I could eat a horse, but alas Pondicherry is not Paris. I didn’t see horse on any of the menus. But they do have quite good western food. The coq au vin at Rendesvous was good, along with the mashed potatoes and beaujolais. The viognier was good with the salad. The poached eggs with mornay sauce and homemade whole wheat rolls there hit the spot, as did the cappucinos. Another place, Satsanga, had good imported pate on homemade, hot toasted melba toast. Tonight’s chateaubriand with bernaise sauce was great, even if it was a little too rare. I’ll deal with possible worms later. The filet of beef in wine sauce at another place was good. As one would expect here, the filet was a little tough, but the wine souce was fine. I don’t usually have desert, but the pistacio ice cream ended that meal fine. At Satsanga, I had a perfectly respectable mushroom omelet with homemeade toast. There are real baguettes, real cheese, nicoise olives, good coffee. for breakfast, I’ve been heavily into different croissants and twists.
Y’think I’m talking like a guy who has lost 30 pounds in 5 months? You bet your sweet pitootie. Pondy isn’t much to look at, with hardly a photo op in this whole burg, but it draws people who expect good food without having to go to the Hilton Hotel and pay near-western prices. My chateaubriand set me back almost $5, but it was worth it. This place is filled with French people. You don’t see a lot of them in the rest of India, but Pondy was a French canton until the early 50’s. Wisely, they have cultivated their French heritage. The streets are not only named, they are named in French. It reminds me of Alexandria, where they also wisely work the French connection.
All this got me to thinking about what I can eat when I get back to the states. I’m having a right hamburger, a fluffy omelet, allthe cheese I can eat, good bread, real meat, a big chef salad, boiled corn on the cob (well, maybe not in March), apple pie, Mexican food, bacon, brown rice, milk, something with mustard, oatmeal that isn’t a few oats floating in water, walnuts, good wine, pesto… The list goes on.
Things I don’t need because it’s better here: pizza, french fries (not just in Pondy. the Indians eat them a lot.), fresh, hot roasted peanuts and cashews, papaya, bananas, pineapple, any kind of rice, barbequed or tandoori anything, always fresh peas, lentils, cauliflower, tomato sauces… That list goes on too.
Habits I may have acquired: masala black tea with milk, naan, roti and chapati, onion and/or tomato pancakes with coriander sauce, those stubby bananas, fresh juices (I’m investing in Jamba Juice.), spicy ketchup, even some of the sweets. The list goes on.
And then there’s this age old turned new age community 10 km north of here, Auroville. Eating there is like eating at Esalen. I had a great smoked tofu lasagna there yesterday, and yesterday there was a great quiche lorraine.
Auroville was interesting. It’s old new age. It’s an intentional community which is trying to make itself into a place where people can reach their highest potential. Nothing new there, I admit, but it was founded by a couple of Hindu holy people who were trying to rise above their own traditions. Usually they mine at the ends of their tunnels. there’s even a big ball of a building that looks like a giant golf ball, which houses a 70 cm crystal, positioned to refract light in a beautiful, they say mystical way.
How Marin, eh? Of course, they have their issues and it’s not working out perfectly, but the place does have nice vibes (if I dare use that word). To tell you the truth, it would be nice to hang out there for a while, even if it is absolutely as far from real India as you can get here in India. I get along well with those kinds of people. Up to a point.
I’m doing the temple thing now in Tamil Nadu. On Wednesday I’m going to Sanchi, all the way up by Bhopal. I don’t think the temple pictures I have are too interesting. Maybe Madurai. I’ll see when I get there.
I watched the Super Bowl at 4 AM this morning. Even if they did have Doritos and nacho sauce, I don’t think I could handle that at that hour. it sure was interesting that it was on India ESPN, but it was almost a live feed. No hoopla, no pregame show. The announcers who do the streaming online games on nfl.com were doing this straight, as if it was a regular game. There were few replays. No commentary during the halftime show. I guess that was The Former Artist Known As Prince. Most interesting is there were only about 4 commercials. At 4 AM, I guess they have trouble selling ad time. And the ads were the usual low budget Indian ads. Party Down!
Talk to you later….