Watching food videos is a highly-satisfying, guilt-free way of indulging in some scrumptious treats without having to spend a penny or put on an inch around the waistline. Unless one considers the ounces gained from being glued to the screen for hours.
As a foodie, I take this particular activity very seriously. The other day I came across a video of a dish named ‘Chimichurri Beef Roulade’ and the name itself was so quirky that I opened the link immediately. It’s made with flank steak, serrano ham and a chimichurri sauce, three things I am unfamiliar with, but I watched anyway.
As the video progressed, the familiar notification popped up ‘Advert will begin in 5 secs’. And sure enough, after 5 secs an ad of ‘Atta Noodles’ came over the screen. Manufactured, mind you, by a brand owned by a hirsute, saffron-clad yoga guru who is a celebrity in his own right.
The 10 sec ad concluded and the video continued; the thick juicy steak was seasoned, layered with strips of ham and chimichurri sauce (I like this name more every time I use it!), drizzled with oil and roasted till it had a golden brown crust.
But I couldn’t get the ‘atta noodles’ ad out of my mind. It was so incongruously out-of-place in a food video about beef and ham that it left me feeling slightly amused at many levels. I watched the video again and this time it was interrupted by an ad of a popular Smartphone, so obviously, there are a number of them playing on a loop. The ‘atta noodles’ from that particular brand, in the middle of my chimichurri beef dish had just been a coincidence.
Which got me thinking…and wondering…food had always been such a safe, non-controversial topic of conversation. Once could discuss it for hours without hurting anyone’s feelings or sensibilities. The worst that could happen as a result of talking about food would be a food- binge.
But of late, I feel that this subject has been afflicted with many -isms; each of them bearing ‘x’ number of bullet points at which the owner can take offence. There’s vegetarianism, vegan-ism, environmentalism, food-wastage-ism, nationalism (ok, I sneaked this one in), fruitarianism and so on. And since one can never predict the route a discussion can take; it can be like walking on a minefield. Or treading on eggshells.
We have become vociferous flag-bearers of our many beliefs. From there on, to defending them, taking offence at those who are not in accord with them and then trying to convince them to (DANGER! DANGER! High-risk word coming up) ‘convert’ – one can hardly tell when a harmless discussion will turn into a raging debate because a certain person has taken objection to ‘y’ word mentioned, which has offended a sentiment related to bullet point 6.8 in said person’s list.
And of late, I’m beginning to feel that even when we talk of food, we need to watch and weigh our words. Who knows, we may end up having to eat them later. And no -ism can protect us from doing that.
DISCLAIMER: Yes, I tend to overthink. A Lot.
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