Xanthan Gum and other such frivolities
Dear Son,
Today I wanted to talk to you about Xanthan Gum. You’re thinking now that I have completely lost it — Why can’t she talk about normal things like icecream or cake like other mothers. What the hell is Xanthan Gum?
Well if you must know, it is a common food additive generally used to stabilize food and thicken up fudges and the like.
Until two weeks ago, even I didn’t know what Xanthan Gum was. I came across it while trying a new recipe and went mad contacting various Kirana shops where no one could comprehend what I was asking for. After much trying I concluded this was some fancy ingredient that was too expensive or too hard to find and gave up on the recipe.
Turns out that Xanthan Gum is simply what we Parsi’s call ‘Gundar’. It is available just about anywhere, if I only knew what I was supposed to ask for! I felt like a fool and was reminded of two simple lessons that day.
1. Keep it simple, stupid
I won’t take credit for coining the above phrase — KISS is common marketing lingo. The point is that most things in life will have a fancy facade. It could be in the form of a name of a product that you don’t know the meaning of or a person that talks big words or concepts you don’t quite understand. After all, the dictionary is full of words and everyone is free to use fancy terminology to make money or sell something. However, in most cases these words are put there to impress you. And, while you are free to look up to that person or thing or institution, you should know that it is likely a more simpler, cleaner explanation or alternative also exists.
2. You’re not too fancy to Dig, Dig, Dig
That day when I gave up on the recipe, I did so because I felt the recipe was too fancy for my skill level. When I tried to source Xanthan Gum from six different places, I didn’t try hard enough or ask the right questions. Not only should I have done more research and dug under the surface but I should also have asked myself if there was an alternative ingredient I could have used, or a book I could have looked up to dig up some info about it. In life it is very easy to just look for an answer on the surface and then move on — more so when there are so many other options out there. But, if something is worth doing it’s worth doing it well. This means you got to take the time out to dig for answers by asking people or even just the almighty Google.
So that’s it for today. Don’t get caught up in the frivolities of Xanthan Gum and remember to make your mother some chocolate fudge in payment for this life lesson!
This post is part of the annual #BlogChatterA2Z Challenge .When my son was born I promised myself I’d write him love letters as often as I could as this challenge is part of that promise. X is for Xanthan Gum. Do follow P for Parenting for more articles in this series and to read my next post, A Year of Yesterday’s.
