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They form a meaty chunk
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City food habits show no decline in the love for non-vegetarian foods, despite growing medical awareness about the same. The Kochiite it seems, is a meat lover as RAMYA RAMANAN finds out.
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TO BE or not to be? Is the question that has dogged man in all matters, much prior to Hamlet's troubled mind? To go vegetarian or to turn non-vegetarian is one such matter that is presently tugging at the minds of people. Torn they are between medically proven greens to the medically denounced red meats. Though raging within personal limits, what does the city wallahs food habits reveal?
Being on the seacoast the Kochiite has always had a penchant for fish and other meats. There are a host of reasons that signify the popularity of non-veg food here. With a major populace of Kerala residing abroad, they are accustomed to foreign food habits. When back home they have no cause for frowning on the variety of non veg food products available in the markets, as most of the foreign meat goodies are visible on market shelves. The NRIs are a growing segment and major consumers of imported meat foods. The middle class group mainly prefers to purchase fresh fish and meat, as it doesn't tug at their purse strings. The new MNC culture has thrown open a culture where eating meat is considered suitable and many are joining the non veg bandwagon. There are also the cases of many of the younger generation being born and brought up abroad; hence the children adopt the foreign food culture, different from the traditional custom of being vegetarians.
Padmanabhan's profession took him beyond the Indian shores and that is where he first tasted meat. Better known as Paddy, he says "Though I have been raised as a pure vegetarian, it was purely by chance that I first tasted meat along with my friends. I liked the taste and I stuck on to it. My family is purely vegetarian but don't mind my choice. During poojas at home, I am strictly prohibited from eating non-veg."
" We have been residing in Dubai for the past fifteen years and so all of us are non-veg eaters. But in our ancestral home at Thripunithura, everybody is pure vegetarian because it has been that way for decades. Besides we have a family temple in the courtyard and hence meat is strictly prohibited" says Ms. Aswathy Menon.
Kochiites are out on a meaty binge with supermarkets, shops, and markets selling a variety of eatables. "The quantum of vegetables and fresh fish sold per day almost equals each other, but on weekends it is generally the quantity of fish which sells more. Our stock of fish is exhausted by the end of the day. Imported meat items are in great demand with the consumers. Tinned meat foods from Denmark, Turkey and frozen foods like sausages from Sri Lanka are very popular", says Mr. Francis Joseph, Manager of Varkeys Supermarket. The meat kebabs, cutlets, meat puffs and samosas, chicken and meat rolls, hamburgers, meat pizzas are the most preferred eats for an evening snack. All food outlets and bakeries in Kochi, like K. R. Bakes, Hot Breads, Varkeys, Bread World, Chick King to name a few have been experiencing a brisk sales regarding the same. "After a hectic day, it is so filling to have the steaming hot meat kebabs and grilled sausages. I am a regular customer of such snacks and I wonder what I would have done without it" says Mr. Noushad, a computer dealer. It is a common sight to see families round off their shopping spree with such snacks during weekends.
It is evident that the `meatarians' are on the increase with the opening up of new stores catering to fish and meat foods solely. The Varkeys Supermarket in Palarivattom has a special outlet for fresh fish alone apart from the regular fare. Meat Mart in Ravipuram has completed a year in the city. "We give more thrust to hygiene, quality and service. Basically we deal with fresh meat. We also have frozen meat and the vacuum packed sterilised meat products that have a shelf life up to six months. Customers expect their money's worth and that is what we offer in our shop" opines Mr. Bhanu Menon of Meat Mart. No weekend is complete without a non-vegetarian delicacy in most Kerala households and the markets stand testimony to this.
The butchers and abattoirs are in full swing as the weekend approaches. Chicken, mutton, beef, all varieties of fish, pork, duck and turkey meat on festive occasions are the customer demands. The cold storages in the city present a picture in tune with the above facts. Cold storages like PDDP Cold Storage, Ernakulam Cold Storage, International Marine Foods, Snowman Frozen Foods, Amalgam Foods Ltd, Deepa Ice and Cold Storage and others deal with the sales of varieties of seafood such as cuttlefish, prawns, crab, oysters and shrimps.
Though the city boasts of many famous vegetarian haunts like Hotel Dwaraka, Bimbis, Woodlands, Ambiswamys, Udipi, and Hotel Aryas, there is another side to this.
The closure of recently opened vegetarian hotels stands proof to the fact of the increasing non veg trend. `Only Veg' became non functional a few months ago. Woods Manor of the Woodlands group, which opened in 1999 as a veg hotel, incorporated a non-vegetarian menu in the year 2000. "We did not want to be competitors to a sister concern of ours and we were mainly drawing the same crowds from Woodlands. Hence we decided to introduce non-veg food as well, which has soared the customer numbers", says Mr. P. R. Dinesh, Director of Woods Manor.
Others like Sona, a PR executive can't imagine a single day without fish for dinner. Asha Nair, a model and a college student is an ardent lover of non-veg. The above shows the fact file in Kochi. The picture outside the State seems to be a bit different. The world over, there has been a cry to "go vegetarian". With the World Vegetarian Day falling on October 1, people all over the globe have initiated efforts in becoming vegetarian. The question is what is the impact on us? Being veg or non veg is more a state of mind. Some feel that being vegetarian is morally, ethically, spiritually, ecologically and better health wise. Others have cut down meat as they feel it is more expensive and could lead to health disorders.
It is a proven fact by medical research that meat eaters are more prone to diseases such as food poisoning, obesity, colon cancer, cholesterol and coronary heart diseases. Some others feel that turning vegetarian is just another fashion statement. A statement that will fade away soon. The meat industry is doing well and there seems to be little sign of people sacrificing red and going green. Though Yoga, Ayurveda and the vegetarian menu of Indian origin have caught the fancy of the West, their decision of going vegetarian has not fully caught up with us. We in the city are not ready yet to give up that exotic taste and turn over to rabbit food.
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