Comment by gumby | Hacker News Reader

Comment by gumby | Hacker News Reader

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The comment about the "North-South/wheat-rice axis" really hit home (though I grew up, outside India, eating both).

In 1984 I was in Sri Lanka as the civil war was gearing up. It was a rather exciting time, and not in the good sense of "exciting. From there I flew up to Delhi to stay with my auntie and uncle. Our entire dinner table conversation the night I arrived was the following:

  Uncle: "You were in Sri Lanka?"
  Me: "Yes"
  Uncle: "Sinhalese?" (the Buddhist majority in Sri Lanka)
  Me: "Yes"
  Uncle: "Huh.  Rice eaters."

(In the realms of exciting: a few weeks later I was in Delhi when the PM was assassinated. That whole summer and fall was crazy).

This north=wheat/south=rice axis also exists in China. When I visited the southern parts of China this year, the cuisine was completely different from the baozi/bread/noodle heavy cuisine of the north. Very rice heavy. In fact I was entertained by a story about how Guilin rice noodles were invented because a governor from the north didn't like rice and ordered noodles to be made from rice about 1400 years ago.

Spices used were different too - the southern cuisines had spices catered to warmer weather while in cities like Beijing the spices cater more to colder weather. I found that interesting.

My mom grew up in South India, so in our house rice has always had a more central role than in many other north Indian households (and other southern Indian dishes). Always kept things interested.

Aside: I wasn't in India in 1984 but recall being glued to the BBC world service after it happened. Crazy times

That was the day I left Delhi.

> The comment about the "North-South/wheat-rice axis"

Speaking of, does anyone else think that an axis is something things rotate around, and thus that a north-south axis would divide the country into East & West?

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