Mumbai

Anja Wasserbäch and guest journalist Sukhada Tatke go on a culinary tour of Stuttgart.

Do you remember your school exchange? “So, how was the food?” was usually the second question that came after “So, how was it?” The response, depending on the country and the family you stayed with ranged from “bland” (UK) to “great” (France).

I am presently taking part in a sort of school exchange for adults. Sukhada Tatke from the Times of India in Mumbai (read about it at: www.goethe.de/nahaufnahme) has come to Stuttgart as part of a journalists’ exchange. Of course, we want to offer our guests something special and that also applies to the food. So, she and I are constantly on the go doing research. Yet, for me, it is repeatedly confronting me with negative aspects of my own city. Like the innkeepers who make us wait two hours for pasta and don’t even apologize and others who serve us doughy, greasy Kässpätzle.

Yet, we don’t want to just complain. We have had some great Maultaschen and marvellous roasts. At the Vietnamese restaurant, we put the dishes in the middle of the table in the Indian style and shared it. In this way, I not only learn a lot about the state of the restaurant art in the city, but also about the friends and colleagues who accompany us. Some of them share nicely, while others won’t let us touch their food. I just shake my head and say that not all Swabians are so miserly.

We also went to a few Indian restaurants to find out which of them really taste like in India. As soon as we enter, the odours remind Sukhada of home and she is amazed at the Germans who all drink mango-lassi with their meals. Maybe it was a good idea of mine to go to the Indian restaurant with Sukhada. I would like it if after four weeks in Stuttgart she would answer that question “So, how was the food?” with at least a “good.”