Life> Kaleidoscope

Stirring passions, the Google way

By Usha Sankar (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-15 09:32

It's a good thing Google has exited China. It's not as if I have been "officially" recruited to the "bash-Google" campaign. The reasons for my anti-Google feelings, rather, lie in the travails of my everyday life.

All in all, I had reached a measure of equilibrium in my life, till my husband discovered recipes on Google.

I love food. However, I'm a lot less enthusiastic about the logistics of putting it on the table. Growing up the youngest of three girls, I got away with doing very little in the kitchen. My "help" was restricted to the occasional peeling of onion and garlic, often absent-mindedly dumping the pods in the dustbin and standing with the skin in front of my livid Mom, washing the cutting board and knife, or the endless cups of coffee that did the rounds as my Mom and sisters slaved over their feast. The only time I had to do very much more than that was when my sisters got married and left home, but by then I had discovered the joys of instant noodles.

I faced my next big challenge when I got married. To my utter chagrin, I discovered that my two sisters-in-law were replicas of my own sisters. Fortunately, my mom-in-law loves to cook and was secretly pleased to discover my poor skills. After all, which daughter-in-law and MIL have not come to grief over the kitchen stove? I sailed through those early years simply by yielding the kitchen space to her. And before I realized what ownership of that space means to a marriage, I had moved overseas.

Those were the pre-Internet years. I overcame my inadequacies in the kitchen, especially when hosting friends, with a simple formula: learning and perfecting a few standard dishes and making sure that my invitations were spaced out.

It has worked beautifully. Also, I never agonize over what to serve for dessert. Why would anyone, I wonder, when there's Ben & Jerry's and fruit? I have a morbid fear of ovens and do little baking. All those cakes and puddings are never part of my menu.

My husband and two sons would often express their disappointment at not finding anything "exciting" on the table, but I usually managed to shut them up with a frosty stare. My older one, now in university, once charmingly told a visitor: My mom's motto in the kitchen is a simple "reduce, reuse, recycle"! After discovering Betty Crocker in the stores, my younger took to baking his own brownies.

However, Google changed all this. Now, every time we take our holidays to lands near and far, my husband is ready to find out "what is the specialty of this place". Then off it is to Google for the recipe, shopping for it, and generally ruining my weekend plans. And thus it is that we have discovered Middle Eastern humus, tzaziki, Thai green and red curry, Egyptian kosheri, Greek feta cheese salad and the latest - grilled broccoli with mustard.

Last weekend, we had some guests over. Hubby dear decided to fix the menu. Let's have humus, tzatziki and pita bread for starters, he declared.

"I'll make it," he offered. Trying to be nice, I said: "It's OK, I'll do it".

Party over, clearing up, I asked: "So, was everything OK?" Big mistake.

"You forgot the olive oil in the humus."

"Oh my God, Mom, that was the main ingredient," piped in Junior.

Sigh! Looks like "recipes" are still very much alive and kicking on google.com.hk.