Restaurant! Whenever I hear the word, I cannot but stop my mind to remember that evening, the memorable experience having dinner with my family in the restaurant Zinzian at Dhaka. My father promised me that he would give us treat in a restaurant of Dhaka if I got Junior Scholarship. I got Scholarship, but my dad did not announce any exciting offer about the treat. I waited a few days and thought that my dad had forgotten his promise. And when I almost drowned all my expectation into the uncertainty, my father announced that we all were going to visit my aunt’s house and my dad was going to give us the treat in a restaurant of Dhaka. I was so excited hearing this surprising news. My dad come to me and said with a smile that I promised something to my little doll and I would not keep that! I thanked my dad and going to make plane to get the fullest content to this super offer. And next day we started our journey to visit my aunt’s house, where my cousins were eagerly waiting for us. Since I informed them about the treat, they were also very thrilled about our trip.
8 August 2006. I along with my two sisters, four cousins, my parents, my uncle and aunty came to enjoy this exclusive party, and among all of them I felt proud of myself as all this arrangement was for me, for my achievement. Everyone mock at me telling me the “chief guest.” We decided to take our dinner at the restaurant Zinzian situated at Dhanmondi, Dahka. Multicolored little lights were shining around the name of the restaurant. At the entrance, there was an aquarium on the floor, which was something new and interesting to me. While I stepped on that aquarium, I saw the blue water, and colorful fishes swimming in it. We selected a big table for us, and sat all together. The room was quiet, having soft music, and far from our table some couples were busy to have their meals. The melodious music and dimmed light made an ancient world there which was so comfortable and peaceful. My cousins who lived in Dhaka told me that they had experience of eating there, and they praised their cooking and services. The cooking of any restaurant of Dhaka is popular in my city, and I was overwhelmed thinking that I am going to taste it by myself.
After a few minutes a waiter with a smiley face, dressed with a white shirt and blue tie came to know about our food menu. While my father was asked to give order, he requested my cousins, “Shanta and Shaon have much better idea about the foods of this restaurant, and so they are going to order the menus.” As dad gave the responsibility on them, they decided to have mutton biriani, chiken kabab, chatni, and faluda. I think around 30 minutes we had to wait for the foods. While we were waiting for foods, I was looking around the rooms. The color of the wall was off-white and the pink velvet curtain on those walls was looking so gorgeous. The table cloth was white; but for the dim blue lights, it seems very mysterious color as if the color of moonlight. I liked the white and pink gladiolus on our table. All the white clean cookeries were shinning on the table. When the waiter entered with the food, I was so hungry by that time. At the first look, the foods looked so appetite. The presentation of the items was really charming. On the top of mutton biriani they put some roses of tomato with coriander leaves. The hot smoke was flying with a tempting smell from the dish of mutton biriani. The smell touches my nose and then influenced me not to be late to taste the hot biriani. Mutton biriani is the combination of rice and mutton having lots of spices. I was so excited to taste those appealing food. When I tasted the food, I felt that this was just mouth-watering. Combination of spices was perfect, and oil was just the right amount. The pieces of mutton were delicious which was properly boiled and cooked with the right amount of spices to tickle water in mouth. I think my tongue tasted all the part of the meats and every corn of that mutton biriani. My mom told, “My dear add some chatni and some bite of chicken kabab with your meal to get the real test.” Chatni, which tastes sour, sweet, salty, and little bit hot. This chatni was made by ripen tomato, mixed with garlic, chilly, salt, lemon juice, sugar, and special mixture of five spices: fenugreek, nigella seed, cumin seed, radhuni, and fennel seed in equal parts. Besides, chicken kabab contains bread, chicken meat, salt, chilly, onion, ginger, testing salt, chili sauce, tomato sauce, lemon juice, garlic, coriander, cumin . However, these all spices work all together to make delicious chicken kabab, where it is really hard to find the entire ingredient’s different taste. These round shaped hot chicken kabab with hot smell was fried which made it flavorsome and crispy. When I added chicken kabab and chatni, I had to close my eyes as those add new tastes and The taste cells of my tongue may be savored those with full attention because whenever I remember those foods I feel as if I am enjoying that taste…that smell…!!
After finishing that yummy biriani, chiken kabab with chatni, I found that my stomach is totally full. Though my stomach was tired of tasting more, my tongue wanted to taste more. When we finished, the waiter again came with a smile and clean the table. After that he entered with faluda on his hand. When the waiter served the white creamy faluda in front of me, my greedy eyes looked at that, and my nerve ordered my hand not to wait anymore to keep one spoon of faluda in to my mouth where my test cells, teeth everyone was waiting to taste the milky faluda. It was decorated with ice-cream and different fruits: banana, apple, pomegranates, and orange. Mainly boiled grain of sago was mixed with sweet condense milk, and then mixed with ice-cream and fruits which was served with the pieces of ice. After finishing all those foods, we left the restaurant. I left the restaurant a long time ago, but the foods, the environment of the restaurant is still alive in my mind.
Food Matters: Gastronomy In Culture 