. In fact, I found it almost twenty years after I found peanut butter!!!! 

Amrita didi is a dear friend despite the 20 year age difference. We've spent a lot of time together, shared a lot, poured our heart out, vented out. We did all this over cups of filter coffee at Oxford (a book shop) or over cups of Darjeeling tea at her place. And it was at her place that I had my second breakfast influence (though it wasn't during breakfast time). It was at her place that I first tasted the St. Dalfour range of fruit conserves. I first had them topped on whole grain biscuits. The first bite was like nirvana - luscious, just the right amount of sweet, crunchy with the seeds, wholesome, it was actually biting into fruits! An influence in my life - St. Dalfour fruit conserve, courtesy Amrita didi.