When your tongue feels like leather...

Food has been a central part of my life here in Bharat. You don't realize how central food is to your culture until it's nearly impossible to find what you're familiar with. Don't get me wrong--the food here is fantastic.  Outrageously spicy, but fantastic. When I learned I was going to the spiciest part of India, I had no idea what I was in for.

But our food is our comfort. I suffered from a small bout of dehydration and all I could stomach was fruit and toast. The smell of pepper, curry, anything made me queasy.

Fortunately, when I got well, I had outlets of friends that also get homesick for their home cooking. All my Arab friends tend to crave beef BBQ nights. They'll skewer potatoes, tomatoes, onions, everything marinated. But their potatoes are not covered in pepper and curry, and they still taste like potatoes. A very warm welcome.

I've also discovered The Chocolate Room. This is a restaurant with a 14-page menu, and only two pages of these list actual dinner food. The other 12 contain mochas, sundaes, chocolate pancake dinners...you name it, it's there. Their hot pudding is nothing to be underestimated. Nor is their Triple Chunky Choco Sundae. I'm going to be triple chunky choco Kelsey if I don't watch it.

Food has even permeated through the walls of my classroom! What is the logical thing to do when your Hindi students have missed three hours of class? Have an Indian cooking class, of course! I learned how to make aloo masala with mint chutney and gulab jamun. Aloo masala is like a spiced potato latke with carrots and green chilies, mint chutney is cilantro (coriander) and mint mixed with green chilies and curd (plain yogurt), and gulab jamun is a sweet that is a type of bread that gets fried and then soaked in honey water. We added cashews and dates to ours. And our professor brought along her baby girl, who is quite possibly the most adorable creature on the planet.

Travelling, I've tried coconut and onion uttapam, mango lassi (GAH! Mango anything is amazing!), various attempts at western food, especially in Pondicherry. But my favorite favorite favorite was spicy Goan sausage in Goa. It was like chunks of pork spiced with who-knows-what and cooked with tomatoes and green chilies. And I still can't get over all the fresh juice here.

For a birthday, we went to Hard Rock Cafe, Hyderabad. That hickory smoked bacon cheeseburger was the best I've had in my life. I keep craving lasagna and home-made garlic cheese bread. And mashed potatoes. And milk. Oh my goodness, I miss milk.