Can a simple pleasure of life, for example, something as trivial as the taste of mulberries, convince a person, who is disgruntled with life, not to commit suicide? Is life worth living for such simple pleasures? If you need an answer for this, you must put in your bucket list the watching of the Cannes best film award winning Iranian film "Taste of Cherry".
In my younger days, with all the confusions of growing up, there were times when I felt that life was meaningless and I feared that I might become suicidal. Fortunately, I had a good support group of caring family members and trustworthy friends.
As time passed, I began to appreciate my short life on earth, especially the simple pleasures of life, such as good food. But tasting "coconut toddy" ("ruku raa" in Maldives' native language Dhivehi), which must have been part of the culture of our archipelago for hundreds - if not thousands - of years remained only a dream, because people said that "pure" coconut toddy was not available anymore, because sellers were mixing water with it, for "commercial gain".
It was only during my recent visit to Dhigurah island in Alif Dhaal atoll which finally provided me with the opportunity of tasting pure coconut toddy. The wife of the buggy driver we became friends with, provided us with a whole 1.5 liter bottle of pure coconut toddy.
The taste of it was exquisite. It's a bit "fizzy and sparkling" and has a mild "sweet" taste. It's like drinking a sweet "tender coconut" ("kurumba") instead of a kurumba which are not outright sweet.
Coconut toddy is pleasantly sweet but not too much. Also, it's good to take sips slowly rather than drinking the whole glass in one single gulp because then only can we "savour" it.
I enjoyed the taste of it so much that I realized I would like to drink it from time to time. But I didn't have a clue where I could get pure coconut toddy - until a close friend said Maldives Industrial Fisheries Company (MIFCO) deals in it.
Therefore, today morning I went to the company's shop "MIFCO Mas Fihaara 2" on Neeloafaru Magu (street) in Male', the capital island of Maldives, where the store sold a 215 ml frozen can at the rate of 25 Rufiyaa (1.62 US Dollars).
The instructions stated that I would need to store it in a refrigerator (to keep it fresh) - but not in the freezing section as I obviously would need to thaw it in order to be able to drink it.
Thank Allah I am lucky to find and get to enjoy yet another simple pleasure of life, Ma Sha Allah. Life indeed is really beautiful - if you know how to look at it, Alhamdhulillaahi.
Does Mifco toddy taste the same as the one you tasted in Dhigurah? You have not mentioned that in this article. Over time there will be changes in the taste. Freezing and changes in temperature will also result in a different taste. It won't taste the same as fresh toddy. You have assumed that pure toddy will taste the same under all conditions. But that need not be if you take these factors into account.
ReplyDeleteI simply forgot to mention in this blogpost what MIFCO's coconut toddy tasted like. Sorry about that. Thank you very much for bringing this to my attention. I personally found the MIFCO coconut toddy less sweet than the Dhigurah one. However, the fizzy and sparkling character is still there in both cases.
ReplyDeleteMifco has maintained its reputation for a long time and I doubt it will now be putting any dubious products into the market. I am sure it will not play around with its products whether it is canned toddy or canned tuna.
ReplyDeleteHey Hilath. Good that you honestly admitted that Mifco's toddy tasted less sweet than the one you tasted in Dhigurah. We might need to understand a bit of biology and chemistry to understand how time, temperature and freezing bring about changes to the taste of fresh and pure toddy. For me Maldivian dancer Suneetha Ali's toddy tastes the best. It is very sweet. She sells 1.5 liter bottles at the rate of MVR 110. You should try that sometime. You can place an order through her Facebook.
ReplyDeleteToddy is one of life's little delights. Authentic toddy that is, which isn't all too common in my experience. I don't know about Mifco but I recently discovered a tiny cafe on Roashanee magu, Plant Depot Cafe, who serves good toddy. Not too sweet either. Do give it a try if you can.
ReplyDeleteshaari:
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for bringing my attention to this. I tried Plant Depot's coconut toddy tonight. It tasted just like the authentic toddy I tried in Dhigurah. Sweet of the right amount. The production date and the expiry date showed that if refrigerated it can last a month. This is in contrast to some people claiming that coconut toddy has to be consumed within 24 hours it has been collected from the coconut tree. Hence, it was a pleasant surprise to know that it can be kept refrigerated for a month.
Anon 2:55:
Sometime this week, I had also tasted Sunee's toddy. It too has the authentic taste of the toddy I tried at Plant Depot and in Dhigurah. Thank you very much for bringing my attention to Sunee's version.
Anon 2:27:
I am not hinting that MIFCO has tampered with its toddy. I am saying that its toddy is less sweet and that I don't know why.