Elephants, Goats, and a Stray Steer

Visiting India was a longtime goal of mine, and it didn’t disappoint. On the first day there, I saw elephants hanging out by the side of the road, goats roaming freely around town, and a lone steer making his way through the market stalls. Animals are usually the highlight of my day, so I could stop here, but there is so much more!
 
While some students, faculty and staff headed north to the Taj Majal on the other end of the country, many of us decided to stay in the state of Kerala, home to our port city of Cochin as well as an incredible history of architecture, religious diversity, socialism, plantations, markets, and the highest literacy rate in the world. Oh, and food unlike any I have seen in the U.S.
 
We began our trip with a visit to the original spice markets and pepper exchange. India has a strong history connected to the spice trade as well as serving as the original site of “black gold”, probably the freshest black pepper on earth. They say that Cochin pepper was found in mummies from 2500 BC and traded with the Portuguese as far back as 1341 AD. A stop at a spice store run by a women’s co-op topped off the outing; it was almost sensory overload with incredible scents, rows and rows of beautifully colored spices, and traditional Indian music playing in the background.
 
We kept up the spice theme with two separate outings to family homes for cooking demonstrations and lunch, complete with explanations of all the spices that were going into these traditional recipes. Kerala means “land of coconuts” and it seems there is a tree in just about every backyard. So, foods are cooked with lots of coconut oil, coconut scrapings, coconut flakes and coconut milk. Ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander, curry leaves and green chilies were included in varying proportions in all of our dishes, which included chicken curry, vattals (dried vegetables), avial (mixture of veggies, yogurt, cumin and coconut), toran (root, stem and leaf of taro plant), pachady (side dish of melon, gourds and cucumbers), fish moilee (fish and tomato cooked in coconut milk), cabbage thoran (cabbage, lentils and curry leaves) and paladda payasam (rice, milk, sugar and ghee) for dessert.
 
Did I mention that curry is a mixture of spices and there are dozens of varieties? It’s not the simple spice we call curry in the West, but a blend of different amounts of turmeric, garlic, coriander, cumin, ginger and pepper, with varying degrees of colors and spiciness. In southern India, it is common to also use cardamom, mustard seed, and curry leaves. Yum!
 
A trip to the rural village of Nagala (the oldest village in India) took us to a local plantation where we were greeted with fresh coconuts (with straws to drink the cool water inside) and necklaces of jasmine flowers. Similar to the lei in Hawaii, it was a welcoming gesture with an amazing aroma. Thinking the plantation would be fields of one crop, I was happy to find out it was a family’s yard, about an acre of land filled with all the trees and plants they use daily for meals and snacks: mango, jackfruit, passion fruit, nutmeg, coriander, vanilla, ginger, etc. It turns out this is typical throughout the state and a point of pride; it made me want to go home and tear up my backyard to replace the grass with edible plants.
 
Another day we had the privilege of visiting St. Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity Center, one of over 600 missions throughout the world. This one is dedicated to taking care of girls and women with developmental disabilities. We were humbled and impressed with the care and love the nuns expressed, and enjoyed learning about volunteer opportunities stateside.

The busy part of Cochin offers malls and electronic shops and other modern nonsense, with rush hour traffic and expensive sari shops. A drive-through on the way to a different destination convinced me I didn’t need to spend time in yet another city. Instead, we spent hours exploring the smaller towns of Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, both dating back thousands of years. Highlights included the St. Francis Church (built 1503), Dutch Palace (built 1555), Jewish Synagogue (1568), shoreline of sand and vendors selling more reasonably priced clothes and trinkets, and Chinese fishing nets, or Cheenavala, which were introduced to Kochi between 1350 and 1450, and are still used today.
 
Lastly, a trip to India would not be complete without a ride in a Tuk Tuk, especially since it seems to be safer to be in one rather than trying to dodge them on the street. Although walking through back streets and neighborhoods was really a treat, especially when locals would wave and call out “Obama” when they saw us!
 
All in all, I fell in love with the landscape and coastline of this beautiful state, not to mention the many flavors and colors. When I asked a local restaurateur what he wanted Americans to know about India, he said the sentiment throughout Kerala is Namaskaran, loosely translated as “I am your servant”, “I want to welcome you”, and “I honor what you honor”.
 
Namaste.
 
Next stop: Mauritius