When culture spices it up

Manpriya Singh

It’s not just history, but fashion just as much and food all the more that have a weird way of repeating themselves; cycling their way back into fashion if you must. From the unexplored global cuisine to the long-lost indigenous ones, the tables have turned and how — with food festivals in the city being a case in point.

If Pind De Pakwan Food Festival sourced recipes from interior villages across Punjab, then the Kashmiri Pandit Food Festival made sure that the guests actually got to experience the food cooked in a typical home of a Kashmiri Pandit. The recently concluded Kangra Food Festival scored heavily on the recipes from the hills of Kangra. “Now that the city and its well-travelled people, especially youngsters, have had a close brush with food from across the world, growing exposure brings along a unique appreciation of one’s own indigenous cuisines,” opines Chef Vipin Kumar, executive chef, Ramada Plaza Chandigarh.

He points how the renewed interest ensures that the entire state is not covered in one go. For instance, he adds, “We actually believe in delivering the taste of Himachali food, with the clear difference and importance given to Kangra Dham and Mandi Dham, without which no food talk of Himachali cuisine can be complete.”

Hidden flavours

In the last month of last year itself, Airbnb knew where they were going and whom they were aiming at with the latest initiative, Cooking Experiences, wherein guests can book experiences that “unlock the hidden culinary traditions of families around the world.” Think grandmas’ recipes, whose reach often stays restricted to within families. But that’s not all there is to the initiative; the category has more than 3,000 unique recipes from over 75 countries. Be it food shows like Highway on My Plate, with hosts Rocky and Mayur, or the most unlikely food influencer, late Mastanamma, wherein the food was not put together in a modular kitchen, but with local ingredients. In Lost Recipes, celebrity chef Aditya Bal is on a mission to unearth recipes from across India.

Dishing up variety

This curiosity to dig deeper into details can be attributed to the search for authentic food. That takes us to two famous but often misunderstood cuisines from the same region, yet different cultures. “The Dogra cuisine, as the name suggests, borrows heavily from the vegetarian Dogra culture widely prevalent around the hills and plains of Kashmir, Punjab and even Himachal. It has a lot of curd-based dishes, dry fruits and local produce like fragrant Jammu rice,” city-based caterer Sattvik Dhiman often finds himself educating the wedding guests. “Wazwan, on the other hand, is food made by traditional local chefs called wazas, wherein the meat-based delicacies are at the heart of any feast.”

Evolving culture

Exploring regional and local cuisines has become an evolving form of culture that people are now open to experiment with. Go local and sustainable is the new mantra for a well-travelled millennial; there is an urge to explore and understand one’s roots and the best way is through food. With so much information available and the curiosity to dig deeper, everyone wants to go beyond the mundane, whether we talk about destinations, culture or food. – Nandita Karan, executive chef, The Lalit, Chandigarh

Global trend

As the world becomes smaller, patrons have become ethnically diverse, given their vast cultural exposure. They are adventurous and seek unique flavours. The best way to do that until some years ago was to indulge in global cuisines like American food, Oriental dishes etc. However, the generation today knows the benefits of eating local produce and seasonal food. — Chef Japvir Singh Vohra, executive chef, JW Marriott

Reliving memories

There are so many memories and stories around food that the families want to relive at Indian weddings. Using native and rural flavours prepared with local ingredients is a hot trend because it inspires nostalgia and provides the comfort of familiarity as well as togetherness — which is why Deepika Padukone insisted on serving delectable Mangalorean varieties in her wedding at Lake Como! The spread had a combination of Konkani and Sindhi cuisines to give the guests an experience of familiarity, culture and tradition. For Gurickk G Maan’s wedding, we did the royal Patiala food served in thali style. — Sanjay Vazirani, from the luxury caterer Foodlink Services India.