India, Nov. 14 -- What do you eat when you are having a drink? It's not a question with an easy answer. I find that it changes from city to city and generation to generation.

My earliest childhood memories of watching grown-ups drink had two components. One: The men always drank whisky (Scotch if they could afford it) and possibly beer at lunchtime. And two: They would eat papad with their drinks.

It's possible that the papad accompaniment was a Bombay thing (lots of Gujaratis and Sindhis in the city), but all over India, bars would only serve peanuts with liquor. At more upmarket establishments, there would be cashew nuts. And if they really wanted to roll out the red carpet, then they would serve green olives.

Those were simpler days...