Judgmental opinions

One thing struck me on the way to Thrissur last Sunday: these Malyalis love their food. Every other shop is a food joint. A tea shop, a pakoda shop, a banana chips shop, a small hotel, a big hotel... alas, their choice of food is bland. Tea is hot water poured in a strainer containing days-old tea leaves with a spot of diluted milk. Snacks are ripe banana slices deep fried in rancid oil. Fish curry rice is a heap of boiled rice with watery curry with tiny bits of sardines and fried fish is a tiny morsel of deep fried fish of nameless origin. Masala dosa is a thick dosa with mashed potatoes with a hint of chili powder and chutney is tasteless syrup of coconut gratings. Idli is soft and the sambar tasteless. Three days of this fare sounded like a famine so ended up eating delicious food in a hi-fi hotel at our organisers cost. Fried rice and manchurian and salad and butter chicken with tandoor roti. The hotel had a swimming pool but the lawns were overgrown with weeds, the lobby was brig...