Food and Drink

I am definitely a “when in Rome” kind of guy – when it comes to food, drink…and sport. I don’t care for hockey but if I am in a hockey bar and hockey is on and people are watching hockey, I will watch hockey too. And probably enjoy myself.

I don’t like warm and flat beer generally – but when I am in London that’s what I drink, and I love it.

And while I do try to watch what I eat carefully, if I am in an English pub and Rugby is on then I will order the fried sodium bomb that is the fish and chips and it will be grand.

Often, too, I marry all of the above together. We all do, of course, to an extent, but I like to think I take it a step farther. I like English beer when watching soccer – even at home. I like a nice chai when watching a cricket match that’s taking place in India, but I go back to big pint of something amber when the cricket is happening in England or Australia.

It’s silly, I know – but hey, it’s fun. (I do it for more than just sport. I made gritty coffee and huevos rancheros when I was reading Cities of the Plain, for instance, but I digress…)

It’s easier with drink than it is with food, of course – especially at home. I do experiment with some Indian dishes, but they don’t feel like something one would eat, authentically, while watching the cricket. And I need to work on a decent cucumber (?) sandwich for the English summer. And just what do they eat in New Zealand or the Caribbean when the cricket is on?

And even the beverages are sometimes difficult. The tea never feels authentic, for instance; and I need to think of less alcohol based drinks to enjoy during the morning matches. Is a coffee authentic for a cricket match in Australia? And if so, how do most take it? These are the questions I want to have answered.

And so I have decided to have a little fun with it. To marry my sport, and my food and drink, and my books, and everything – to bring it all together – and do it a bit more authentically then I have in the past.

This is where you come in. What should I eat and drink while watching a cricket match that’s taking place in your neck of the woods?

I will do my share of the research of course (the menu at the Hit Wicket Bar has been a good start, but I have no idea how authentic everything is) but if you have suggestions for what tea to drink or Indian street food to recreate when watching a match in Kolkata versus watching one Mumbai – or what beer, coffee, tea and food I should prepare for the Adelaide Test that starts up tomorrow night – I would love to hear them.

I will, of course, keep every one updated with the results – I am sure you can’t wait.