The Secret Ingredient: Love!

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"Certain things in life simply have to be experienced and never explained. Love is such a thing."

-Paulo Coelho

 Our daily banter around the usual worldly topics brought us to food, which is usually the case when Bengalis discuss anything because all our conversations are empty without food-talk. Anyways, when we were talking about hostel food and the thread diverged towards a cook in my father’s office canteen. My father was a regular visitor to the canteen till he retired because he enjoyed both the food (a rarity for canteen anywhere) and the company of Shankar, the cook.


Shankar has been cooking for more than 30 years now and is close to retirement. However, he enjoys cooking every single meal. Despite having a fixed menu, he would make extra dishes as per availability. Since my father helped him with some office work, he would get the special evening tea. Whenever we would visit my father’s office, we would definitely have our lunch over there. Shankar dada would always prepare our favourite egg curry and Shukto and serve us with a warm, big smile. The food would be simple and inexpensive but tasted sumptuous. We truly felt like some royal people sitting in the office canteen, being served by Shankar dada. I never knew him personally but whatever his troubles were, he would not bring them to his cooking and his smile.

Today, we are spoilt by choices when it comes to restaurants. We can open our phone or laptop and order directly from our home or office from a variety of cuisines and yet despite all the options,the food would always taste as if it’s missing some ingredients. I would try different places, different eating joints, different cities and yet I would not be contented with the food. I would come back with my stomach full of food and heart full of disappointment.

One day, during my visit to my parents’ home, I decided to visit the office canteen. I had no expectations but had secretly hoped to eat food cooked by Shankar dada. I met Shankar dada who has just finished cooking the lunch. He recognised me at once and after exchange of greetings, he served me lunch. One spoonful into my mouth and I felt a shiver of nostalgia run down my spine. My eyes became tearful and I thanked Shankar dada for cooking so beautifully. He was taken aback by my reaction but nodded in gratitude. I realised the missing ingredient in my food all these years-love. Our love for cooking, love for the food, love for serving and feeding the food to people can make a lot of difference. We can have the best ingredients and the best recipe and yet if we cannot put a touch of love, our food will always miss the secret ingredient. Many of us have that one person in our lives, may be our mother or grandmother or some aunt or the Shankar dadas whose aroma stays with us long after, even if they are not present with us, in our memories and our taste buds.




-Dr. Suhasini Das

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