The word 'curry' is under fire, food blogger believes it's an umbrella term for all Indian food
Chaheti Bansal, a food blogger in the US, is creating a stir with the use of the word 'curry' by many non-Asian cultures...
When we think about curry, we immediately think of home, comfort food, family, and spice and fragrance. We also think of Durban. But that's not all, we sometimes forget that the word is representative of something more than that.
It is an indicator of culture, tradition, and sometimes even personality. The concept of cooking curry has a rich history for many different parts of India. Indian curry has been a widely known term that describes a variety of dishes that have a similar way of being cooked.
However, it is not something that should be used loosely, well, that's according to 27-year-old food blogger, Chaheti Bansal.
"Chaheti Bansal says the world should consider cancelling the word because has been popularised by the British who have refused to learn other ways of referring to some Indian dishes," The South African reports.
We can't say that we feel that strongly about it, but we do agree that it is important to know the differences of the different types of Indian cuisine and being respectful of the correct names that each one has been given. In fact, it is important to be respectful and mindful to all types of cultural cuisine.
Food is very much a cultural experience, you learn about the methods that different communities, countries, and tribes use that hold sentimental significance. Sometimes it is all in the word; showing respect and gratitude for someone's history is important in creating world equity and peace.
So as simple as it may seem, being mindful of what we say and how we say it can literally unite people. Instead of it traditionally separating us and being the reason we have wars, let's make an effort in learning about our uniqueness. Ultimately, these are things that make us appreciate our diverseness in Durban. So why not apply that to the world?
There’s a saying that the food in India changes every 100km and yet we’re still using this umbrella term popularised by white people who couldn’t be bothered to learn the actual names of our dishes.
According to a professor of religious studies at the University of Vermont, Ilyse R Morgenstein Fuerst, the word doesn't exist in the South Asian language.
One of the theories as to where the word came from is "that the British probably misheard the Tamil word ‘kari’, which means a range of other things like, ‘side dish’ or ‘blackened." (The South African)
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