I rarely get sick but when I do, it's always the same pattern. I resist the general flu, then a stronger virus attacks and turns into a sinus infection because I continue working when I first get sick. I had not had a day off for two and a half months, and I've had 5 days off this past week. As a little girl, my mom made being sick a time of love and recharging.
I think Indians in general tend to be workaholics, but I've worked since I was 9 years old, and if I was too sick to work, my mom knew something was truly wrong. She would always start off with a head massage. Our whole body is connected to our hands, feet and head-- and her belief was that if you were sick, your body needed help to fight it off. She would part my hair into miniscule sections and apply almond, coconut or mustard oil to my entire scalp. Then she would massage my head with short and long strokes and finally squeeze it like a large grapefruit. Sometimes a fully body massage would ensue. Then I was to lay in bed (wasn't allowed to watch tv) and read or sleep and eat. She would prepare hearty lentil soups or one that was a mini black garbanzo bean. She would also make me peas porridge for breakfast. She was always an amazing cook but those tastes were more pronounced when I was sick.
When we went to Europe for the first time four years ago, I marvelled at how much less people ate over there. In France, (Nice and Paris) and Italy (Rome, Pisa and Venice) they all drank whine with their meals. In Nice, Rome and Pisa I ate on the cruise ship, but in Paris, Venice and Madrid we ate like the locals. I was shocked at the prices and we carefully selected restaurants. We don't drink alcohol, but our daughter Laura, who had been to Europe years earlier, said she regretted not trying the wine because everybody said how different it was. When water and wine are the same cost, 50 cent difference, I figured we should drink wine and sangria. We could only afford to eat until we were no longer hungry, not until we were stuffed like we were accustomed to in America.
Like my mothers cooking, I remember every meal we ate in Europe when we weren't on the cruise. The dishes were exquisite and the wine was warming. The meal demanded that we linger over it since the expense meant it was an occasion to be celebrated and treasured. I was always warmly happy when I finished dining.
This past week, my husband and daughter filtered and bottled the first batch of organic wine that my son Kyal and he personally made at the farm. Our grapes are not only organic, but unsulfured. They have nothing added to them in the growing process other than neem oil. We didn't add yeast or sulfur or anything else to the wine. My husband brought home a bottle on Tuesday evening. After having a glass, I told him it reminded me of the wine in Paris and Venice. In Paris, we selected a restaurant very carefully. It was a cold drizzly day but we insisted on walking so we could see the city I had only dreamed about. After lingering over our meal, our bodies were warm and the cold didn't bother us. In Venice, we ate Italian Pizza with our wine and the evening wind didn't faze us at all. I had needed a hot water bottle in bed when I was sick, but after drinking the wine, I was warm from head to toe. I had another glass and was giddy with happiness. I should have stopped at one glass.
On Thursday, evening my daughter Lydia made an incredible spinach Ravioli with a red sauce. I ate three plates and drank no wine. On Friday, evening I asked her if there was any left and she said yes. She folded sauteed mushrooms into the red sauce too. My husband asked if I would like some wine with my dinner. We both had a glass. The food was unbelievable. That same day, at the cafe Ariana and Rachel were expressing their love in the kitchen. Eileen commented The enchiladas were so awesome, like a symphony of delicious tastes in my mouth! The Chocolate Cream pie was a perfectly healthy indulgent finale to the meal! Brian commented Your "surprise me with something" shake was FANTASTIC! More than worth the walk! Clearly, those customers, like me, reveled in their meal. Like Europe, I knew I could have only one serving of the pasta that day because there wasn't any more left. Like Europe, because I drank the wine with my meal, I didn't crave anymore. In fact the warmth that crept over my body was sublimely delicious. I was sick but happy. I never got giddy because I had only one glass.
It occurred to me then, that in America, we have made our entire eating experience crude. We eat on the run. We don't revel over our meals as an occasion to be celebrated, in fact most families don't eat together and more often than not our meals are consumed in front of the t.v., computer or in our cars. The food we are eating is heavily processed and not made with local farm fresh ingredients like the meals we ate in Europe. If we drink wine with our meal, it is not a house wine or sangria like the ones we drank in Europe made with love by local vintners. It is commercialized wine made with sulfur, yeast, malic, tartaric and citric acid added. The grape juice is often imported from Chile because it's cheaper. In fact both Trader Joes and Whole Foods have jumped on the band wagon with $2 bottles of wine. Americans are given cheap food, cheap wine, cheap soda and cheap junk food. In India and; Mexico, the sodas are expensive, the bottles are small, and they are made with cane sugar. Here corn syrup is added to most of our food and beverages because it's cheaper than cane sugar. Junk food in India, Mexico, England and Europe was very expensive because it is processed and requires machines etc. Organic veggies are cheaper because they're farm fresh and local. Here we can get soda cheaper than water and chips and chocolate cheaper than veggies.
In Europe everyone drinks wine with their meal. In France, their diets are rich with butter, cheese, bread and meat which all can lead to heart problems but they have lower rates of heart attack than Americans. It has been said that their custom of wine drinking is healthful for them. In the Bible, Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his frequent stomach problems and Jesus drank wine with his meals. In fact wine was safer than water to drink.
For our anniversary, a dear friend who works at a winery in Northern California brought us a 10 year old bottle of wine. It is said that a woman should have 4 ounces of wine, and a man should have 8. We tried to drink it, but it was too strong for us. We drink maybe once a year. When i drink our wine, it smells like a wine so my body prepares to dislike it-- but it goes down smooth. I don't wake up in the middle of the night like I usually do after drinking a glass of wine. As the daughter of a Sikh Priest who didn't belive in drinking alcohol, I hate to say it, but I can see why a little wine could be good for us.
I've heard the saying, when in Rome, do as the Romans -- but I must say that we have to exert our utmost effort to not eat like Americans when in America. During this holiday season when excess is rampant and quality is elusive, many are caught up in the whirlwind of "American" food. But our bodies are a temple to be honored and kept chaste. Unlike the idol worshippers who ate meat that hadn't been properly bled, Christians refrained from such practices. May we too refrain from eating food that pollutes our body and violates the sanctity of the gift God gave us: life. With our food and our drink, may we choose a little deliciousness over an excess of crudeness.
Encouraging you to focus on quality, not quantity
on value and not cost
I remain,
Ta-Raw Hamilton
www.ta-raw.com, www.revivecafe.com
