Progressive Wednesday

Happiness as naan

Last night, I munched on some killer mater paneer, and of course, I added an order of naan. Typically, reading about what someone ate for dinner is probably as interesting as… well, as reading about what someone had for dinner. But listen up — we’re talking about naan.

For those of you unfamilar (shame on you), let me be Mr. Familiarization: naan is one of the many simply-made breads in the world, and it ranks right up there with pitas, tortillas, and Italian bread. It’s always amazing to me how something made essentially from flour and water can taste like a little piece of heaven. Of course, that’s what manna was, so maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising.

If you’d like to make some yourself, you can find oodles of recipes over at All Recipes.

Yes, the first time I ate Indian food I was a bit skeptical: I had visions of me in the bathroom for a work-day’s worth of hours. But I tried it, and just like the protagonist in Green Eggs and Ham (though without the funky colors, and the pork and poultry products), I liked it. Some, like Daniel Gilbert, would have steered me clear.

Gilbert, author of Stumbling on Happiness, wrote this not-so-tasty tidbit in the August 2007 issue of Wired: “Eat the same foods [to be happy]. You’ll get more pleasure from consistently eating what you enjoy than eating different foods just for variety’s sake.”

To that, I say, Daniel Gilbert, go to (a very progressive) hell. How pathetically myopic. How hopeless. How ethnocentric. Food diversity is one of the easiest ways to broaden our cultural understanding and appreciation; it’s one of the most American things we can do.

So ignore Gilbert, listen to your gut, and pursue some delicious happiness.

Picture c/o this fine photographer who gets giggly for naan.