One of the first things I noticed while visiting my parents in NYC this weekend an ad (sitting in the junk mail pile) just like the one below:
 |
 |
McD’s is microtargetting tri-state desis with mailers that say “Taste ki baat hai!” While I like to be seen and recognized, I’m afraid the coffee flavored milkshake they call iced coffee really isn’t my cup of tea.
More to my liking would have been the Indian Mysore Coffee (“full bodied and nutty”) being offered at the local gourmet independent coffee place down the street, listed next to Ethiopian Sidamo Coffee and Hawaian Kona Extra Fancy as a Sunday special. That’s very good company to be in for a coffee that gets its flavor by being drenched by the monsoon! While they were out by the time I came by, I’m looking forward to trying an Indian beverage which doesn’t have “masala” in the name.
[Note: these are not my photos and therefore this is not my name on the ad. The pics are from Slice of Lemon, and linked back to the original post.]
You have to try filter kaapi made with blend of coffe and chicory by Narasu’s coffee made the traditional way. Ask your closest Tamil friend nicely:)
If Narasu’s coffee were to send me a talking flyer that said “Narasu’s coffee besh besh!” in Tilaka Mani’s (was that his name?) voice, I’d never drink any other coffee for the rest of my days.
as long as teabags were not involved in creating that nutty flavor it’s all good.
dude! is that your hand? It’s very well manicured, you metrosexual you – and remarkably bereft of hair for a punjabie.
Got that flyer out here in California too! Was counting on it showing up here 🙂 and give us a few details with some masala 😉
No? nobody’s got anything on the who is building a database of desis?
ok. i clicked through. phew y’all should post varnings man. i knoze hands. and that hand made me think i was playing on the rongh team all along.
that said. i am pleased the khoofi senses didnt lie. shabaash.
Khoofi – we did post warnings.
You wanna taste a REAL cold coffee drink? Try an authentic Greek Frappe. Nothing else compares.
Is the guy at the end of this commercial desi? Could be Hispanic also. Or maybe he was chosen to be vague and appeal to both groups
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCRU007wSmM
Reminds me of those Time Warner cable ads here in NYC – aap bhi Time Warner ke liye kaam kar sakte hain…. Or something to that effect!
Hey! That’s my hand!
Indian Coffee Board peaberry raw coffee seeds. Stir fry in wok/karhai until brownish black and gleaming. Let cool and grind. Spoon ground powder into metal South Indian filter device, boiling (not boiled) water to be poured on top. Shut lid. Let decoction filter through. Boil milk, add decoction, 2 spoons sugar. Use bowl and tumbler (dawara-tumbler) to cool by pouring from one to the other repeatedly.
Enjoy.
Coffee the way my mother used to make it. And my belated contribution for Mother’s Day.
usilai mani
McD’s is microtargetting tri-state desis with mailers that say “Taste ki baat hai!â€
I got it in Houston, Texas a few days ago.
You will notice that is no coupon for hamburger though
Indeed Sabs and a very pretty hand it is. 🙂 een haath sey aaloo na kaatiyega. mailey ho jayenge.
to think i first thought it ennis’ hand. Pthoo Pthoo. Toba toba.
At least they didn’t try and give it a redundant name like “Chai Tea” like I’ve seen at many places and detail how exotic it is. Always found the ingredients and detail listed on specialty Indian teas humorous, since I always just grew up with milk, water, tea bag, maybe some ginger and spice.
How do they know if your desi – unless they’re blind mailing to certain communities or are using marketing databases.
I tweeted about, and was really amused.
Finding about people is also very easy if you brought something online.
Targetting market demographics is an old and tested technique.
I am sure in Houston, a lot of fliers in Hispanic neighborhoods are in Spanish.
i’m going to be a downer and remind everyone of the problem that south asians have with insulin resistance and pre-diabetes, not to mention full blown diabetes later on in life. i stopped taking sugar in my coffee a few years ago because i drink the stuff every day, and didn’t want to subject my body to the repeated glucose spikes. if you do continue to take sugar, consider going for a walk or doing something strenuous afterward, or getting some supplements which help with moderating blood sugar spikes.
