Table For One - diet for economic and social wellbeing?

Like most normal, content men, I don't worry overmuch about my weight. It's there, it's not there, we don't really care. I like my food, and though I don't live to eat, my motto - "Eat whatever doesn't eat you" (or "Manducare Omnia" if in Rome)- could be looked upon by the Starving Set as latent gourmandism. I will leave it to them to fret about it.

Having lived alone for nearly 20 years, I did manage to pick up the basics of cooking. I make my own tea (thank you Lipton tea bags), my own coffee (thank you Nescafé red) and also rustle up a mean omelette. Maggi 2 minute noodles are of course par for the course, though I don't think I can recreate the combinations Victoria (my maid+cook in Nigeria, not the Queen) could come up with!

I also use the extensive produce offerings of supermarkets to concoct my own version of (con)fusion cuisine, always making sure to balance textures and flavours and avoiding idiotic combinations popularised by the likes of so called "nouvelle vague chefs", whose cooking is as vague as it can be and who should be advised to just eat, and leave cooking to those who can.

Being a solo eater, I have naturally dined in a fair amount of restaurants in various locations. From Paris to Lagos, London, Cotonou, Lomé, Accra, Kolkata, Gangtok, Hong Kong and Dubai, many have been the restaurants which have benefitted from my custom, either dine in or takeaway. The occasional Mcdo, KFC or Subway also features in this list.

Dubai, where I have pitched my tent since 14 years, has restaurants coming out of its keffiyeh, but I am not entirely sure how many openly cater to the solo eater. (unabashed plug: check out my dubai restaurant reviews on TripAdvisor:
 https://www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/xiexier).

These are all restaurants on the economy side of the scale since it was my own money - the few "luxury / fine dining" restaurants I have patronised has been as a guest of people who are oofier than I am. Besides, i am not a fan of luxury / fine dining. Much too overrated and the gimmickry draws your attention from the food (or lack thereof).

All these restaurants have provided me with good food, and I have always had a happy belly at the conclusion of the meal. I like to read while eating (nourishing both mind and belly) and there is nothing more stimulating than to be in your own company, with a good book and the anticipation of a good meal. I also love going to pubs for a pint (or 2 or 3), with a book.

There is a trend of thought that tends to shame solo eaters in restaurants, but since I have always loved my own company, that trend doesn't bother me.

I have been brought up not to waste food and finish everything on my plate. But i have always wondered at the large portions served by restaurants, usually enough for at least 2 eaters. And also at the lack of spaces for singles in many of the restaurants that have received my custom. Are they not geared up for a solo eater? Or are they not interested in singles? I am sure I can link my rather large size to the big portions served up in restaurants (doggy bags don't exist in my vocabulary). The so-called fast-food brands of course have meals for one, but when it comes to a full meal the options are relegated to single items or a smaller version of a regular meal (in which many of the dishes of the regular meal are left out).

This is an affront to the solitary eater (no apologies to Wordsworth)!

Yes the economics of margins and all that have a big role in the portion planning of restaurants, and is perhaps one of the reasons why restaurants prefer to serve up the whole octopus rather than just a tentacle or two to a solo eater. But there is a business opportunity here too. An experience designed for a solo eater could not only appeal to a very distinct and relatively with-it audience, but it could also rake in more dollar per serving, and help build good awareness in a distressingly overcrowded market.

And in the current scenario of recession, trade wars, etc. what better solace for the soul than a quick sneak out for a well-made steak and fries for one, with a tankard of fine ale and a book of stout binding!

train journeys: a bellyful of tastes and flavours

there is something about train journeys that re-assures us that not all transport is at light speed, hurtling hapless humans into voids only to arrive at destination before they have even begun to adjust to the departure!

india being a railroaded country, most indians travel from one station to another for work, love, escape, holidays, marriage and all the myriad occasions that make up a typical indian experience. from toy trains to local trains to metro trains, the great indian train journey is an experience beyond compare! we ourselves have been part of this merry throng on countless occasions and the experience has always been exhilarating, though not always the most comfortable.

for us every train journey has been all about food [we don't care much for staring out of the window, especially when we are travelling 2nd class sleeper, non-AC across vast distances]. and the bombay-howrah geetanjali express, a 1,968 kilometre way of life [it just cannot be called a train journey] would rank high up on our list of favourites. it cuts a huge slice across the belly of the indian sub-continent, linking sea, hills, plains and rivers in one vast canvas of colour, smells, flavours and people! the journey is best divided in to meal times rather than departure and arrival times, else 31 hours will seem like a life time! from soggy omelettes to die for to crisp singhara with tea in clay pots to a chicken curry redolent of the empire origins of the railway, every morsel is a delight.

our school holidays were wrapped around the mandatory "visit to native", in our case to the far western town of jamnagar in kathaiwar. in those days, differences in gauges meant that the journey was divided in to two - bombay to ahmedabad and ahmedabad to jamnagar. with a 4 hour halt at ahmedabad [viramgam actually]. since the bby-abad journey was at night and the onward journey was during the day, breakfast was at viramgam and elevenses somewhere along the way. the traditional kathiawari cuisine has a lot going for it, especially its avoidance of sugary tastes, and the spice, tang and coarse flavours are ideal for a journey through the semi-arid region that is our home region!

european trains are of course a world apart in terms of speed, design, comfort and cleanliness. but then if they were to travel 1,968 kms west to east they would be kissing the russian border! we used to travel frequently between our work place in holland [hilversum] and amsterdam. a 55-min journey punctuated by copious quantities of saucijzenbroodjes [sausage rolls] and a large thee met melk [tea with milk]. all that a student budget would allow us.

we had wanted to do train journey in africa but when the tracks disappear into elephant grass midway you know that isn't the best way to reach point B from point A. one day we shall!

and yes, our journey bucket list includes london to edinburgh on the flying scotsman. we wonder if they have haggis on board. with a wee dram.