Dinner time stories

FOOD TALK

I look for what is going out of fashion from the dining table” — This was what culinary wizard chef-owner Sabyasachi Gorai (of Lavaash by Saby) said when asked where he finds the inspiration for his unique restaurants.

Lavaash by Saby, one of the chef’s recent ventures based on the disappearing Armenian cuisine, being one of them. Fascinatingly, the humble food table at home hasn’t been the ‘muse’ for Gorai only, but for culinary legends like Chef Manjit Gill (corporate chef ITC Hotels) whose ambitious project Royal Vega is based on the ancient, ayurveda-based food habits — and among the few restaurants capable of walking you back in time, morsel-by-morsel.

But ever wondered what influences the culture-driven dining table to change? You know from being laden with the stars (read: popular dishes) of a certain region (rajma chawal on Punjabi tables and pakhala-bhaja in Oriya homes) to becoming the magical caldron of world cuisine, when dinner could be a Burmese khau suey or Persian berry palav?
Some would say, and rightfully too, that this is the result of glocalisation that has fused the boundary, at least foodwise. So cultures are no more bound to use local produce when they have access to all kinds of vegetables, recipes, techniques and even the equipments necessary. The other argument is of course food becoming a lifestyle, where knowing your own dal-chawal ain’t enough. There is an urgent need to be well-versed with popular food cultures like Italian, French, Pan Asian and the like, courtesy MasterChefs. 

While both the arguments are accurate and reason out well, the dining table trends of today, where pancakes are breakfast, dimsum lunch and pasta dinner, it is only half the story told. The rest of the half needs a look back at the 7th century.

The back story

While most believe that the change in the dining table today — where Indian food has taken a backseat to the more appealing West — is a recent cult, truth is that the local-only dining table has changed since the beginning of Middle Ages when India came under a host of rulers, invaders and traders like the Greek, Dravidian, Bahmani, Delhi Sultanate and Dutch.

The difference was, while the invaders left a technique like the open-fire roasting in North, that is said to be the gift by Genghis Khan to the world, that was incorporated — some say that the Andhra-style Chicken Fry and Chicken 65 were influences by the Bahmani Empire and the sailors — migrants made a more lasting impression and inclusion. Like the Armenian community that brought the tonir (tandoor) with them, which led to the invention of the rotis and breads that we know today; and the UP Pathan, whose zeal to having their own empire not only gave us states like Bhopal, but added culinary gems like nihari, paya, kheema ghotala, daulat ki chaat among others, to the Indian table.

In fact, many anthropologists believe that the phase between 7-13th centuries completely changed the way food tables would be laid across India. Thanks to the coming in of new-world vegetables like potatoes, chilli, tomatoes and such — and also techniques like steaming, bread making and marinating. Of course, the change was less noticeable because every dish that made an appearance on the table using the above techniques or ingredients had local produce in it. Result — the dish was more Indian that Portuguese or Arabian. The pork sorpotel and vindaloo and the mutta mala are excellent examples.

Interestingly, the change in the way dining tables at home look today began during the reign of the British — and the result of famines. The Great Bengal Famine (which history says was man-made) brought the first lot of commercially packaged food into India in large quantities. It was the first time that the common man (the middle class) had the opportunity to get a taste of what real Brit food was. Till then, it was either royalty or the soldiers at war who were privy to food from across the borders.

With wheat and local millets becoming scarce and vegetables out of reach, tinned food made its way into the culturally dominated dinner table. It was perhaps the first time that cornflakes, porridge-style oats, cold cuts, marmalades, bread (all pre-packaged) made their presence felt on the table once dominated by sattu, ragi and poha.

The other factor that influenced the dinner table immensely was the immigrants, and their cuisine during the time. Chinese, especially. In fact, between the 1700s to much of the late 1900s, Chinese food, especially ones that were created for India (Chinese bhel, sesame fried lotus stem/potatoes, triple schezwan rice and the iconic vegetable manchurian to name a few). What gave Chinese the edge when French, Portuguese and English cuisine was present in India was its clever Indianisation. While others preferred using local influences but keeping their dishes largely appealing to their taste, Chinese men and women developed a branch that was an ode to the country of work — a culinary segment we call Indian Chinese. That, along with the interesting use of vegetables, sauces, economics (Chinese restaurants, like Iranian cafés, were hugely affordable) and the fact that it could be replicated at home gave it a huge advantage. Restaurant eating wasn’t a culture back then, so the only way to get popular was if similar food could be made at home by homemakers and cooks.

The other influencing factor was industrialisation. In fact, with people moving away from agriculture to towns began the rise of multi-cuisine exchange and the affordable breakfast/coffee houses that served food influenced from different regions but made with locally available ingredients. So, sambhar in Udupi became sweet with jaggery, kheema had the inclusion of potatoes, peas and carrot, tea became milky with milk powder, sandwich had cold cuts and butter, and not malai. It was this new cuisine that reached down to the home kitchen, too. Those that could be made with ease and were ready parties of spice change were immediately adopted, and became a part of the dining table. An excellent example of new cuisine is the various chicken dishes that adapts to any spice, the bread pudding, and of course, noodles!

The big transformation

Independence came with its own set of influences on the table. With clubs, hotels and restaurants opening to all (who could afford, of course), the Indian palate got the real taste of other cuisine, a few serving the real one. That, coupled with the three revolutions — white, green and supermarket — encouraged people to not only try newer cuisine, but make it at home, too — even though some like the Russian salad was a far call from the authentic.

Air travel played a decisive role, too. The suitcases of chocolates, readymade sauces, instant food and tinned/pickled vegetables arriving in India had the home kitchen turn into experiment labs where each dish was tested — few with good success, too. The fact that the world by then cooked in techniques known largely to everyone made adaptability easy. Of course, the closeness of flavours and texture still determined which cuisine earned more space in the kitchen, and on the table. This could be a reason that after Chinese, Pan Asian cuisine became the next to gain popularity on Indian tables.

Socialisation — home get-togethers, parties and kitty parties — became the centre of popularising new food on traditional tables. And, just like that, dinner tables that lived on traditional home-cooked fare now also had dishes that were from the other side of the continent.

The coming of cable TV and the rise of standalone restaurants catapulted the transition. Readily available cookbooks written by chefs, culinary shows and the rise in affordable places like Pizza Hut, McDonalds and others brought newer food on the table — and by doing that, changed the perception of food. What contributed this time was the convenience. Food now didn’t have to really be made from scratch but assembled as per the recipe like nachos, rolls, lasagna, bruschetta  and such. FMCG capitalised on it by introducing more Indian-specific flavours, which made even the lesser-liked food, appealing.

Dining tables that had dal makhani and jeera rice as food would now boast of bunny chow and Indonesian nasi goreng and Thai curry and rice. That was the 1990s.

Has the table changed much since then? It has. And while India’s obsession with cuisines continues with Lebanese, Mexican, Italian, Mediterranean, and of course, the Oriental, the older influences still stay. Only this time, it’s in the form of newer pairings. Butter chicken ravioli, anyone?