NONFICTION  -
    with a focus on food
Photo by Weebley.com

A Very Special Meal *
by Vivien Zielin

I was keyed up with anticipation, and more than a little flattered. After all, I had never before had a dish specially prepared in my honor for a social event.
 
It was early evening in May 1969 in New Delhi. We had been invited by friends of Vanita’s family for dinner. Vanita and I had arrived from Bombay a few days earlier, and were staying with her aunt and uncle at the start of our travels through India, Kashmir and Nepal.
 
It was proving to be a very enjoyable evening. I had been introduced to an array of relatives and friends, and the conversation flowed easily as we chatted under spinning fans, sipping cooling glasses of iced lemon.
 
The long table at the center of the room was covered with a white tablecloth and garlands of flowers, and presented a panorama of delight, with a mouthwatering display of food. It looked like an artist’s palette, with an amazing range of colorful delicacies arranged on silver thalis and bowls. Steaming curries, Chana Masala, Saag Paneer, Aloo Matar, rice, dhal, chutneys and puris, chapatis and poppadoms. The heady aroma of exotic spices, coriander, cumin, saffron, cinnamon and ginger wafted through the sultry evening air like a whirling aphrodisiac. I couldn’t wait to start, what was obviously going to be a really tasty and flavorful meal.
 
As the conversation buzzed around me, I was mentally composing a brief thank you, for the special dish that was about to appear. I would mention the mouthwatering delights of Indian cooking, as compared to England’s bland food, adding that my taste buds had been honed in a Jewish home with tastier traditional dishes.
 
My thoughts were interrupted, as Anokhi, our hostess, elegant in a silk blue sari, appeared carrying a silver platter and casserole. She placed the dish carefully on the table and said, “Welcome Vivien, we have prepared this traditional dish especially for you, so you will feel truly at home here. We hope you will enjoy it. Come on everyone, let’s eat.”
 
My tongue started to tingle in anticipation, and my taste buds started dancing for joy. What new flavorful delight was about to appear?
 
As a servant moved forward and lifted the casserole lid, suddenly everything changed. I struggled to keep smiling, and stop the disappointment and dismay from flashing across my face. Resting in the casserole, in splendid isolation, was a dish of boiled cabbage, unspiced and bland. Just a few specks of paprika rouged its otherwise colorless and unpalatable strands.
 
I stood there speechless. I had always disliked boiled cabbage. How was I going to praise, let alone force myself to eat this insipid dish, which had been prepared by my hostess with such care and generous hospitality? I struggled to find the true British spirit necessary to digest this traditional British dish. Believe me, it was not easy.
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* Excerpt from the book, Eyeballing Big Croc: Chasing Dreams Around the World, by Vivien Zielin. Plantation, Florida: Breezeway Books, 2018. It is available for purchase at Amazon.com.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vivien Zielin was born in England and graduated in history and social studies at the University of Sussex. She was a history teacher in London, worked for an interior design company in Jerusalem, and was the owner of “The China Ware House Company” in Carnaby Street, specializing in fine English made giftware, dinnerware, and quirky teapots. She has worked for media companies on various projects. She has traveled the world. In 2005 she moved to California and became a citizen in 2012. She discovered OLLI at SF State in 2009 and is the Event Organizer for the annual Creativity Celebration. Eyeballing Big Croc: Chasing Dreams Around the World is her first book and was published in 2018.
Other works in this issue:
Bay Area Byways
​Art in the City   
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​Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University​.
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University​ (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to the Vistas & Byways  volunteer staff.