(you can probably ignore all this if no one in your extended family has diabetes)
btw, stumptown roast is awesome; thick, dark and bitter.
Very true, razib. It’s so hard for me to stick to a low-carb diet when I’m at home and, although now my parents and their friends have started cutting back on rice (and sugar with coffee, tea, etc.), it’s still difficult to convince them that vegetable curries aren’t the be-all end-all, and meat is good for you, and buying the non-fat or low-fat options is actually a really bad idea.
You can’t be serious. Meat proteins are not the best proteins. Proteins from LEAFY GREENS are. The problem with the typical desi diet is not the vegetables, but the fact that they are cooked – in fact OVERCOOKED.
Desis need to learn the beauty, health and taste of RAW FOODS, especially raw leafy greens, or at the very least – lightly steamed vegetables and leafy greens.
Sprouted mung beans are also an excellent form of protein. Sprouting releases the protein enzymes and makes the bean more of protein than a carb. The problem with desis is that they are big on simple carbs like white rice and maida. Other than of course traditional chapatti flower, alot of the carbs desis eat are simple carbs which break down into sugars.
Do some research on raw foods. There are plenty of “desi style” raw food recipes. All the spices can still be used and the taste is amazing.
Animal flesh eating is not the way to go – neither for physical healthy, nor for spiritual health.
Oh yeah, marinephytoplanktans need to be introduced into the desi diet as well.
In fact, this is a very smart McDonald campaign.
Between all the visas, and citizens, there are probably 2-3 million Indian origin people live here.
A lot of them do not eat hamburgers.
It is a way of saying, come and have some coffee shake. We are not all about hamburgers.
little off topic..SM intern, haven’t seen a post from extra brown Anna in long time…dearly miss her. hope she is fine.
but meat tastes so good. mmm… and have you tried yodeling in the tuna canoe.
That type of flesh eating gets a pass, of course!
Yes I’m serious. You sound like some crazy judgmental vegetarian. My problem with my family thinking that I should be happy eating chapati and vegetable curries every day when I’m at home is that the vegetable curries are sometimes so overcooked that it robs them of the nutrition that they’re so prized for in the first place. Also, fibrous vegetables are filling and nutritious, yes, but I wasn’t saying that I don’t eat vegetables. I still need to consume a minimum number of calories each day, and animal and dairy products are the best source for that when you’re on a low-carb, high-fat, high-protein diet. I just hate the fact that Indians think that you’re unhealthy for eating meat (yes it does have a lot of calories, but everything in moderation… besides, so does rice) and ‘dirty’ or ‘spoiled’ or something for wanting to eat it in the first place (I’ll admit that another reason I want to eat it is because it tastes good, but that just makes my eating habits easier to stick to), kind of like you’re implying with your completely off-the-rocker ‘physical health or spiritual health’ comment. My mother still thinks that your cholesterol level increases if you eat egg yolks. But really (and this is especially true for people like me, who have family history of diabetes–on both sides–and are already prediabetic at such a young age), heart health can be greatly improved by cutting down carbs, not fats. Read Gary Taubes’ Good Calories, Bad Calories.
If you want to eat meat, that is your choice. My point is that telling your family that they will be healthier if THEY eat meat is silly. They will be healthier if they eat raw or lightly steamed veggies and increase the intake of raw or lightly steamed leafy greens (excellent source of proteins) in their diet and cut out the whites – sugar, rice, flour.
They need to add more nuts (not common in the average desi diet), sprouted lentils, legumes and beans. Grains like quinoa or other complex carbs that figure high in nutrients.
Meat is not the be-all and end-all. Well, it may be the end-all.
Um, I’m not telling my family to do anything. I’m trying to convince them to let me eat the way that’s healthier for me when I’m at home. I lose weight when I’m at school and feel more energetic, but gain weight and feel more slothlike when I’m at home, and there’s a reason for that, but they can’t seem to let go of this ‘low-fat’ mantra. I’m trying to debunk these myths for them. Yes, eating vegetables, legumes, nuts, etc. is healthy. So is eating meat. Seriously, sod off with your judgmental vegetarianism. Meat is not the ‘end-all.’ I wasn’t saying that anyway; I was saying that this is the problem with desis as I see it in my family, that they’re not happy when I want to eat meat on a low-carb high-fat high-PROTEIN diet because they think it’s unclean and weird. Which is the same thing you’re doing. Either face the facts or fuck off.
