Delhi is hot. And humid. And smoggy. It's like a blistering angry fog. I think that's our dividends for climate change. We didn't stay as long in Delhi, and much of our time was occupied with mainly lectures and schooling paired with various sightseeing. Normally, I would love some good sightseeing, but Delhi was a city built for armadillos or something because it was ridiculously hot and uncomfortable, in case I didn't mention that already. The malls near our hotel were massive. It is easily the closest i've come to experiencing the way the future humans from Wall-E lived. The major experimentation in Delhi came in the form of a man named SB Chef, Professor Ganguly’s childhood friend. I love cooking, and food, and being able to have a meal from a professional chef is always a treat. However, this particular five course meal was very special. It is rare, at least in my income bracket, to have a meal crafted truly for a passion of cooking. SB Chef combined his love of culinary arts with his interest in history, and created an incredibly accurate five course meal. The meal showcased foods eaten thousands of years ago in the region, as well as some foods using ingredients used after the Americas were “discovered” and their ingredients were made available. Regardless of how it tasted, it is something to pause and truly appreciate. Thank you SB chef. However, I will go over some memorable tastes from the provided meal. The first dish included qual, which I had never had in my life. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was like small dry chicken. There was also a small ovalish piece of dark red stuff in my piece of qual. My table mate said its good luck if I ate it, so I did. It was also here that I decided to commit to finishing every item from every plate, whether I loved or hated it due to my aforementioned appreciation of the food. A dish or two later we were served a white liquid in a small shot-like glass. It had some seeds in it. I liked it, although the flavor profile reminded me almost exactly of what wet gravel smells like, with a smokier aftertaste. At this point was when we were given a fruit with a pit. And Alan, my tablemate, was unfortunately the loser of a game of “what are the odds” and had to consume said pit. Alan, the champion that he is, stared into the pit, and instead of letting it stare back, he swallowed it. After this dish we were served, among other things, another small glass with a fruit sorbet type thing in it. This time, I also liked it, but it tasted like the air inside an inflatable pool inner tube after being left in the sun for too long. Next was a poppy seed potato dish, however I missed the potato and just had poppy seed sauce and it tasted like pencil. The only thing I vehemently disliked was the boiled egg. I cannot stand the taste of egg yolk unless mixed with egg whites like in scrambled eggs. The texture is even worse, I find it like eating chalk. No shame to SB Chef at all, anyone could cook an egg like that and I wouldn't like it.
Although not in Delhi for long, I scribbled a few things into my sketchbook, including a super realistic global warming question of simply making a massive space mirror to stop the increasing temperature. I also asked very smart scientists about why we can't just use a massive laser to turn the CO2 in the atmosphere to plasma and destroy it. I wasn't serious, by the way. Although it would be sick if we could. I also decided to start to write an academic paper this trip, when time allows. I am going to work towards creating a fisheries oriented CVA (climate vulnerability assessment) based on southeast india and rising ocean acidification. I will leave this post with a quote I remember no context of from my sketchbook that I wrote during a guest lecture.
“Why can't we put the moon in a fish”.