For me, few things compare to a good banana leaf meal.

For those who’ve never experienced such a meal, it’s easy to dismiss the picture above as just “some Indian food that happens to be on a banana leaf” as opposed to a conventional plate. And, objectively speaking, you’re right.

Still, there’s quite a bit more to this style of eating than first meets the eye:

  • First, there’s the communal aspect. When you’re going to “do banana leaf” at a restaurant, while you can certainly go it alone, more often than not the experience is with a group of people. With you and your companions are sitting side by side using only your hands to nourish yourselves, there’s a sense that you’re closer to a more primordial, simpler way of coming to discuss issues. In a sense, when one chooses to dine at a banana leaf restaurant, apart from the awesomeness that is the food itself, there’s a good amount of an attempt to get up to date on the local happenings.
    • Admittedtly, this point has application to food in general. I guess my bias lies in the fact that, for me, and for those with an exposure to this culture, it really has a certain importance to me, in the way that one might crave the idea of late-night chinese takeout on a friday night, or getting bagels from that local bakery.