When I sit back and think about the reasons for my being so much attracted to Spices , I used to think that I had taken after my mother who loved all spicy foods but I was still not convinced if love for spices has a common gene.
It struck to me suddenly that the reason lies in the fact "Where I come from".
I was born on a cold day early morning in January first week 58 years ago in the city of Madras.
what is so special about that day?
Nothing.
What is so special about the place?
Well nothing except the fact that My love for Sambar may have something to do with that.
But still it does not justify my first question.
Today morning it came as a flash.
I was born at my home at 27 Audiappa Naicken Street, George town, Madras.
And this house lies 50 feet away from special market which deals only in Chilli peppers or if you want to call it Chillies, I am OK with it. (later on it also became a wholesale market for Garlic.)
My house where I was born was practically plumb at the hubbub of one of the largest chilli market in South India. The market is called "Mozka Kadai Sandhu" meaning Chilli shop street.
Actually this is a narrow street housing hundreds of wholesalers of fiery to slightly milder dry chillies. Chief among the varieties being sannam , Madras Pari and Mundu. Huge godowns of chilli peppers are situated in this street.
From the time I took my first breath in this world, I was thrown open to this spicy atmosphere of chillies. My first visuals of street life would have been huge hand carts and animal driven "Trucks" laden with huge Jute bags filled to bursting with dry chillies.
The same scene is repeated throughout the year, year after year .
I remember my eyes would burn and my little nose would run whenever the trucks and hand carts would pass near our house. And mind you, every day hundreds of them would pass from there. Our house used to literally smell like a chili pepper warehouse.
My little nose became large nose and little boy became an young man in same place.But the non stop passage of fiery red chilli peppers goes on and on unstopped .
This may be the reason why I understand chili peppers better than most people.
I would hasten to add here that it is not only the fiery chillies that were traded here. Varda Muthiappan street, Anna Pillai street, Audiappa Naicken street, Strotten Muthiah Mudali street, Thatha Muthiappan street and Kothaval Chawadi comprised of an area within a city block in US terms and this area housed all wholesale and retail trade in Spices, cereals and Rice. Kotwal chawadi was south India's biggest vegetable wholesale and retail market.So my love of spices can be traced to the atmosphere (literally) prevalent in my house.
It struck to me suddenly that the reason lies in the fact "Where I come from".
I was born on a cold day early morning in January first week 58 years ago in the city of Madras.
what is so special about that day?
Nothing.
What is so special about the place?
Well nothing except the fact that My love for Sambar may have something to do with that.
But still it does not justify my first question.
Today morning it came as a flash.
I was born at my home at 27 Audiappa Naicken Street, George town, Madras.
And this house lies 50 feet away from special market which deals only in Chilli peppers or if you want to call it Chillies, I am OK with it. (later on it also became a wholesale market for Garlic.)
My house where I was born was practically plumb at the hubbub of one of the largest chilli market in South India. The market is called "Mozka Kadai Sandhu" meaning Chilli shop street.
Actually this is a narrow street housing hundreds of wholesalers of fiery to slightly milder dry chillies. Chief among the varieties being sannam , Madras Pari and Mundu. Huge godowns of chilli peppers are situated in this street.
From the time I took my first breath in this world, I was thrown open to this spicy atmosphere of chillies. My first visuals of street life would have been huge hand carts and animal driven "Trucks" laden with huge Jute bags filled to bursting with dry chillies.
The same scene is repeated throughout the year, year after year .
I remember my eyes would burn and my little nose would run whenever the trucks and hand carts would pass near our house. And mind you, every day hundreds of them would pass from there. Our house used to literally smell like a chili pepper warehouse.
My little nose became large nose and little boy became an young man in same place.But the non stop passage of fiery red chilli peppers goes on and on unstopped .
This may be the reason why I understand chili peppers better than most people.
I would hasten to add here that it is not only the fiery chillies that were traded here. Varda Muthiappan street, Anna Pillai street, Audiappa Naicken street, Strotten Muthiah Mudali street, Thatha Muthiappan street and Kothaval Chawadi comprised of an area within a city block in US terms and this area housed all wholesale and retail trade in Spices, cereals and Rice. Kotwal chawadi was south India's biggest vegetable wholesale and retail market.So my love of spices can be traced to the atmosphere (literally) prevalent in my house.
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