Real meals

A study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD) released last week that reveals more Britons cook everyday than Indians or the French do, should cause no surprises as quantity is hardly a determinant of quality. Indians and the French would surely have a quibble or two about what actually constitutes food or a meal in Britain too. But the report’s contention that Indians on average spend nearly three hours preparing a meal - though a mere 44% of the billion plus population cooks daily - does grave injustice to talents of the countless kitchen goddesses across the nation who manage to pack school tiffinboxes and office d a b b a swith freshly-made food even before breakfast, and then go on to whip up hot dinners as well. Their speed and skill is even more commendable given the inherent complexities of Indian cuisine with its range of spices and cooking methods. This gives rise to the suspicion that India’s long kitchen hours are a result of the data not distinguishing between single and multiple cooking spells during a day - a major point of cultural divergence between the sandwich-munching West and the hot meal-addicted East.

Nor does the report distinguish between cooking for one and cooking for a family, a factor that would have a bearing on time spent and the percentage of the population engaged in culinary activities. After all, the fact that 75% of Britons and Scandinavians cook - and yet spend less than an hour on the task implies that they mostly cook for themselves. That Americans spend the lowest time cooking and have the highest obesity rates should clinch any debate on the need for quality kitchen time in the absence of India’s efficient home-catering networks and plethora of cheap and frugal restaurants, of course.