Love takes form in marriage — and in food
Canada beckoned!
The call came from my favorite sister-inlaw, Shaheda, my wife Kaisari’s youngest sister, and her husband, Momenur Rahman
Fahmi, that their youngest daughter, Samah, was to be married and we must attend.
We would love to go. Our family is very closely knit and relatives would be coming to attend from many parts of the world, making this a great family reunion. And the weather in Canada, especially around Toronto, was absolutely lovely.
Despite some complications after my eye surgery a couple of months ago, and a lastminute passport snafu, everything worked out miraculously at the end when my eldest son, Saif, flew in from Philadelphia, where he is a Comcast engineer, to help and guide us old folks.
Our stay in Canada was short — less than a week — but what a great time we had. In our culture — the age-old culture of the Indian subcontinent, where Muslim and
Hindu popular mores have impinged upon each other over many centuries — marriages in the upper class are a festive occasion that often stretches over weeks, even months. It is not just the man and woman getting together but two families entering into a filial bond. Even in the diaspora, such a wedding isn’t that simple.
Everything turned out to be beyond great — the beautiful bride, Samah, a would-be lawyer nearing her degree, the handsome groom, Karim Ali, a Canadian-born Trinidadian chiropractor just setting up his practice, the enchanting wedding venue, the great food at the wedding lunch and the food, music and merriment at the bride’s spacious home — all so enchanting.
And last but not least, the surfeit of the heavenly mangoes from Pakistan — the Anwar Ratole — easily available in Canada at half the cost of those occasionally available in major U.S. cities. The family guests must have zipped through some 25 to 30 cases of those unique fruits in the four days we were there, including me, a diabetic, a bit more cautiously though. There were bags of just the compostable spent skins that must be disposed of separately in Canada.
And the lavish wedding feast, and related ceremonies, at a big clubhouse banquet hall for some 200 guests, lasted a long time and was full of good food and good cheer. The dish I loved was the grilled salmon in lobster sauce. Here is my take on how I would make it at home.