Bas do minute?

But wait a minute! Do these new products, these apparent " blessings’ for today’s multi-faceted woman, really bring out that `real’ taste of freshly cooked food? How many women use instant foods? Do mothers prefer to give their families the nutrition of home-cooked meals? I asked my friend Monica. Does she really think instant foods are a blessing?

“Definitely. I’m a career woman and I’m out most of the time. I find it very useful and convenient to use packs of instant food. And there is such a variety – soups, noodles, chappatis. And now we also have electronic goods which chop and shred so efficiently that I can cook up a quick, hot meal in no time. The kids also love the taste so its fine with me,” says Monica.

But what about nutrients? Instant foods are believed to have harmful effects on the body and they’re not good for a child’s growth either.

“Yes, that’s one limiting factor perhaps, but it can’t be all true" says Monica. "If they’d have been so harmful they wouldn’t have found a place in the market.” she reasons. Shweta, a neighbour, has different views.

“Instant foods are fattening,” she says, “They also have a high sodium content. And they’re not good for health. In fact I feel that they have become an addiction today, but unfortunately they’ve become the only resort in our fast-paced hectic life. Though I do cook the usual stuff from time to time, I have to cook instant foods often, simply because my children love them! And there’s nothing I can do to stop them, all their friends eat them too.”

But what about the real taste, the aroma of freshly cooked food? Can powder from a packet produce the same aroma and taste of Grandma’s patiently ground pastes and carefully fried bhajiyas? “Not at all,” Vishakha, a young housewife says, “I hate instant food. I love cooking up all sorts of dishes for my family. And I don’t mind the shredding, chopping, kneading and drying. It is that which actually brings in the real taste of food. And I never buy tinned food because I want to continue my grandma’s legacy of fresh food. But of course I can understand the predicament of career women with their lack of time. That’s why I prefer to be a housewife – it takes care of the health problems. I do all the stuff including papads, pickles, jams, sauces and squashes and get all the praises too, not to forget the satisfaction of doing it all."

So there are some like Vishakha who do not compromise because they have the time to do it all from scratch , but busy women like Jasmine have their own ideas.“I love freshly cooked food,” she says, “But I can’t find time to chop and grind early in the mornings as I’ve got to rush to work. Thus often I have to make do with instant foods. But in the evenings I try to add at least a couple of fresh dishes. Besides, fruits and salads or sprouts are always there. And I do one thing without fail, I take a long break during the kids’ summer and winter vacations. At that time I insist on cooking only fresh stuff and all of us enjoy it. I cook everything then, I even make pickles and store them. So I don’t think that whatever instant food we do have has a marked bad effect on us. So she believes in going through all the whole grind, starting from scratch? “Well, I don’t think cooking is as difficult as its made out to be. It need not necessarily be heavy or full of spices, simple boiling and sauteing can do thetrick. Besides tinned food and preserved stuff is actually `dead’ food. Its always better to have the real thing. But yes, some things have to be used for convenience, like sweets and ice-cream mixes. They can be whipped up in a jiffy. That’s what I call a real blessing” Jasmine concludes with a smile.

So it seems grandma’s advice still holds today. A freshly cooked dish is indeed a mouth-watering temptation and something to look forward to and enjoy. Its healthy and full of nutrients. Instant foods do have their plus points as they’re convenient and time-saving. Children crave for them and working mothers often give in, picking out the bright packet from the shelf and putting away the fresh vegetables. But it is upto us to establish and maintain a balance between the time-consuming but tasty and healthy traditional cooking and the handy, quick but potentially harmful instant foods. Besides, we have a responsibility to keep alive the traditions of the rich and vibrant culinary culture we received from our forefathers and to hand it down to our children, unblemished and intact.