Pearls Before Swine, an engagingly offbeat comic strip that runs in Mumbai Mirror, recently had this strip which referred to a LGBT sandwich (thanks to the lag that Indian newspapers run comics, the strip came out in September, but only ran here this month):Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis, September 03, 2014 Via @GoComics But here in India we already have a LGBT sandwich, which was created by a friend of mine who happened to be working at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf chain. Its still sold at their outlets, so must be popular. If I have time while waiting to fly I always order one at the outlet at Mumbai Airport.
I also wrote about it in a column which I'll paste below, but I should note that my hope for a rainbow mishti has sort of been answered, not in Kolkata, but in Mumbai where a rainbow coloured cake has become a trend. It seems to follow on from red velvet cake - but where that is just a lurid shade of red, someone seems to have had the idea of making a cake with layers in all colours of the rainbow. It is quite startling to see and while it wasn't created from any LGBT intent, its not gone unnoticed by the community. At a gay friend's birthday party recently, one of his friends had got him this cake, which when you cut through the icing, came blazing out in rainbow colours. I wish I could say I liked it, but all I can think of when I see it is "food colouring! Chemical Food Colouring!" Here my column, and I still hope for a naturally rainbow coloured kind of food, or just any kind of food that could be convincingly and non-luridly be called LGBT food. Queer I – consuming communitiesAllyGator, 6/8/2008 Ihave got many reactions to the term ‘LGBT’. Confusion: “Is it a cellphonemodel?” (No, it stands for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender, a more inclusivegrouping than just ‘gay’, and more neutral than queer, which many findstigmatizing). Derision: “All you activists are so full of jargon!”Disputation: “What about indigenous identities like hijras and kothis?” Butthis was the first time that the only possible reaction was Consumption. Whatelse could you do with a Lettuce, Goudacheese, Basil oil and Tomato sandwich? Iencountered this concoction, which really is labelled ‘LGBT Sandwich’, inCoffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a new café chain that has started in Delhi and Hyderabadand will soon open in Mumbai. Is it a coincidence or is the chain quietly signallingsupport of diversity? Whatever the reason, I can report that the LGBT Sandwichwas quite good, though I wish they’d used something with a bit more taste thaniceberg lettuce (peppery arugula would better suit many of the lesbians Iknow!) and the basil was barely detectable, another sad sign of how oftenbisexuals are marginalized. Still,the LGBT Sandwich was welcome because I’ve always wished for explicitly gayfood. I think its because community identities so often seem bound up withtheir cuisines, like East Indian bottle masala or Parsi dhansak. But as the gaywriter Edmund White once wrote “gays don’t have a national cuisine unless itsquiche.” (He added that if we’re butch we serve meat loaf and if we’re lesbianswe serve whole grains). Evenif we don’t have our own dishes though, food is hugely important to the LGBTcommunity. Since most of us must start meeting others outside our homes,restaurants end up being backdrops to large parts of our lives. After fashion,the food business also seems to attract many community members – I know ofseveral Indian chefs abroad who are gay, and a notable lesbian one in India. Athome too, with many of us living alone, cooking is a necessary skill and manybecome really good. Activist Ashok Row Kavi is famous for his fish dishes, butthe most passionate cook I know is my lesbian friend Lesley who, when I wassetting up my kitchen, firmly took me in hand and told me what to buy. And myboyfriend insists that few chicken curries can match the one made by our transactivist friend Gauri. No wonder that the regular cooking meets held by theGaybombay group are always packed. Butit still doesn’t mean specifically gay food, which is why I got so excited withan idea for Kolkata’s Gay Pride. What better way to celebrate in that sweetsobsessed city with a special Rainbow Pride Mishti? With the reluctant help of afriend’s mother we tried getting it made, but lack of time and permissible foodcolours came in the way. I’m still hoping to do it next year, but if it doesn’thappen we could just serve LGBT Sandwiches! | | | | | | | | | | | Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis, September 03, 201...One of the many great comics you can read for free at GoComics.com! Follow us for giveaways & giggles. | | | | View on www.gocomics.com | Preview by Yahoo | | | | |
