The Changing Food Culture in India

Ahhh....coffee...one of my favorite drinks...and my favorite place to get it is of course Starbucks. Not that I drink Starbucks everyday (as it would be expensive), but if I am in the mood for a caffeine rush, it's where I turn to first.

Well now the first Starbucks will be opening up in India in December. This will add to the American food/retail outlets in India which have found a great following by the freely spending Indians. McDonald's, Subway, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut and Domino's are a few that have been tasting success in recent years.

On my trips to India I have had McD's a couple of times and it is quite different. Not the typical menu items from here. Quite tasty. And one thing I had noticed long time before it was made public here......the fries tasted different. It wasn't until the infamous case a few year's back against McDonald's by an Indian person that the truth was revealed that the fries in North America were flavored with beef flavor enhancers. So that means a lot of people who were eating the McD's fries over here as a veggie snack have been converted to something or rather.

I even had a chance to peruse the menu for Subway at a mall in Mumbai and it was very Indian in comparison to its American counterpart. But the aroma of the baking bread smelled the same.

Actually when I was in college a friend of mine (an Indian from Kenya; we called him and such fellow students a politically incorrect term, African-Indian-Desi Student or "AIDS" for short; yeah that was MEAN) had this idea of taking Taco Bell (aptly named "Toxic Hell" in our college days) to India, as a lot of vegetarian people would love the concept of eating 'rotis' filled with mushed beans. He used to say he would contact Pepsi (now owned by YUM! Brands) and get a marketing plan going for it and obtain franchise rights. He was very serious about it. I don't know what happened to his plan, and have never asked him. I should ask him whenever he comes to the States on his occasional visits.

Since all these food and retail outlets are coming into India, I wonder IF I ever went there on an extended stay or even lived there, would I miss the USA? Not that I eat this crap regularly, but with almost everything American popping up in the lifestyle of the country it seems you would not feel like you left home. Then again there are some things that I would miss.

For one thing, this food trend is like the outsourcing of getting a heart attack that you would potentially get from your typical fast food from over here. That I would like to miss!

Well with Starbucks opening up in India, I will have a familiar place to go to when I go next time. The other cafe places I had been to just last year were not so impressive.

That however brings me to the question. It would be odd, but would they have Chai/Chai Lattes ????