Sunday 17 April 2016

New found tastes

Taste and sensations are peculiar attributes that have a mind of its own. Recently, I was introduced to Bimli, a sour tasting fruit and Wiki tells me that the botanical name is Averrhoa bilimbi. Now, I am quite fond of the tangy flavour - tamarind, raw mangoes and the like have always held a special place in my tongue. Bimli is something like that. I realise that there are so many flavours and items that one has not tasted and perhaps will never taste! One of my colleagues had lovingly prepared Bimli pickle and asked us to sample her culinary prowess, and I being the tangy-loving entity lapped up the pickle with a zest that only tangy-lovers could comprehend. I quickly made note of the recipe and tried it at home. It wasn't as good as it had ought to be nevertheless, I could see that I was not as lazy as I had thought I might be.



Bimli happened to me quite late in life. I could not imagine that I had spent so many years without tasting this fruit. I think that sometimes it would have been growing in the vicinity of our house but we had never bothered. My husband knows this fruit well and tells me that every house in Kerala has the Bimli (Pulinchika) tree. I wonder how many such fruits, trees and tastes are unknown to us in spite of sharing living space with us. I wish I could identify these gems and die happily in the knowledge of having partaken of the many wondrous tastes of nature.


On another note, I saw a movie in my phone for the first time - The Bengali Night, a French film, set in Bengal of the 1930s. It was weird to see Hugh Grant so frail and gaunt. The film also led me to one of my favourite authors - Mircea Eliade. The film is an adaptation of his autobiographical novel, Maitreyi. The film took me on a wild journey of the years where love was a simple look, holding of hands and rapturous ecstasy. I had always liked Hugh's accent and this film was from an era where Grant was not yet idolised as he is today (a few years ago, to be precise).

Many first times today and I again realise that every day, we have an opportunity to learn and unlearn.

Well, what have you discovered today, dear reader?

Image 1: Bimli (Wikipedia)
Image 2: Wikipedia

6 comments:

  1. I'm not fond of the taste of the fruit in the picture. Here it's called Carambola (star fruit). Sometimes I like the taste of a fruit, but my stomach doesn't agree with it (kiwi for instance).

    I'm not familiar with the movie The Bengali Night (though I'm well familiar with the name Mircea Eliade). I think it's worth watching.

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    Replies
    1. How lovely to see you dear DUTA. Hope you are well and that all your family members are fine as well. Have your tried making pickle from Carambola? Does it grow a lot in your regions?

      Please do watch the film - a simple story of love and loss.

      Please take care of yourself.

      Until the next time.

      Joy always,
      Susan

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  2. It must taste yum with the salty taste twirling in the tongue. Enjoyed reading it:)

    www.vishalbheeroo.wordpress.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it is a shock to the taste buds - a firecracker of puli. Thanks for stopping by Vishal.

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  3. I havent tasted that fruit yet...tangy huh ?? Let me give it a try !!
    Am watching movies on laptop with daughters for a first...I hate watching on small screen...but its enjoyable :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bayangare puli. Yum.

      We are evolving as the days go by, Uma. We are quite adaptable that way.

      Lovely to see a comment from you :)

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