Folks, I really have no intention to make this blog into a food column. Let’s hope this will be my last attempt to talk about food and move on.
8 of my friends were here for dinner the other day. Ok, I admit that I was trying to impress. So instead of the usual Italian or Chinese food, I cooked some Indian dishes (with the help of the BBC program “Indian food made easy”)
A few friends commented that the food was not spicy enough. That is the common misconception of Indian cuisine (and in a certain extend, on Thai food too). Many think that the more it burns your lips, the more authentic the cooking is. Little did they know that Indian food was not to be judged by how fiery the chilli is or the quantity added. Besides chilli, there are other exciting spices like cardamom, mustard seeds, fennel, fenugreek, coriander, cumin etc. Clever mixing them will highlight its intense flavor but not overpowering the principal ingredient. A fish, in the end, has to taste like a fish. Same for mutton, or pork or any vegetable. Isn’t it strange to taste nothing but chili in a fish?
By the way, there is a standard to measure the piquancy, or “hotness” of various chilli peppers (capsicums).”The Scoville Organoleptic Test”, now standardized as Scoville scale was invented by the American chemist Wilbur Lincoln Scoville in 1912.
The normal Italian variety measured under 5000 Su (Scoville Units), while some Thai varieties top the scale with 100,000 units. Selected Indian species can reach to 1 million Su, a level, in my opinion, suitable for weapon making. Why? Because when its scale top 250,0000 Su, only pain can be experienced.
Oh, I drifted too far, now back to my Indian dinner. Now I am in a dilemma. Next time, should I make the food authentic to its origin or adjust its taste to suit the diners?
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