"Your aunt doesn't eat chicken. She is allergic to seafoods. Jash doesn't eat seafood--he is allergic too. Your father's sister would prefer fish, she doesn't eat eggs etc.......", my mother was telling me, when I was planning to cook some Thai delights for my elder aunt & her youngest son, Jash.This was the first time, I was cooking for them, so I had to be careful before planning my menu, before going in what to cook & what not to cook.
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It is really difficult to cook for guests who are unknown to you--your friends, relatives or even hotel guests. They may not like something which you are cooking for them. Sometimes, you may end up with orders like "Omelettes, but no egg!!".Whenever, I cook for friends, I always brief them a little what I am going to cook for them--unless I want to give them a surprise, in that case, I will always try to draw as much information I can, through casual talks!! For rest, I may mention, which cuisine I will be focussing on--Italian, Indian, French, Thai, Bengali or the simple Mughlai Biryani.
Knowing the preferences of your relatives, friends are easy, whilst that of outsiders is a difficult task. However, there are few common preferences, famous worldwide. Indians, Thais will prefer to have their food spicy[In spite of being an Indian, I cant eat spicy though..]. As a matter of fact, green chilly was never grown in India, until Vasco da Gama came to India with chillies, potatoes & tomatoes. Prior to that, Indians used to spice up their food, with black pepper--it grows in plenty!!
Europeans, as the trend is, will not prefer spicy foods.Again, their taste buds will change if they stay in South East Asian countries for a long time. I remember a German guest complaining that the omelette is not spicy, even when I put two spoons of green chillies in his omelette...
However, I had most of the toughtimes, when serving fellow indians [To my countrymen---Please take no offence. It is a true fact!!!]. Most of the Indians, consider themselves as the *King* when the enter the restaurant or the hotel & then starts their drama..."We want this & that"..."This is not good".."I expected this........" & lots of stories. NRIs[Non-Resident Indians] are better than the Resident Indians, of course, there are exceptions to it--for which I said "Most of the Indians."
Members of Far East---Eastern part of China, Japan etc have been "okay"..a couple of them finicky though!!! Europeans...well..served a lot of English guests as of now & they have been wonderful. If you run 10 miles for them...they will run 20 miles for you....if you dont run the extra mile for them, expect complaints!!!French guests are okay, as long as they find their cheese, bread & wines!!!Germans..people say they are racists...well...I have no comments. Served many german guests & they seem to be pretty fussy!!!
Americans...members around The Golden Gate bridge to the "Big Apple"...have been amusing..to the extent some guest told me "Sir ..you are a magician!!!"
So, when you cook next time, make sure who you are serving, before landing up into trouble!!!
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