India Pale Ails

In America I exist in a finely tuned state of equilibrium between caffeine and alcohol that helps me to achieve the peak performance levels upon which I operate that would be otherwise unobtainable. It’s a system that’s been perfected over the years to and allows me to maintain a steady balance of sharpened mental acuity and well timed sarcastic dry wit. It’s safe to say that, taken out of such an equilibrated state, my world begins to crumble all around.

I expected things to be different in India, knowing obviously that we weren’t headed to a coffee and beer drinking culture, but I was hardly prepared for the utter dearth of options when it came to booze and to a lesser degree coffee. Though expecting a change in diet, I hadn’t anticipated going practically full Mormon straight away into the trip, and the extent to which it has upset my balance has been unsettling.

That’s not to say that neither exist here, surely coffee is available at our hotel, served with sweetened hot milk, though it is not a strong as the western version and more difficult to obtain in large quantities. Alcohol is another story, India being a country that does not have a strong cultural tradition towards the drink and Kerala being a state that recently passed a ban on alcohol save for the higher end western hotels. This isn’t a diatribe on the perils of chemical dependency, but rather an exploration into Indian culture and cuisine, and perceptions of having spent 3 days immersed in Indian food and drink. 

Indian food, without a doubt, is amazing. The intensity of flavors that can be derived from such a spiced based culture is truly phenomenal, and it’s almost impossible to have a bad meal here. Perhaps not every meal is of peak performance, but by and large they grade out well above your average meal in most countries. 

With that however comes very little else in the culinary world as it relates to food and drink. The meal experience, as we often think of it as a combination of different flavors, textures and courses paired with drinks and sides that enhance and alter our sensory perceptions, truly functions as the sum of its parts rather than those individually. The Europeans know this best, Americans get it right some of the time. To that degree I’m finding India a bit lacking. There are fresh juices for sure, though not quite as good as those in Latin America, and a strong tea culture but one that operates rather independently from meal time. I haven’t really taken to Indian desserts as much either save for the occasional sweetened rice dish, though I can’t yet pinpoint exactly what it is about them that I don’t enjoy.

Earlier this year Kerala passed a resolution banning alcohol sales in all locations in the state except for high end hotels and state run liquor depots that basically serve only those who can’t do without the sauce. Of course I did not realize this when I signed up for the course, but hindsight is 20/20 as they say. It’s a curious move in a state that has a history of responsible alcohol consumption and had otherwise led the Indian rankings in per capita consumption of alcohol. The ban itself likely speaks more to the politics of Kerala, but that itself can be a topic for another post, for truly the one thing that’s preventing Kerala from achieving the high living standards of the west is that they consume alcohol in Kerala and we do not.

I write this not entirely as a person who enjoys a good drink, but also as someone who believes in the total meal experience, and the idea of how a good alcoholic beverage, and to a lesser extent a strong coffee culture, can be used to accentuate and build on a meal. Sure, that’s not the culture here, but often times the best things in life come at the intersections of what different cultures do best.