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Mourning the loss of the humble Boiled Peanut



I was recently in the Palmetto State; South Carolina, attending a wedding. While I was there, it was hard to miss the signs Boiled Peanuts for Sale. They were everywhere! You couldn’t go past a Grocery store, gas station or Boardwalk without seeing a sign for it. The Boiled Peanut appears to be a South Carolina obsession, so much so that it is named the official snack of the state. There’s even an annual festival for it every September in a town called Bluffton dedicated to this hardworking legume. Seeing this brought a smile to my face, the kind of smile that’s usually associated with nostalgia and fond memories. Boiled Peanuts were one of my favorite snacks when I was a child growing up in Mumbai.

 


Boiled peanuts take me back to our Sunday family outings. All the Uncles and Aunties, siblings and cousins, all would meet up either at Land’s End or Carter Road for an evening out. These are the two sea facing boardwalks in our suburb town of Bandra West. Back then, before the endless distractions related to constantly streaming content, people gathered together, just because. In the old pre-internet days, we counted on human connection to pass the time. Spots by the ocean seemed to be the ideal meeting ground for such gatherings, and enterprising street food vendors capitalized greatly on that. We were spoiled for choice with the vast array of street food available to us; Bhel Puri and Chaat, Roasted corn on the cob with salt, chili and lime, fresh fried pakoras and chai to name a few. And there would always be someone selling plain salted boiled peanuts in the shell. I could sit for hours, happy and content with a bagful of those. The evening hours would fly, all of us cousins sitting in a line on the concrete ledge facing the ocean, cracking peanuts open to our hearts content. It was great for the adults as well, as they’d be left uninterrupted to catch up on the latest family gossip. You could say that Boiled Peanuts were the fidget spinners of our generation.

I’m not sure what happened to all the boiled peanut vendors in Mumbai but they don’t seem to be around anymore. The landscape has changed so much and the simple street vendor snacks are now replaced by cheap, pre-packaged, trans fat laden crispy treats out of a vacuum sealed bag. Kids now choose what they eat based on the ads on their social media feeds telling them what's cool and fashionable. Boiled peanuts just aren’t considered cool anymore. Maybe fears associated with anaphylactic allergies have contributed to the fall from grace, but whatever the reason may be, the boiled peanuts vendors seem to have moved on. This made me sad. Boiled peanuts are so much better than a bag of fried chips. They are even referred to as super foods, being low in carbohydrates while packing a good amount of protein. They supply a healthy amount of essential vitamins, minerals and active antioxidants. Besides, they are far more inexpensive than store bought packaged snacks, and they are so much friendlier to the environment. I sincerely hope I see Boiled Peanuts making a comeback again soon.


In South Carolina, Boiled peanuts were sold either plain salted or Cajun spiced. This was the first time I tasted a spiced boiled peanut and I honestly couldn’t get enough of them. They were addictively good! It made me ask how come we never thought to combine Indian flavors with boiled peanuts. I think they’d be brilliant as a combination, don’t you agree? I think I will take a page from the South Carolinians and play around with this idea. Let’s see what can be done to revive this ancient, affordable, healthy and truly delicious snack tradition.











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