'Oota ready' means "lunch is served" in Karnataka. A typical, homely meal, preferably served hot and in your mother's own kitchen is what it means to a kannadiga. While the words are commonly seen now on boards by the highways, they still refer to the age-old customary midday meal at home, served in the traditional comfort of your home.
I will consider myself lucky and blessed to have had a very "well-fed" childhood. People who know me from back then will relate as they have seen me "grow" in the love of food and cuisine along the years!! Most of the "tiers"(now 'tears'..due to the weightloss regimes) of happiness are stable remnants of those lazy Sunday afternoons when the midday meal was a long drawn affair with everyone involved. The home would smell heavenly with aromas of the pepper chicken, or fish fries, or the occasional traditional "bussar-palya" and karvad (dry fish) combos that would be cooked.
Our birthdays, Christmas and Easters would find my passionate Grandmother planning and coordinating well in advance to invite and have my wonderful large family gather to celebrate! My memories would be lacking color and aroma if not for the delicious and elaborate menu that would be prepared and served. The final day would arrive and as the last table cloths and flower arrangements were laid, the gathering of well meaning relatives would happen along with the unavoidable accompaniment of music and prayer. We kids would do our part of giggling and running errands in the background, while maintaining straight and stoic faces to look as holy as the adults who were in control of our lives at that time.
The singing would start after a long and painful but most essential "tune up" of instruments that seemed to be wanting as much of "warming up" as we kids who hadn't met for ages and seemed to be growing between these regular parties. There used to be so much to say and share, but the background music forbade all discussion, and we were compelled to settle down and be serious while the musicians kept the program from moving any further in any particular direction.Violins, and harmoniums, harmonicas and the piano. We would watch helplessly as these instruments would get louder and more riotous as our fathers/ uncles would "warm up" and get set for us poor tortured children to be ready to sing.
Stomachs would rumble and mood swings ignored, as we sang our throats till the final and glorious shrill toned "Praise God from whom all blessings flow...." , a traditional ending to the torturous and laborious process of working up an appetite while invoking God's blessings upon the event and its participants.
Finally, we (my sis and I)would be beckoned by Granny to go and set the table and warm up the food. The family would say a prayer and then move into the dining room for the delicious meal to be served and enjoyed. The 'post - oota' slump, and the "paan" routine will be stuff I will elaborate for the uninitiated in a later blog.
It is with these memories that the idea of "oota ready" really came of age.
I am sure there are similar traditions and stories of "structured" get-togethers that all of us have grown up on.
The food being an integral part of each home and its traditions, I realise that wherever you dine, the best food memories are that of your childhood and in your mother's kitchen where you learned sharing, caring, love and charity ....and the most important, warmth and security that a child enjoys while eating together at the family table.
Here is a humble invitation to come in and share your favourite "food-related" childhood memories, and leave us with a gastronomic experience from your childhood. A picture and a recipe would help us all spread and grow the delight of home cooked, wholesome food, and make sure those delicious, traditional recipes will adopt a new family as we try to pass on the rich heritage and culture of traditional food. Save the McDonald generation from their cheesy curse, and help grow a healthier generation....go on...you can do it...save the world!!
I will consider myself lucky and blessed to have had a very "well-fed" childhood. People who know me from back then will relate as they have seen me "grow" in the love of food and cuisine along the years!! Most of the "tiers"(now 'tears'..due to the weightloss regimes) of happiness are stable remnants of those lazy Sunday afternoons when the midday meal was a long drawn affair with everyone involved. The home would smell heavenly with aromas of the pepper chicken, or fish fries, or the occasional traditional "bussar-palya" and karvad (dry fish) combos that would be cooked.
Our birthdays, Christmas and Easters would find my passionate Grandmother planning and coordinating well in advance to invite and have my wonderful large family gather to celebrate! My memories would be lacking color and aroma if not for the delicious and elaborate menu that would be prepared and served. The final day would arrive and as the last table cloths and flower arrangements were laid, the gathering of well meaning relatives would happen along with the unavoidable accompaniment of music and prayer. We kids would do our part of giggling and running errands in the background, while maintaining straight and stoic faces to look as holy as the adults who were in control of our lives at that time.
The singing would start after a long and painful but most essential "tune up" of instruments that seemed to be wanting as much of "warming up" as we kids who hadn't met for ages and seemed to be growing between these regular parties. There used to be so much to say and share, but the background music forbade all discussion, and we were compelled to settle down and be serious while the musicians kept the program from moving any further in any particular direction.Violins, and harmoniums, harmonicas and the piano. We would watch helplessly as these instruments would get louder and more riotous as our fathers/ uncles would "warm up" and get set for us poor tortured children to be ready to sing.
Stomachs would rumble and mood swings ignored, as we sang our throats till the final and glorious shrill toned "Praise God from whom all blessings flow...." , a traditional ending to the torturous and laborious process of working up an appetite while invoking God's blessings upon the event and its participants.
Finally, we (my sis and I)would be beckoned by Granny to go and set the table and warm up the food. The family would say a prayer and then move into the dining room for the delicious meal to be served and enjoyed. The 'post - oota' slump, and the "paan" routine will be stuff I will elaborate for the uninitiated in a later blog.
It is with these memories that the idea of "oota ready" really came of age.
I am sure there are similar traditions and stories of "structured" get-togethers that all of us have grown up on.
The food being an integral part of each home and its traditions, I realise that wherever you dine, the best food memories are that of your childhood and in your mother's kitchen where you learned sharing, caring, love and charity ....and the most important, warmth and security that a child enjoys while eating together at the family table.
Here is a humble invitation to come in and share your favourite "food-related" childhood memories, and leave us with a gastronomic experience from your childhood. A picture and a recipe would help us all spread and grow the delight of home cooked, wholesome food, and make sure those delicious, traditional recipes will adopt a new family as we try to pass on the rich heritage and culture of traditional food. Save the McDonald generation from their cheesy curse, and help grow a healthier generation....go on...you can do it...save the world!!
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