how’s everyone doing today anyone here
like Curious George that could very well
be for me I go off exploring a lot in
the real and virtual world and collect a
ton of sound bytes that probably have
little practical use unless for example
I’m stranded in Churchill Manitoba
during polar bear season but I’ve got to
admit that the time that I spent
prepping for this talk yielded a few
interesting nuggets on me and you that I
can share right away so to begin I’d
like you to take a really good look at
me I look that I share something in
second Julia Child informs me that I am
speaking to the best people in the
universe and third I was pleasantly
surprised to discover that my humble
philosophy on food matches pretty
closely with that of James Baer the
author of many cookbooks but more
importantly the man who helped me
perfect my deep-dish pizza so I’d like
to Channel Sofia’s passion Julia’s
guidance and James’s philosophy and take
you on an adventure 5,000 miles away I’m
an absence grease on vacation having a
glorious time sampling some pretty
amazing local foods went on day 4 of the
trip my dad gets cranky and wants an
Indian meal we scurry around and a
restaurant not too far from our hotel
and quickly go in an order the familiar
naan roti dal right uh as we hungrily
dig into our meal the manager
choose us with a smile we asked him a
question that you have probably been
asked countless times in your life
before where are you from a simple
question but an answer that transported
us thousands of miles away to a remote
village in the Indian subcontinent for
opportunities for someone like him with
little education we’re bleak he saves up
money hands it over to a few locals who
promised him an abundant life in a
foreign land his dreams come crashing in
the mountains of Afghanistan were those
delivering the promise disappear without
a trace
heartbreak angry tears and hunger ensue
till he is able to find yet another
passage this time travelling through the
jungles of Iran before finally finding a
home and place of work in Athens the
simple act of eating a meal had a
stabbed ice it’s a world that we had
only seen through books and the media if
this story has you’re just a little bit
about the power of food and connecting
people then you’re starting to see my
faith and food as the most beautiful
speechless language but to get to this
discovery I had to undertake a long-term
relationship food that has seen me go
through gratitude companionship anger
frustration and of course incredible
moments of happiness now I would guess
that most of you are pretty private
about few chips and don’t like the
outside world peeking in but I have to
admit I’m pretty shameless I’m inviting
you into my private world and I’m
inviting you to join me and food as we
travel across cities countries and
continents so let’s take another trip
this time I’d like you to hop on a plane
and travel with me 8,000 miles to a
middle-class
in Mumbai India where I grew up with a
stay-at-home mom and a working dad money
was pretty scarce and we did not have
much more than the basics I distinctly
remember accompanying my mom to the
ration lines where we would pick up
government allocated quantities of wheat
rice oil the basics at regulated prices
it was not uncommon for us to walk 30
minutes in the scorching heat to go and
bargain our way to finding the freshest
produce at the most reasonable prices
but the best part of these trips we
would reward ourselves for our hard work
with a glass of cold fresh pressed
sugarcane juice that only cost a buck
but delivered a form of priceless bliss
so my earliest relationship lesson with
food was that it was scarce and never to
be taken for granted so let’s get ready
for another trip this time we’re going
to hop on a train and take a two-day
train journey in the sweltering heat I
apologize there is no air conditioning
and we’re going to travel from the
hustling bustling city of Mumbai in the
West to the conservative quiet city of
Trivandrum in the South chinned every
summer with both sets of grandparents
I’d like you to try and visualize this
scene in my maternal grandparents home
my widowed grand aunt with her shaven
head an austere beige sari signifying
her widowhood but start off the day’s
proceedings by cleaning up the cooking
area sanctifying it with a little
decoration and putting in the firewood
that would fuel our meals soon the
household would be bustling with
activity from the help that came into
great the coconuts and grind the spices
to the women of the kitchen who would
take up their duty posts cooking laying
out the eco-friendly plate the banana
leaf serving the food and starting the
process all over again 30-plus people
would be fed at any given point in time
in what appeared to be around the clock
operation the men always eating first
their conversations around their jobs
land ownership inheritances the women
always eating after the men and the kids
their chatter was around articles in
their latest magazines the upcoming
weddings and let’s not forget the latest
gossip around town now I have to add
here that the kitchen is where the women
belonged opportunities for outings were
pretty limited so the most energizing
conversations of the day were around
food buying it
preparing it cooking it and packing it
for anyone who was undertaking a long
train journey now this is where I picked
up my second relationship lesson that
food was absolutely instrumental in
bringing people together now this was
little consolation to someone who was
bored out of her mind doing nothing all
summer long while my wealthier friends
came back from vacations talking about
beautiful trips taken to places like
Hong Kong and Singapore I was ashamed
ashamed to admit that I had just spent
two months in a tiny village in southern
India doing absolutely nothing but out
of boredom and frustration came escape
books from near and far became carpet
flying me off to beautiful locales
where I would eat unimaginable foods
like pizza devour chocolate in many
forms like souffles and mousses and here
exotic breads like focaccia called my
name it was a wonderful imaginary life
of course something that I could never
afford in real life but as some of you
can attest sometimes things that you
think are not even possible do come true
and poof just like that
I found myself 8,000 miles away on
campus in one of the most culturally
diverse cities in the world Washington
DC
see now I was scared and intimidated
about striking up conversations with
people who look so different from me
clad in my salwar kameez I sat in the
campus cafeteria smiling awkwardly at
students as they walked with their lunch
trays they all have friends I didn’t and
this is also where I experienced a
strange juxtaposition of abundance and
scarcity growing up food had been scarce
but here I was surrounded by a sea of
food but hardly any choices for a
vegetarian like me
I was angry about the move and with food
and that was till I made my first friend
I bumped into Marcia in the campus
bookstore we got talking realized that
the two of us were studying management
