Lunch on a Banana Leaf

Lunch on Sunday was at an Indian Restaurant called the Apolo. It was as different from the Chinese lunch the day before as a Bar-B-Que is from Thanksgiving dinner, and yet it was equally as delicious for all the tastes and textures that were mixed together.


First, we were seated at a long table, with our group in the middle. Our “hosts” divided off with the younger on the right, the senior on the left (although, in reality, there wasn’t that much age difference in the group – this didn’t stop the younger ones on the right from needling the older ones on the left about it, though.

Then you got a hunk of banana leaf, about the size of a placemat, put down in front of you. We were told that this was our plate, and as a rule, silverware wasn’t necessary although it would be provided for us. Traditional Indians eat with their right hand (which is also the hand you receive food with) and without a lot of silver. No chopsticks in sight, either.

The tour guide had asked questions about our likes and dislikes, and kept things toward the tame end of the curry scale, thankfully, when ordering. One of the favorites was “cheese Nan”, which is a lot like a tortilla with Parmesan cheese on it. There were a variety of fish, chicken and prawn dishes brought out to try, family style. They were put in the center of the table and you helped yourself.

Then the veggie trolley came by. Imagine, if you will, a couple of chrome plated coffee cans fastened together with a handle in the middle. Not to say that is what it was – this was obviously a restaurant quality piece of manufactured equipment; we’re just trying to give you a visual. In one side is cooked cabbage, and the other side has eggplant in what appeared to be tomato sauce.

The trolley attendant came by and put a big scoop of each on your banana leaf, and then made a second pass with a tub of rice and put a big scoop of that on your leaf. By then the other dishes had arrived and we were passing food back and forth playing, “have you tried this one yet.”

The food was amazing. The company was even better. The other members of the party had a gazillion questions about life in the US, and not a few preconceived notions that they’d gotten from Hollywood.

We don’t all have pools. It does rain sometimes, and gets cold, as you folks are learning right now.

Incidentally, nobody at that table had ever seen snow. One lady said that she saw ice on a roadside one time when travelling, but they all had an interest in it.

The generation gap showed up in other places, as we now know what Brad and Angelina feel like when the paparazzi are around. Their cameras and cell phones never stopped flashing.

The parting question, though, showed both that they liked the time with us and emphasized the generation gap – “Are you on Facebook? Good. We’ll tag you in our pictures.”

Oh, and at the end of lunch, when nobody could stuff in another bite, you removed your silverware and folded your leaf to show whether you liked the food and would return, or whether you didn’t care for it. If you liked it, you folded the top down toward you. If you didn’t, you folded the bottom up away from you.