The idea struck the restaurateur like a bolt of lightning while eating in his car. What if he were to take his country’s national dish- a milky mountain of mutton and rice traditionally eaten by hand from a communal platter- and sell it in a paper cup with a plastic fork for diners on the go? Not everyone hailed his culinary innovation however. “Destruction begins with small details,” warned one newspaper columnist. “What is happening is not just about food but a way of mocking the people’s heritage.”
-New York Times, June 26, 2022
I wonder what the boy cook Ibrahim would have said if I’d suggested that he serve aseeda to the drovers in their tea glasses, there being no paper cups on the trail. Mish Mumkin, Not Possible, his likely response. How else could we, crowded round the communal bowl, each having an intimate view of the man directly across as he brought his fingers to his mouth, watch him chew slowly his own portion of the paste, his fatigued expression making it clear how he felt about every small bite, wishing it were mutton in milk and not plain millet.