And, I was finally Home!

How do you feel when you are finally home after a long day at work, or after a vacation? This is exactly what I felt like when I tasted my favorite fish curry after so many years of not liking it. It's funny how our taste buds keep changing as we group up. When you were a kid, all you could eat was something made by your mother. Eat it without making a fuss about it. How these things change once you start growing up and stop eating those dishes you once called your 'favorite'. 

The same thing happened to me when I could not tolerate eating fish. It happened one day when I had dried fish, which was again one of my favorite dishes. I could not eat it anymore and I thought I had developed an eating disorder when it came to anything related to fish. Though I never got checked by a professional doctor as to why I was allergic to fish all of a sudden, it was just self-proclaimed by me and I used to joke about it too. It was like all the fish delicacies I once enjoyed were stripped off of me and I did not like that. Coconut fish curry was something I liked the most, along with Pomfret fry and I could not eat it anymore. To save myself from being disheartened about this situation I made it a point to start hating the fact I ever liked eating fish. I also made remarks on how eating fish was gross and it stinks as well. These comments were made out of sheer hatred towards one of the things I liked the most only to make myself feel better and for others to feel guilty that I could not have it. This continued for more than 5 years I suppose and it was a task for me as to what should I eat when there was fish made at home or if I was at a relative's place and they cooked the same thing I could not eat. I often ordered something for me to eat or my only other alternative was eggs, which I was not too fond of either. At this point, I was not sure if there was anything that I could eat that would not turn problematic for my body. I was then able to understand the p

Advertisement

ain of those who were allergic to certain foods and would never get to savor them without putting themselves in danger. Although my situation wasn't dangerous, I was always worried I might throw up subsequently.

I gradually started liking eggs and it turned out to be a blessing for me. My self-confessed allergy to eggs is another story to tell, but I did have something to eat that counted as a non-vegetarian food. It was just recently when I began eating fish fry, which I should tell you is delicious, just like the way I used to like it before. However, my preference for fish from Pomfret has changed to Bombay duck. Prawns are secondary, but I only like it fried and not when it is in a curry. So, Bombay duck being my current favorite, I like it to be fried to a crisp instead of it being soft, which my family prefers. And it was one of those days when my mother decided to make the Coconut fish curry, which tastes heavenly by the way and I was given an option to either have a taste of it or eat rice and dal. Don't know where I got the confidence, but I decided I would add just a little bit of that curry to my rice and eat it. Whenever I have to eat something that I do not like or if I am trying something new, I smell it first. It's weird though because I receive questioning looks from people, so I think that's not a common thing to do. Anyway, I took a sniff of the fish curry and for the first time in all these years of not eating fish, I could not smell the fishy flavor. I would tell my mother that the fish curry she prepares smells like fish, to which she would tell me in a DUH tone, that "it's a fish curry" and of course, it will taste and smell like one. The meal I had that day was delightful. It felt like I hadn't had anything like that in so long. Take this from someone who is not a fan of home-cooked meals, cause I think it's boring. However, tasting that fish curry after so long did make me feel like I was finally Home!