Our past field trip to India Bazaar definitely took me a little by surprise. India Bazaar is one of the largest India Grocery Stores in the United States. Located in Richardson, Texas, it took us about thirty minutes to get there. I was a bit shocked that we had to travel that far away just to experience authentic Indian food. I did not think that India food would be that difficult to come across. When I heard we were going on a field trip to an Indian market, I pictured strange looking fresh foods scattered around the store with a crowd of people shopping. I imagined all the different scents floating throughout the air; however, this is not exactly how it all went down. Instead, as we pulled up to India Bazaar I saw a normal looking grocery store, the only difference was that it sold India food instead of American food.

I felt uncomfortable when I first walked in. I saw giant bags of what appeared to be some sort of rice or grain stacked everywhere. As I walked further into the store, I got the sense that everyone their was staring at my classmates and I. I wandered how often and how many non-Indians visited the store. I also wandered if they wanted us there. To be honest, we were a bit loud, but not obnoxious. We were trying to take in the new environment; it was exciting. There were a decent amount of people in the grocery store and it seemed like they all might have known each other or were at least already acquaintances. I related this to Arijit Sen’s statement that says, “The importance of food in immigrant culture makes restaurants, grocery stores, and kitchens important sites where ethnicity is practiced and reproduced on a daily basis” (Sen, 198). I could tell that this store and the food it sold meant a lot to the people shopping their. The food there was authentic India food, not food that had been sanitized by America. It seemed like the customers felt a cultural presence while shopping there.

I also got to experience a little bit of India culture myself by tasting some of the food. I was told that India food tends to be on the spicier side so I tried to order something more basic. I thought that ordering the samosas was my safest option. A samosa is a fried or baked dish with a savory filling; mine was filled with potatoes and different sorts of vegetables mixed in. The dish came with two dipping sauces, which added more spice to the samosas. By my surprise, I thought the samosas were simply delicious. I was proud of myself for trying something new. I am not sure that I will be traveling back to India Bazaar anytime in the near future, but I do hope to discover new Indian food and restaurants around Dallas. I also hope to share India’s tasty cuisine with my friends and family.

 

 

 

Sen, Arijit. “From Curry Mahals to Chaat Cafes: Spatialities of the South Asian Culinary Landscape.” Curried Cultures-Globalization, Food, and South Asia, edited by Krishnendu Ray and Tulasi Srinivas, 2012, pp. 198