Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina in a meeting in Dhaka recently. Photo: PTIPeople are strangely fascinated by what other people eat, and even more so when that other person is the head of state. While there is nothing overt about White House state dinner menus, India's External Affair Ministry have always remained taciturn on what was served at the high table, up until recently.
Now, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) itself feeds the media with details of the high table menu. In New Delhi, it is the government-owned India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), which takes care of the catering services for Prime Minister's guests, while Rashtrapati Bhavan has its own huge kitchen, a bakery and a large army of chefs and serving staff.
Whatever Narendra Modi eats and drinks makes headlines, unlike the numerous feasts attended by Manmohan Singh who held the PM's office for a decade.
In Singh's state dinners, he relished non vegetarian dishes more. Invariably, a South Indian dish like chicken chettinad and dosa would be served at his table, and every time he went abroad, he enjoyed local cuisine.
However, Modi who is a strict vegetarian, is not that experimental with his food choices and has a preference for Gujarati and North Indian cuisine.
The vegan PM's recent Bangladesh visit set tongues wagging as there was no sign of the rich culinary tradition of the country in the banquet hosted by Sheikh Hasina.
The menu featured a Gujarati khaman dhokla, cream of tomato and basil soup, paneer butter masala, vegetable shish kebab, bagara baingan and dal tadka, accompanied by Hyderabadi vegetable biryani, khichdi and rotis.
Although it was a lavish vegetarian feast, many commented that the rich Bangladeshi cuisine, including the famous fish “ilish” (hilsa), should have been served to the guests, who included Mamata Banerjee.
As Modi seems uncomfortable at the sight of non-vegetarian food, meat is never served at any event attended by the Prime Minister.
The Air India, which used to serve liquor and choicest meats on its special flight ferrying the Prime Minister and his delegation, has discarded both. Likewise, very frugal vegetarian food and juices are served on the Boeing 747 aircraft.
When the external affairs ministry, which arranges the details of prime ministerial visits, notifies the host countries that it would be better to avoid meat from the menu, it asks for the PM's dietary preferences and tries to accommodate it.
Another Prime Minister who insisted on serving only vegetarian food was Morarji Desai. Even then, he would just have his boiled vegetables and nuts.
P.V. Narasimha Rao, a vegetarian who was also an astute diplomat, solved the problem in a smarter way. Since Rao was a diabetic, his personal cook would travel with him. Rao would eat frugally at the banquet while other guests gorged on both non vegetarian and vegetarian food.
When Modi went to the United states last year, he was on a strict liquid diet, putting Barack Obama in a fix. The White House ensured that fresh fruit juices were ready for Modi, who explained how such abstemious habits helped him work better. However, going by the Bangladesh experience, it would be better if Modi's office could ask his foreign hosts to include a couple of local vegetarian delights on the menu rather than serving Gujarat in a platter.
Tailpiece: Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda takes the cake in unique food preferences as he had a menu named after him. The ITDC-owned Hotel Ashok in New Delhi introduced a special meal, which included ragi balls and spinach curry, as these two dishes formed the staple food of Gowda, who came from a rural upbringing. But once his 10-month rule ended, ragi balls too disappeared from the hotel menu.
Disclaimer
The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Manorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.