Written by Md Mehedi Hassan
The perfect parties are not the ones that you spend months planning; rather, the ones that simply occur when great friends, awesome food and timely timing are united in some place. It was a busy centre of jokes, unbelievable smells as well as reminiscences, which make me grin nowadays, in our house during the weekend.
It all began with a light-hearted message with the words in it: “hey, let us go hang out.” There were friends who came with ingredients, stories, and passion to make something unique together. The actual movie celebrity of our party? Cooking old time style, which united all. I was completely fascinated as I saw my friends stirring milk with wooden sticks–the joy of slow cooking that requires prowess and ability cannot be described and takes us back to the ages during which these traditions had been followed.
Our celebratory meal was just magnificent. Our dining table was a palette of colours, textures and tastes that presented a story of our varied table. Golden fritters that vanished as quickly and mysteriously as they came, curries so deeply satisfying, rice that was exactly seasoned to perfection, dishes that were made with love and served at the same time telling stories.
The most heartwarming aspect to me was the fact that everyone naturally eats picnic-like on the floor. It is so wonderfully unsophisticated to approach a meal in this manner and I think that is what is so wonderful about family style dining, there is no designated place to sit, no formalities accompanying the dinner there is just a bunch of friends that gather around a meal and it is very natural to be that close to others in such a familiar way that makes a house a home. We had rice and curry in a traditional manner by using our hands, breaking the boundaries and creating bridges
Our kitchen was a picture of orderly disorder however at the background, the neatly stacked containers took hours of preparation and dedication. This taught me that it is all about strategic planning that makes a difference between a successful party and having bad time in the kitchen. It was more time with the guests and less stress since I was prepared. This weekend reminded me that hosting is nothing to do with ideal preparations or striking menus. It is about giving room to people you care about to be with you and engaging a meaningful moment and leaving them with a feeling that they have had a piece of your heart. That obligatory smell of spice in our house and the smiles of everyone make me believe that we hit the spots with the recipe.
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