This is probably really ignorant, but how does cooking spinach in a pot bereave it of nutrients? If you don’t drain anything they’re not going anywhere. Everything is still in the pot no?
The whole process of digestion breaks proteins down into their constituent amino-acids so that they can be recombined as needed. So what exactly do you lose when you denature them by cooking?
In terms of protein one probably doesn’t need to eat meat more than a couple of times a month to be honest. The typical American diet is way heavier than can be justified on nutritional grounds. On the grounds of tastiness is another story.
Have you ever considered the possibility that your family members are ethical vegetarians? That means they do not eat meat on the principle of ahimsa to animals? Ethical vegetarians usually would not permit the cooking of animals in their homes – whether Indian or not. Its a principle that is lived by.
Surely with GHEE and butter and milk and yogurt (staples of desi diet) you would be able to get the fat and protein you need? Though I would suggest cold-pressed, extra-virgin olive oil, hemp oil, avacado oil or flax oil over ghee any day. They contain the “good fats”. Also can you get avacados anywhere near your family’s home? They are an excellent source of healthy fat as are nuts.
You may have changed your eating habits from the ones you grew up with, but that does not mean that your family, if they are ethical vegetarians, have to change their vegetarians household and allow something to take place within it that they find reprehensible, does it?
You can always eat out at restaurants when you stay with them.
(Yoga Fire, some nutrients are lost whenever you cook food)
I’ve heard that before yes. I’m just inquiring as to the mechanism by which this happens because intuitively it doesn’t seem quite right.
Looking for the video that breaks it all down now. Was just watching a few days ago……..
The same flier was sent to chicagoland desis! that’s some ethnic marketing@
That is so, so wrong. An adult female should be eating at least 50 grams of protein a day, and when I track what I eat, it’s a struggle to meet that minimum without eating dairy and other animal products. Try tracking your food intake and its nutritional content on a site like sparkpeople.com to see this. And yes the American diet is very heavy, but it’s heavy in carbohydrates. Hence why Americans have been getting fatter over the last few decades, thanks to larger and larger portions of starchy and sugary products like french fries and coke, while cutting back on fat and protein by opting for lowfat or nonfat milk and not eating egg yolks.
My family members are not vegetarians (and I know what that means, thank you very much for your definition), except for my mother, who has no problem cooking meat in the house or with other people eating meat in the house. And butter, milk, yogurt, etc., contain are smaller protein:carbs ratio than meat does. It’s not that my family doesn’t want me to eat meat in the house, it’s that they simply don’t believe that doing so helps me lose weight and feel more energetic throughout the day. But the evidence is there, especially in my own weight, when I come home and the staples are idli, dosa, rice, and chapatis.
Seriously, though, I was just talking about my family and you butted in and got all high-and-mighty while being simply incorrect about ‘meat is unclean’ blah blah blah. Conclusion: you’re a fucking tard, Pardesi Gori.
Um, didn’t you say this below, oh Priyamvada, soft-spoken one?…
And what is up with the beauty of all the expletives?
And you, oh Priyamvada, are extremely low class.
Isn’t there a rule on SM about using expletives? Get this bitter, frustrated female deleted before she explodes/implodes!
And throw her some meat! She obviously needs it to calm down.
Ms. High and Mighty, I said that Greek Frappe was incorrect about meat being bad for your health because [she believes] it’s spiritually unclean, i.e. she wasn’t actually looking at the facts, just basing it on her religious/spiritual assumptions. That doesn’t contradict me saying that my family believes something similar, that it’s weird to eat meat regularly. I was saying that she was asserting that meat is unclean, not that my family thinks so (which they kind of do).
And I think SM Intern can choose for him/herself who to delete or ban. What I said was just saying what you’re saying; I was just being direct about it while you’re basically cloaking at as ‘high class’ manners and ‘cultre.’ Learn to spell or proof-read, by the way. <– Consider that my expletive.
I wish I get one.