FOOD HABIT

The food that a person takes in the childhood becomes the most favorite in his whole life. The taste and scent inhabit so deeply in the mind and body that even after very long period, when I come in contact of similar flavor or odor, I at once recognize and go in the past and remember the event. Eatable things, which are easily available in a region, become favorite food of that area. The circumstances also affect the diet practices. The dwellers of paddy belt become accustomed to take rice, whereas persons living in wheat belt become habituated of taking bread. Persons living in west Bengal and north Bihar-Mithila region are adapted to take fish and rice in both the meals. South Indians take great interest in Idalee, badaa, rice, dosaa, sanbhar and coconut sauce. South Bihar persons especially of southwestern part and persons of western part of north Bihar are accustomed of taking ‘Littee and chokhaa’. Once in a feast, I was surprised to see a person taking littee-chokhaa, leaving so many delicious non-veg and veg items.

                                                                          Food habits are also dependent on time given for cooking. You cannot make so many varieties in hurry. People of Mithila region are more religious, more literary, and dedicated to studies. They are never in haste. They never start a journey without prior approval by the ‘jyotshi, the expert of fixing a day in a particular direction’. They cut their hair, nails in good days, which has been fixed by the Sanskrit scholars. They have sufficient time to manage these orthodoxies’. Naturally, their women have sufficient time to prepare varieties of food for their families and relatives. Also, fish and rice became popular due to rivers and flood. Whereas, people of littee-chokha belt were militant. Small kingdoms were always fighting among themselves. Obviously, they had little time to prepare food. In shorter time varieties cannot be cooked. They simply used to put ‘sattu’ in round bread (littee) and put it in the fire. They also put brinjal or potato in the same fire and made ‘chokha’. Thus, ‘littee-chokhaa’ became popular and later became special of the region.