Counterpoint

I was listening to this wonderful composition from my favorite music director Ilayaraja, “En Kanmani En Kadhali” from the movie “Chittukuruvi” while traveling to work this morning.  That song uses a concept called “counterpoint”.

What is “counterpoint”, you may ask?

In layman’s terms, counterpoint is defined as this: when two or more harmonious notes combine, they form a melody. When two or more of these melodies combine together and still sound great individually, but also in conjunction with one another as a single master piece, it is called “counterpoint”. Now for those music pundits, remember, I only own a kitchen, and not a music school, so please don’t be too hard on my definition!

Counterpoint does not exist only in music. I always see counterpoints in food as well.  Think of the most famous “Aloo-Gobi”.  Aloo is a star, Gobi is another superstar, but “Aloo-Gobi”? We are talking about a different level here when they come together.  In this dish, both shine individually, and together it is a well-choreographed ballet!

Some other examples for counterpoint dishes:

• Palak – Panner
• Suran – Channa (doesn’t matter black or white)
• Biryani – Boiled Egg
• Mango, drumstick, brinjal & jackfruit seeds sambar (4 counterpoints…!!!!)

Can I challenge you to think of some more “counterpoint” dishes? If so, post those dish names…

I remember a story my dad told me and my brother when we were kids: a doctor once saw a patient who was unreasonable in his expectations about his cure! The doctor gave him some pills and then gave this piece of advice: “Take these pills for one week and you will be completely cured of all of your illnesses, just one condition!  You cannot think about ‘monkey’ when taking these pills”.  I am telling this story to stress a point that next time when you are about to enjoy Aloo-Gobi or Palak-Panner, just enjoy those dishes and do not think too much about “counterpoint”, etc.

Hope you enjoyed my kitchen blog of the day today…