and soon thereafter she invited me over
don’t Easter meal at our house there I
went clad in my traditional Indian garb
Marcia and Jake completely delighted to
see me and that’s when I entered their
kitchen and spotted it the spice rack it
was filled with all these exotic spices
that I had read about in my books but
here it was staring at me in the face I
started getting a little nervous about
the meal but I remember having
absolutely the bestest time painting
eater eats your eggs I was also learning
more about the Quaker faith and getting
a little curious when I was asked to
hold my hands in prayer before the meal
and completely floor that every course
served was vegetarian as a mark of
respect to me and my tradition let’s
fast forward a bit I started gaining
confidence and I started wearing western
clothes I still had my bindi on if you
notice in the picture I got a part-time
job in the library but most importantly
I met the first Greek person in my life
Marge our drop list introduced me to the
wonderful world of Greek food
which got me thinking about our shared
sensibilities and approaches to
preparing foods as I samples but that
for the first time I said wait the
Greeks have their samosas too as I ate
moussaka I could have sworn that the
Greeks and the Indians got together to
develop this grilled eggplant dish and
you know what let’s not even get started
with baklava that has since then become
an addiction if slow Shirley first
through school and then through work I
started meeting and eating meals with
people from far-flung corners of the
world I was taken aback by our
similarities the Ethiopians they eat
their Wadden and jeera with their hands
the Vietnamese they slurp down their foe
and the Persians they have bread and
rice similar to our nan and below I was
surrounded by people who looked nothing
like me completely identical to me
regardless of our backgrounds we all
appear to share something in common
wanting to get together with our loved
ones eating amazing meals and of course
sharing stories infused with healthy
doses of laughter my companion food was
pretty amazing partner through this
journey of discovery and growth now not
only did food provide for some great
ways to build friendships it also
provided for some amusing moments within
family let me ask does anyone here like
Krispy Kreme Doughnuts okay so as
newlyweds with hardly any money
the joy coupledom took on completely
meaning with the discovery of Krispy
Kreme crawlers we would start off each
morning devouring a couple with a few
glasses of orange juice but alas that
shared beautiful joy of newly wedded
bliss getting down as we both discovered
when we had kids we swore we would be a
little different
their parents out there aha for a shell
syndrome and we would teach our kids to
appreciate taste from their culture and
beyond so when my friend Diane came over
for our favorite deep-dish Pizza meal
and my child in a highchair was
clamoring for a taste there I went
instinctively taking the tiniest sliver
of the pizza and sticking it on our
tongue and her eyes lighting up like I
had served the universe on a platter we
soon realized that parenting from and to
the gut was not a bad idea something
that would help us many years later when
our children traveled when meeting new
people or eating new foods was never a
source of fear it was always an
adventure to be in joy I have lost count
of the number of Precious Moments
I have shared with food but it’s been a
pretty amazing journey since those early
days when we had just enough to get by
the abundance of food in the United it
has certainly enabled me to use food as
my platform for creativity and chronicle
my journeys on social media I’m sure
many of you would agree in the room that
you’re not living life unless you have
adequate followers on Instagram Facebook
and Twitter and are surrounded by likes
every single day but that’s just the
veneer dig a level deeper and what I’ve
been able to do with food is to pull
friends acquaintances relatives into a
tighter circle a universe more precious
than anything money can buy and last but
not the least as I have had the good
fortune of traveling to six out of the
seven continents food has often played a
pivotal role in enabling me to connect
with strangers who don’t share my attire
my language or nationality and one
example
stands out above all else as the perfect
example of how you can meet someone who
is a complete stranger and leave feeling
totally envelopes by love just through
the simple act of sharing food and for
this I invite you to take one final trip
with me I’m warning you you’re going to
encounter altitude sickness as we travel
to the mountains of Tibet we’re on
vacation with my girls we’ve been
touring monasteries and temples and
honestly are a little tired
our guide promises us this would be the
last stop in our journey he really wants
us to meet
– female monks who have been meditating
in silence as he takes us into a cave
two elderly monks come out to greet us
the broadest smiles on their faces with
their wrinkles lining up to their eyes
they beckon us to come in and sit and as
we do they hold our hands and smile some
more slowly they will do two things that
will forever remain the example that we
share when we talk about faith in
mankind they ask us to come closer and
as we do the elder monks slowly parts a
dark curtain to reveal a shrine
dedicated Fulton would be met with
turn to our seats the elder monk thrust
something really hard into my hands it
is a small hard loaf of bread probably
something that would sustain them for a
few days and here they were giving it to
us as a mark of respect love and
blessing we broke up the bread and put
it to our mouths realizing that the
moisture was coming from our tears food
has enabled me to go places and meet
beyond my eldest dreams and establish a
legacy in my kids legacy that no matter
who your friends are or acquaintances
are there is nothing more precious than
inviting them over for a warm meal where
they come for the food but keep
returning for the warmth it generates in
their hearts so as I continues with my
trusted companion food I ask you to
think of your next meal as more than
just a means of sustenance or joy for
the tastebuds I ask you to think of food
as the most powerful tool that you have
at your disposal not once not twice but
multiple times a day a tool that you can
deploy with no prior permission to
connect with people across race religion
ethnicity and nationality think of food
as the most beautiful most powerful
speechless language a language that
seeks to bind a tongue that a leading
restaurant is used in London to find
refugee women in the kitchen a language
that a cafe in Mumbai is using to employ
youth that neither can speak nor hear
and a leading consultancy in the United
States is using to create Spice boxes
with familiar smells for refugees coming
into the u.s. in every single instance
food being the language that is you
create a world that is more similar
different a world power of sharing far
overshadows that of hatred and
differences thank you [Applause]