Wednesday, February 01, 2006

Paan paan paan paan

Paan.

For foreigners, this has to be one of the weirdest culinary items in India. I'm not sure I can even call it edible.

It's not really anything but spice. There is no real volume to it; it's not filling; it's sort of like chewing gum in western culture. Sort of like an after dinner mint, but don't confuse it with that.

Paan is essentially a betel leaf with spice pastes smeared all over it, more spices sprinkled on top, and then all wrapped up and held closed with a toothpick. It comes in two types, sweet and bitter. You see the leaves all piled up in the process of being made, and each of those jars or cans contains another spice to add to the mix.

I've had a sweet paan one night after dinner at a nice restaurant. It was sitting next to the minty seeds that you normally get after dinner.

It wasn't sweet. It was bitter. It was so bitter. I cannot imagine what the officially bitter ones are like.

Some of them have tobacco in them. Again, I tried chewing tobacco in junior highschool, and well, I don't think I want to throw up like that again. So I won't be trying that one.

Some of them (I'm told) have hashish or ganja in them. Sounds to me like a good way to ruin a buzz.

Anyway, I'm sure that my views on paan will change over time in India (watch this space) but for now, it's something that I find amazing but unappetizing.