the joy of good food
Reading: The Passion of Michel Foucault
Listening: the sound of my ass getting kicked in Elden Ring
I'm easy to please when it comes to improving my general mood. Like, just give me a soft bed to sleep in and a good meal and I'll be set. My definition of a good day is often influenced by whatever I got to eat that day.
Today has been a good day and it started with an incredibly awkward social non-interaction.
For lunch, I wandered towards the campus student union without anything in particular in mind. Every so often, the dining services park a food truck out in front of the union, or invite locally-owned food trucks to visit campus. The one run by dining services was there with smashburgers on offer. I'm not the biggest fan of smashburgers--I don't really like the "crispy, lacelike" thing going on with the ground beef--but a meal for $11 sounded good. I'm picky about my burger toppings, and this truck had a lot of stuff I don't like on their burgs, so I was already rehearsing my order in my head.
The line moved slowly, and as I approached, I made the briefest of eye contact with the cashier. This person is someone I know. Normally, I don't mind visiting a business where someone I know works, even if it bugs me a little, but this cashier recently went through a really bad breakup with someone close. It's all still very fresh. So, I dipped. Once the cashier started paying attention to the customer at the front of the line, I took my opportunity to disappear.
And thank goodness I did. Even after leaving I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach. It's likely the cashier wouldn't have talked about anything personal with me, but it'd just be there. In the background. A miasma of discomfort. Being in the queer community and coming into contact with this sort of situation relatively often has taught me that I'd rather just avoid any immediate interactions. I'll be the first to admit that I'm a drama whore and love to gossip, but not like this.
So I made my way to the dining hall where I knew they weren't serving burgers. I'd seen the menu for the day, and it seemed like it was made with picky eaters in mind. Lots of carbs and basic proteins were on offer, which is fine, but not the kind I like.
As I entered the dining hall, I saw a big sign advertising Indian barbecue. I looked to and fro, unable to locate the barbecue in question. The small print on the banner mentioned a "takeover," and I figured that the dining hall staff would know what was going on. Once I made my way upstairs, I saw it--the barbecue was actually inside the dining hall, part of their lunch buffet. Thrilled, I got in line.
The visiting chefs at the dining hall were from Choolaah, which I guess is a chain restaurant looking to expand further into the midwest. Seems like they're starting with college campuses, first. I got paneer tikka masala and their mango lassi.
Indian food is a cuisine that lends itself well to buffet-style bulk-cooking. The more your proteins soak in a particular curry, the more flavors will be imparted into your proteins--like marinating meat in the fridge overnight. Most of the local Indian restaurants around here aren't great about doing this, however--if you order, say, jalfrezi curry with chicken, the chefs will add the chicken to the jalfrezi only when it's ordered. The result is rather bland, where the protein feels more like a topping or add-on than part of the curry. I think the effect is worse with paneer, since if it's recently been added to the curry, its texture doesn't soften, and it has a rather rubbery, plasticy bite. Not pleasant.
At this setup for Choolaah, they also added the protein separately from the curry, rather than having everything simmering together. However, they made up for this by grilling the paneer and adding copious seasoning to each cube. Paneer is one of those rare cheeses that can be grilled or fried without totally melting down and making a mess--and it's divine. Preparing it like this creates a beautiful texture that blends crispness with melt-in-your-mouth creaminess. Plus, the flavors mingle even more with the cheese itself. If you've ever eaten plain paneer, it's a bit like tofu--not much flavor on its own, but it soaks up the taste of everything around it. Add a bit of heat and those spices really penetrate the cheese well.
Speaking of spices, the tikka masala was appropriately seasoned, with more of a focus on flavor than heat. I prefer this, personally, and they also had options to make it hotter if you wanted. Their mango lassi was thick, sweet, and fruity--can't complain about that. The food I had from Choolaah wasn't the best Indian food I've ever eaten, but for a place that seems fast-casual style, it was damn good. I have no clue how much a bowl would typically cost if you ordered it at one of their locations, but my entry fee at the dining center was just over $10.
I also had a cup of mocha and two (!) slices of tiramisu, my favorite dessert. Normally I don't bother to take pictures of my food--if I do, it's typically at least half-devoured--but I did today because I wanted to brag about eating so well to my dad. Typically, he and I go to the dining hall together, but today he was sick with a cold, and obviously I had to rub it in.
So it's been a good day full of good eats. Right now, I'm in that post-lunch sleepy digestive haze, so all I need is a comfortable bed. I think I'll sleep well tonight, for once!
- Marc